2008 Woodie Awards
VIEW FROM MARS
On Forgiving Bad Decisions
Alan Nordstrom
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: Opinions
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"What is really true is that in every moment of your life you have done the best you could." So says Ray Dodd in his book The Power of Belief.
That you have always done the best you could is hard or impossible for most of us to accept because we know we have done foolish, stupid, reckless, even bad things in the past, as we now reckon them in hindsight.
"I certainly did not do my best," one might say, "when I skipped class and went to the pool or when I stupidly decided to gun it through that just-turned-red light or when I drove drunk last Saturday night. Those were hardly the best decisions I could have made."
But here's another testimony to support Dodd's viewpoint: "[N]o matter how unskillful a person's actions are, at the moment of decision that person is doing the best that they can" (Copthorne Macdonald, Getting a Life).
To make this viewpoint more plausible, let's examine this issue in terms of belief and say, "At the moment of decision we believe that what we are about to do is the best thing to do and will bring the happiest consequences." Quite obviously, time may prove us wrong, even disastrously wrong in our calculation of what will result. Many "unskillful" decisions are made, because decision-making is in fact a skill that needs training, practice, and much experience to develop into sound judgment and wise prudence.
Nonetheless, at the moment of deciding, according to the calculations you are capable of exercising, you figure that x (and not y or z) is the best choice: Hit the gas, you'll beat the light, the intersection is clear, you're late for your appointment, you'll be just fine. Or so you believe at that instant you decide.
Do we ever act otherwise? Don't we always believe-at the instant of deciding-that we are opting for the best possible outcome? Why would we opt for the second-best outcome? No, we decide to do what we believe will lead to the best, the happiest results.
But later, even moments later, we may find we have miscalculated, perhaps, catastrophically. Afterwards, we may look back and judge our decision as negligent, ill-considered, irrational, ignorant, stupid, foolish, asinine, or atrocious. At which point we may fret, agonize, beat our breasts, plunge into despair, or find whatever suitable self-punishment we can inflict upon our guilt, our crime, our sin. We see our responsibility.
That you have always done the best you could is hard or impossible for most of us to accept because we know we have done foolish, stupid, reckless, even bad things in the past, as we now reckon them in hindsight.
"I certainly did not do my best," one might say, "when I skipped class and went to the pool or when I stupidly decided to gun it through that just-turned-red light or when I drove drunk last Saturday night. Those were hardly the best decisions I could have made."
But here's another testimony to support Dodd's viewpoint: "[N]o matter how unskillful a person's actions are, at the moment of decision that person is doing the best that they can" (Copthorne Macdonald, Getting a Life).
To make this viewpoint more plausible, let's examine this issue in terms of belief and say, "At the moment of decision we believe that what we are about to do is the best thing to do and will bring the happiest consequences." Quite obviously, time may prove us wrong, even disastrously wrong in our calculation of what will result. Many "unskillful" decisions are made, because decision-making is in fact a skill that needs training, practice, and much experience to develop into sound judgment and wise prudence.
Nonetheless, at the moment of deciding, according to the calculations you are capable of exercising, you figure that x (and not y or z) is the best choice: Hit the gas, you'll beat the light, the intersection is clear, you're late for your appointment, you'll be just fine. Or so you believe at that instant you decide.
Do we ever act otherwise? Don't we always believe-at the instant of deciding-that we are opting for the best possible outcome? Why would we opt for the second-best outcome? No, we decide to do what we believe will lead to the best, the happiest results.
But later, even moments later, we may find we have miscalculated, perhaps, catastrophically. Afterwards, we may look back and judge our decision as negligent, ill-considered, irrational, ignorant, stupid, foolish, asinine, or atrocious. At which point we may fret, agonize, beat our breasts, plunge into despair, or find whatever suitable self-punishment we can inflict upon our guilt, our crime, our sin. We see our responsibility.