Small Acts of Kindness Make a Big Difference

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The speaker shares a personal story about mentoring a young man through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. Initially, the young man lacked basic social skills, but through the speaker's guidance, he learned how to shake hands, make eye contact, and order at a restaurant. The speaker emphasizes the importance of small acts of kindness and how they can positively impact someone's life without requiring massive sacrifices. The speaker believes that enriching our home life by creating a safe, peaceful, and welcoming environment can contribute to making the world a better place by providing physical and emotional safety, maintaining peace, and offering hospitality to others.

Attend the graduation of a college senior, and the commencement speech is likely to include a few themes: Do something big. Make a name for yourself. Change the world.

My guest is not a fan of this advice, and says that rather than focusing on solving large-scale problems, we ought to concentrate on making things better in our own backyards.

Brandon Warmke is a professor of philosophy and the co-author of Why It's OK to Mind Your Own Business. Today on the show, Brandon explains why what he calls "commencement speech morality" distorts our moral vision by emphasizing one version of the good and valuable life, at the expense of the value and good of a life marked by "ordinary morality." Brandon first unpacks the dangers of intervening in other people's business, including becoming a moralizer and a busybody. He then makes a case for the benefits of minding your own business and putting down roots, creating a good home, and living in solitude, and for how a smaller, quieter life can still be generous, important, and noble.