Today I was reading an article talking about social norms. It was explaining why highly visible food items never totally disappear at meetings. Have you noticed how when someone brings pastries to a meeting you always end up with a piece of it left, which disappears the moment no one is around?
This apparently comes from a social norm whereby none of us want to appear greedy and selfish in taking the last piece. Yet, we do often see people rushing to the grab the food, until there is little enough left that that societal norm kicks in. What strikes me in this dynamic is that throughout the whole process most people are motivated by self-interest, from “I want the food therefore I take it and get seconds no matter how many people have yet to get a piece of it” to “I will not take more than a little piece because people would think of me a selfish individual and I want to be nice.” Isn’t that wrong? Wouldn’t the world be better if we were truly kind and considerate, not just nice?
Your mission if you choose to accept it: Strive to be kind, not just nice.
Comments are closed.