> But this isn't obvious, necessarily. In the Genealogy of Morals, for example, Friedrich Nietzsche condemns the "slave morality" that underpins values like humility—this way of thinking undermines individuals' recognition of their power, their sense of independence, he says. Human civilizations—and individuals—don't necessarily have to organize themselves around gratitude and interdependence.

Maybe this equation of gratitude with humility is why people have an issue with gratitude, even if they've never heard of Nietzsche and would balk at the Slave/Master morality distinction and why it's so much easier to express gratitude to the dead.