Quit With the Chaotic Courtesy

Our society likes to celebrate the commonly-held opinion that random acts of kindness are a good thing. Help someone you don’t know. Lend a hand to a stranger. Go the extra mile for someone that’s miles away.

Jamie D. Grant doesn’t subscribe to this philosophy. In fact, he thinks random acts of kindness are a complete waste of time. And, before you write him off as a monster, you should know that he has a very good reason for feeling this way—which he skillfully lays out in this fantastic TED talk.

Take the time and listen to Grant’s story about the awesome, and entirely un-random, public art project that created his inspiring philosophy: