As soon as we’re old enough to be autonomous, we find ourselves in situations we can only explain away by saying, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Most parents have stories about their children getting in trouble for doing these sorts of things, and most of us have recollections of being glared at by a parent or teacher saying, “What on earth possessed you to do THAT?”
The answer is usually explained by our lack of experience or knowledge and our immature belief that we are somehow immune to disaster. For children, that earns a reprimand, further instruction, some warnings, and possibly — depending on the severity of the deed — punitive action. Fortunately, most of those misdeeds cause no lasting harm or damage.
But what happens when adults are making the decisions? Adults, like children, still have limited knowledge and understanding, but nearly unlimited autonomy thanks to money and authority.
Think of the following: asbestos, lead paint and leaded gasoline, cocaine in Coca-Cola, morphine in infant products, arsenic in face powder, nuclear weapons, napalm, Citizens United… the list is endless, and hindsight is 20/20. We need to remember that, with a few possible exceptions, those decisions were made by people who believed they were doing the right thing. That means we’re just as susceptible as our predecessors to make foolish choices.
What choices will we be judged for the way we judge those of our predecessors? Oh, probably most of the internet, everything to do with all kinds of energy production, and our penchant for seeking CONfirmation instead of INformation to make decisions. And like our predecessors (at least the ones who’ve grown out of being know-it-alls) we’ll someday find ourselves justifying these things with a shrug of our shoulders and a muttered “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
By NIKI TURNER | [email protected]
