I think I'm having a breakthrough, Dr. Duckworth.

I'm charging you for this.

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show, how can you break free from irritability?

Let's not spend all this time together.

Also, is impatience actually a positive trait?

Yes, people need to be interrupting more.

Stephen, I have a question for you based on my recent experience personally.

How do you know whether the world is irritating or whether you're irritable.

Oh, it's you. The world is never irritating. I was just wondering, I'm glad to know that. It's me.

Can you tell us what the personal experience was that got you so irritable? This winter has been

especially snowy, icy, and just, you know, in my family, we call them wet yuck days.

But I guess we should amend that by saying icy, snowy yuck days.

And there were days where I took maybe 500 steps.

And then maybe as a consequence of that, didn't sleep well.

And I found myself to be, as we would say in my family,

kind of cranky-pottomis. I'm glad you've brought your problem to me today. The psychiatrist is

in. You could be like Lucy from Peanuts. I'm a lot like Lucy. And I do like that you are admitting,

along with the rest of us, that you do become irritable now and then. It seems like it's worth

defining irritability. To me, do become irritable now and then. It seems like it's worth defining irritability.

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