When I say that out loud, it sounds kind of terrible.

It sounds like an ogre-ish thing to say.

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show, at a time when there are so many political, socioeconomic, and environmental issues to worry about, how do you decide where

to invest your energy? Is there some rank ordering that you've already come to and, like,

could I just copy it? Also, are you a thinker, a doer, or a charmer?

Jimmy Carter lusted in his heart. Took a lot of heat for that, but apparently didn't lust, you know, out in the real world.

So, Angela, as I understand it, it is a good thing to care about important things and other people.

Would you agree with that?

Yes, Stephen, I would agree with that.

Well, it's interesting because one of the things that seems to be happening right now,

especially in certain quadrants of America where people consume a lot of media and social media,

is that there is an abundance of things to care about and to feel worried about, often enraged by, but what if I find it hard to care a lot about things

that don't affect me or my loved ones?

Personally.

The issues that I know are important, but maybe at a distance.

So the environment and social issues and economic and political issues,

it strikes me that everybody wants to seem or look as if they care a lot and therefore put a lot

of effort into acting as if they care, indicating that they care. Virtue signaling.

Yeah, virtue signaling is a relatively new phrase. And I think a lot of people assume that it's a relatively new phenomenon.

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