Good intentions -- how much do they mean to you?

[Losty]

Well then you clearly missed the point of the analogy. I don't think anyone should stop being nice, I think people should start being smart. There are more important things in life than wanting to help people (especially people who haven't asked for help) and I would wager that thinking your actions through before doing them is one.

If someone's standing at the edge of a cliff be smart enough not to slap a mosquito off their back. It might have been nice if it wasn't so stupid.

You can't just start "being smart". People are already as smart as they could be. I really doubt it that there are more important things in life than wanting to help other people - it's what keeps society going.

I seriously can't think of any cases right now where good intentions hurt. They are almost always welcome and helpful. The more, the better. It's genuinely hard to screw up with a good intention.

For example, I have nothing but good intentions towards you right now. I find it hard to believe that counts for nothing.

But if you're willing to diminish it so much by comparing it to slapping a mosquito, go right ahead.

Wut O_o

I'm not comparing anything you do. I joined a general discussion.

I think I made it clear that I meant people should think things through before they do them when I said "being smart".

If you think good intentions never cause harm you're not paying attention.

IMO the average person does all things with good intention or at the very least some kind of intention that they have justified to themself as "right". Still, people cause harm all the time. We all do. We hurt each other physically and emotionally by accident and accidentally on purpose and good deeds gone wrong. This is a part of life. A person's good intentions, IMO, lose their value when that person is so thoughtless/careless that the majority of the things they do have a negative outcome.

I already gave an example of such a situation in this thread. Feel free to look back and find it.