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We have all grown up surrounded by the parable of the hero triumphing over the villain. The good guys always win and the bad guys always get their due. It is a staple feature in the stories, myths, and legends of every recorded society so we have come by our assumption that bad guys will inevitably get their comeuppance honestly. Trouble is that comeuppance doesn’t always manifest in the hero-triumphant Hollywood manner we envision which involves the bad guy getting caught, being suitably punished, and being fully defeated.
There are results and consequences to every choice or action we take in our lives. Some are more predictable than others but there are always reactions to our actions. If we look strictly at singular results there is pretty much a straight line between the preceding actions and the results they produce. When it comes to humans, however, no action ever exists in a vacuum. In human behavior there are always other considerations in the mix.
At the societal level we give a great deal of weight to people’s motivations when evaluating their actions. And rightly so, as that is a vital factor of our participation, or non-participation, in our social contracts with one another. A…