I don't think you should assume that someone is intending to be positive towards you.
But you should assume that someone, in their own mind, thinks they're doing the "right thing".
If you assume people are evil and are motivated by wanting to pursue evil ends, then you're going to have a bad model for predicting them.
Everybody at that store wants to get the milk because in that situation, that's what feels like the right thing to do, all things considered. They're not getting up at 5am to ensure you DON'T have milk. If there weren't milk shortages, they wouldn't be buying it up just to spite you.
Everyone is picking the best option on the internal menu that they see in their mind.
But you should assume that someone, in their own mind, thinks they're doing the "right thing".
If you assume people are evil and are motivated by wanting to pursue evil ends, then you're going to have a bad model for predicting them.
Everybody at that store wants to get the milk because in that situation, that's what feels like the right thing to do, all things considered. They're not getting up at 5am to ensure you DON'T have milk. If there weren't milk shortages, they wouldn't be buying it up just to spite you.
Everyone is picking the best option on the internal menu that they see in their mind.