In 1982, two social scientists by the name of James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling came up with a new criminological theory they called the broken windows theory. This theory suggests that when vandalism is clearly present, people tend to commit more acts of vandalism (and more serious crimes) themselves. I found this concept very interesting, and over the past year realized that this applies to a lot more than just acts of vandalism; it applies to things as simple as unwashed dishes.
Have you ever noticed that if you leave a few dishes in the sink overnight, you don’t really feel like dealing with them the next morning? You’ll do it later, you tell yourself. Then, when you get home from work, you
