We like to be kind to other people.This desire is often exalted above all others; especially by those in academia and the media. That view is intuitively obvious. After all, isn’t helping those around us one of the most harmless and quintessentially productive urges imaginable?While conventional wisdom says so with absolute conviction, new research points to the contrary.In late 2011, Barbara Oakley, an associate professor at Oakland University, co-edited an intriguing book titled “Pathological Altruism,” which details the causes and effects of altruism and its close relative, empathy.