Cause and Effect

I haven't been paying too much attention to the Paris Hilton saga, but Father Fox has the perfect recap of the situation.

Often enough, those who point out the hard edges and normative cause-and-effect of reality, when it comes to family, upbringing, personal choices in life, are told they are unsympathetic, lacking in understanding. The more important fact is that many people cannot bear to face the truth, many others do not want to be the ones to point it out, especially when, in order to make it clear, one has to be rather blunt.

My life, summed up in two sentences!

Cause and effect ought to be a basic concept -- every action has consequences, and generally, one is responsible for the effects caused by one's actions. (Hence, the criminal charge of "manslaughter": although the accused might not have directly killed anyone, the effect of his actions was that someone died.) One of the greatest frustrations in life is trying to reason with someone who seems to think that causality is trumped by intent. Even more frustrating is trying to reason with someone who believes that causality applies your actions but not his.

As a parent, dealing with cause and effect is a major part of my day. Look, if you hit your sister you will be punished. Look, if you tease your sister or pull her hair, she's likely to hit you. See what happens when you jump on the bed? You fall off and get hurt, don't you? It's repetitive, but I know that I'm dealing with minds that are growing into the full use of reason and need to be trained to make the logical and moral connections between their deeds or words and the effects thereof. Perhaps it denotes a dearth of early foundational work that adults such as Miss Hilton feel that their actions are consequentless, or should be held so because, well, no one was hurt, were they? Or if someone was hurt, I didn't mean to do it and so it's not my fault!

Welcome to my world, Miss Hilton.