How can we take responsibility for our actions or choices, even if the results are skewed or not commensurate?

Question

Does it not mean that we should only be held accountable for the intended results?

The question does not differentiate between favorable and unfavorable results.... it is only about whether the results were as intended or not, irrespective of whether the intentions were good or bad.

Answer 1

I would answer this with the saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

An example of this is when relief packages were sent to several African nation during famines in the mid 1990's. When these food shipments got to their destination, many were seized by the war lords of one area or another and were used to raise funds and to barter for weapons and power, which in turn allowed the warlords to consolidate their position.

In this example the intentions was to send aid, but the fact was that without protection for the shipment at the destination it lead to more hardship for the people that the aid shipment was intended to help.

Based on this example, I believe that the accountability for that result should rest mostly on the intent, but also be shared by the action. If we take another example to illustrate this point.

Two people are forced to be together, in a work situation for example, and one constantly barites the other, discrediting their work and defaming their character. This assault continues and slowly grinds down the victim until they cannot help but fall into depression and eventually commits suicide. Now it may have been the intent of the assailant to relieve their own stress, to gain a better position in the work place or even force the person to quit, but the result is the death of the person. So if we were to only hold accountable people for their intentions, does this person hold responsibility for the death, I would not have happened if they had not assailed the victim with their abuse.

In the final accounting I believe that our intentions must be the primary factor for judgment but we must not forget our actions and their results. I hope that this makes sense.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Yup, the intention is what counts; that's why...

... If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts....Albert Einstein.

Although the end result is present in the intention, it's not always easy to keep the balance between them; that's why, if in the end, the results don't match, you still have the clear conscience from what you intended. OF course, that does not mean that you should neglect everything else that goes in between; those are the facts that need to be changed.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Learning to accept responsibility for our actions does not require we try to figure out what the results will be, but that we are developing integrity. We accept the results, no matter the results. That is the mark of maturity.

Answer 4

but at the moment we have no actions no choices
the actions we all take at the moment are all predistined because of the framework of the pattern the rules do not suit humain nature - humain nature bucks
it is not so much the child being predestined as the enviroment supplys the pattern of culture
it is a struggle to leave the pattern of the nest
have you not learnt the lesson of free will yet
will i have to warm by the fire for another 9 years?
there probebly is no such thing as free will........
ah ha......... revolation moment not
you do not bind BOND all that mil Larky with another human being
how the serile egg coming along then
boil and bubble i ask you............................

Answer 5

to take responsibility for our actions is to say ...yes I did do that, we should be held accountable for any results...not just the favorable

Answer 6

No one is responsible for who they are or what they do.
Free will is an illusion.