Random act of kindness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A random act of kindness is a purportedly selfless act performed by someone to either help or cheer up a stranger, for no reason other than to make people happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, RAoKs are encouraged by various communities.
An oft-cited example of a random act of kindness is, when paying the toll at a toll booth on a highway, to pay the toll for the car behind you as well.
The second week of February is Random Act of Kindness week.
However, Talk Radio Host, David Stein of The Celebration of Life Through Sports has declared every Monday RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS DAY. His daily radio program encourages people to get off the bench and onto the court of life by paying it forward and moving and inspiring others. [1]
The phrase is a modification, or mangling, of "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty", coined by Anne Herbert, as well as a play on the phrase "random act of violence".
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[edit] See also
[edit] Groups and organizations
- Join Me – A collective created by Danny Wallace where the members ("Joinees") perform RAoKs.
[edit] Concepts
[edit] Popular culture
- Amélie – A film example of various random acts of kindness.
- Free Hugs Campaign – made popular by a music video on YouTube.
- Scott Mills – UK DJ on Radio 1 who used the term as the name of a feature.
[edit] External links
- RAOK ONLINE What is your wish?
- The Acts of Kindness website
- [2]
- The RAOK Group
- Do Random Acts of Kindness at the University of Michigan
- Extreme Kindness.com
- Dare To Be An Angel - Random Acts of Kindness
- Join-me.co.uk - The website of the Join Me collective.
- YouTube video of Juan Mann's Free Hugs Campaign
- Staged Kindness – a related concept where people stage an act of kindness in public to encourage others to do the same and feel better about the world
- Research on KindnessHow random acts of kindness can spread and encourage the evolution of cooperation.
Science of Cooperation Volunteering offers an escape hatch from some social traps, countering " the tragedy of the commons".
