culture and force projection

Everyone bets on culture. Some people bet on cultures that are more or less dependent on certain presumptions, such as "people are nice", "people should be nice", "people should assume that others are nice" etc. 

So you have to figure out whose culture is similar to yours, and also how to cooperate with people who have different cultures. Much of THAT figuring out is a lot of work. That is why startups, and dating, and cold sales, are all somewhat complicated subjects. Some more than others. 

THAT may or may not involve causing others a lot of pain, depending on your culture. Some cultures will shove other parties in the preferred direction, and lacking force, they will poke them. 

I think on average, my appetite for risk on earth has been to piss off approximately half the audience, and to win support from an equal amount. I will tend to calibrate my risk levels based on the feedback I get, to reach that operating threshold.