When I read “i believe people are nicer than they really are” I got the impression her meaning was along the lines of “people are nicer inside than their actions. On reflection, this might be because that’s what I believe. It ties in to fundamental attribution error. Peoples actions are based so much on environment and circumstance that if you had a way to truly look into a person I think you’d see a better person than you would have guessed if you only looked at their actions. Most people don’t see themselves as evil. They do things we see as evil but in their heads they are doing what they think is good.
Id be interested in hearing what exactly she said that brought on your analysis Eliezer. I realise it was a long time ago, and im not likely to get a reply anyway, but it seems likely to me her statemen came from an intuitive belief in fundamental attribution error. I know I held that belief long before I encountered it first in HPMoR, so its possible for her too.
I attended 2 years of school in Ukraine before my family immigrated. This was in ’96/97. I can attest that math was far more advanced there (at least back then. Though this is still post-ussr). Ex: We were learning about functions in grade 2 (didnt touch it until grade 8-9 here in Canada.) I remember my parents being somewhat unhappy when most of the math I did in third Year was two digit addition and subtraction.