From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Wed Aug 13 2003 - 11:04:08 MDT
On Wednesday 13 August 2003 08:13, Andrew L Clough wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Aug 2003, Samantha Atkins wrote:
> > Hmmm. Sometimes I think all too much real malice if forgiven by assuming
> > stupdity.
> >
Oops. Should have been "is" rather than "if".
> That may be, but how much more malice is generated through honest
> mistakes?
Malice by definition excludes bad results from honest mistakes. Malice
requires deliberate harmful action. For instance, I have a difficult time
chalking up to stupidity actions by our government that given their premises
and a bit of intelligence, look very much like planned implementation of said
premises. Yet most people refuse to see this because seeing it is
frightening and dispiriting. They would prefer to believe that these actions
simply came from stupidity. The premises may well be "stupid" but the
carrying out of those premises required malice aforethought.
> Its natural to think that if someone does something that harms
> us that harm must have been their intent (and I'm sure Eliezer can give a
> better description than me as to why), but in the complex world we live in
> its hard to judge the impact of our actions on everyone they effect, even
> if we do try. When someone stupidly argues for/against the war with Iraq,
> or immigration your opponent is probably not out to destroy America, and
> it pays to remember this.
The particular purpose behind a bit of malice might be hard to discern, e.g.,
in the above the purpose of any position on that issue most likely had
nothing to do with "destroying America". Nor was I referring to simply an
opposing position on some issue or other. I don't consider the possibility
of malice in such trite cases generally unless there is a likely connection
to other observed actions of sufficient extensiveness and thought. I am
much more interested in cases where those in power seem to me to be executing
a well thought out plan which is ignored under the rule-of-thumb of assuming
stupidity instead of malice. I am particularly interested when such apparent
steps in a plan are more or less exactly what I would have done in their
position if I shared their premises and worldview. If we apply the
bromide about stupidity vs malice too broadly we are apt to ignore too much.
- samantha
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