I found it in a ball analogy...
Jul. 14th, 2009 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raptureofthemoonI was reading a thread on anti-racism.
And one commenter brought up the topic of "intent."
We all hear it. We all do it. A lot. "That wasn't what I meant." "That didn't come out right." Etc. And sometimes that's true. We use words with ambiguous meaning. We phrase our sentences wrong.
And sometimes we say things and we don't realize just how bad they are until they come out of our mouths. And then we pearl clutch. "That wasn't what I meant!" (But maybe, it was... In some part of our psyche. Either way, it deserves thought.)
Anyway. As I...read and learn and move along, I've been pondering the concept of intent in the back of my brain.
I don't think it needs to be dismissed outright. I do want to understand what someone's getting at (most of the time). And sometimes it's a matter of bad or missed communication and you can clear the air and get to a point. (And sometimes you find out a person really did mean exactly what they said and may derail further engagement.)
But I also don't believe intent is an excuse that one can use--"Oh, that wasn't what I meant."--and just leave it at that.
If I'm bouncing a ball off the back of a house, and I have a specific spot I aim for every time, that doesn't mean I don't have to replace the window if my throw goes awry.
Or...to get rid of the ball travesty and take it back to an oldie-but-goodie:
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
We fuck up. It happens.
What are you going to do about it?
And one commenter brought up the topic of "intent."
We all hear it. We all do it. A lot. "That wasn't what I meant." "That didn't come out right." Etc. And sometimes that's true. We use words with ambiguous meaning. We phrase our sentences wrong.
And sometimes we say things and we don't realize just how bad they are until they come out of our mouths. And then we pearl clutch. "That wasn't what I meant!" (But maybe, it was... In some part of our psyche. Either way, it deserves thought.)
Anyway. As I...read and learn and move along, I've been pondering the concept of intent in the back of my brain.
I don't think it needs to be dismissed outright. I do want to understand what someone's getting at (most of the time). And sometimes it's a matter of bad or missed communication and you can clear the air and get to a point. (And sometimes you find out a person really did mean exactly what they said and may derail further engagement.)
But I also don't believe intent is an excuse that one can use--"Oh, that wasn't what I meant."--and just leave it at that.
If I'm bouncing a ball off the back of a house, and I have a specific spot I aim for every time, that doesn't mean I don't have to replace the window if my throw goes awry.
Or...to get rid of the ball travesty and take it back to an oldie-but-goodie:
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
We fuck up. It happens.
What are you going to do about it?
