Slow Down, Good Sam
In 1973, researchers John Darley and Daniel Batson at Princeton University conducted a study based on the biblical story of “The Good Samaritan.”
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A little background on the story:
Samaritans, in the biblical world, were not considered “good.”
The phrase “Good Samaritan” would have sounded like a political oxymoron—something like “compassionate MAGA” or “patriotic liberal.”
In the story, a traveler is beaten on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
A priest walks past and does not stop.
A Levite—another supposedly pious man—also passes by.
But the person least expected to help—the Samaritan—stops and cares for the wounded traveler.
The lesson?
Compassionate action overrides tribalism, status, purity rules, ideology, and identity.
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In the 20th-century experiment, seminary students were asked to prepare a short talk either on education and careers or on the Good Samaritan story.
Then they were sent across campus to deliver it.
• Some were told to hurry:
“We are so sorry, but we misread the time, and you’ll need to hustle to get there. It’s a five-minute walk, and you have just about five minutes.”
• Others were given plenty of time:
“The building you need to get to is a five-minute walk. You have fifteen minutes.”
On the way, all the participants passed a person slumped in a doorway, apparently in distress.
The non-hurried students stopped to help at more than six times the rate of the hurried ones.
And the topic of their speech made almost no difference.
The strongest predictor of compassion was whether they felt rushed.
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Attributed to Gandhi:
“There is more to life than merely increasing its speed.”
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Want to be kinder?
Make space for it.
Stop rushing.
Slow down.
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