Motives Over Ends (was: Intrinsically good magic)

[innermurk]

No: HPFGUIDX 59392

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "abigailnus" <abigailnus at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> <snip Innermurk and Amy's discussion about consequence and 
> fault, and my example involving two cars and pastry>
> 
> Innermurk wrote:
> 
> > I still cannot agree to your reasoning.
> > The fact that you failed to yeild is the *only* deciding choice 
that 
> > casued your accident. Any of the other choices can happen 
> > independantly of that one and no accident would occur. That 
> > particular choice could have occurred on any other corner with 
the 
> > same results.
> 
> I think you've just made my point for me.  Since I've already 
exposed 
> myself to 7000 lurkers as a bad driver, let me share a little 
more.  
> This isn't the first time I've failed to yield the right of way on 
a left turn.  
> I've even run a few yellow lights in my day.  And yet, in three 
years that 
> I've been driving, this is the only time I've ever been in an 
accident.  If 
> my choice not to yield the right of way was, as you say, the only 
factor 
> determining whether or not I would be in an accident, then I should 
> have had an accident every time I failed to yield the right of way 
or ran 
> a yellow light.  
> 
> What you're trying to say, I guess, is that all things being equal, 
it was 
> only my choice to make a left turn when I had no right to do so 
that 
> caused the accident, but you're apporaching the situation as a 
given 
> tableau, and not taking into consideration all the elements that 
brought 
> it into existance.  Once I arrived at the intersection there was 
indeed 
> only one possibility - I would choose to make the left turn and 
have an 
> accident, or I wouldn't, and presumably I wouldn't collide with the 
other 
> driver.  However, the situation at the intersection was not created 
out of 
> whole cloth.  It was the result of billions of tiny choices and 
> circumstances that led myself and the other driver on a collision 
course 
> with each other.  

I innermurk would like to say this as my last post on the subject:

Actually, far from proving your point, you just proved mine.
If going to the bakery was the determing factor, then you should get 
into an accident every time you go to the bakery. Or the bank. Or 
wherever in that particular vicinity.

It's the intricacy of all the choices together that caused something 
to happen in that particular way and place.
However, your going to the bakery, or Lily's saving of Harry (to keep 
it on topic) had nothing to do with the accident, or the death 
(Cedric's).

It was your failure to yeild, and Voldemorts desire to kill that 
caused what happened.
In other words, your accident was not a consequence of going to the 
bakery. Cedric's death was not a consequence of Lily's sacrifice. 
Those are merely things that happened along the way.

They're a consequence of failure to yeild, and Voldemort's inhumanity.

Innermurk
Feel free to mail off-list if you care to continue as I don't recieve 
OT Chatter.