Excellent podcast! I found myself nodding along often.
One thing I kept pondering both during and after the podcast was the proverb, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I’ve never understood that and your podcast was underscoring my confusion. If I am acting only with the best of intentions, and that action is “good enough,” how can I be paving the way to the ultimate negative outcome?
I finally hit on this concept:The intentions you are acting with must be “examined” intentions. Just as good outcomes do not make up for acting poorly (as you posited, I think correctly), unthinking good intention likewise isn’t good enough. You have to think it through.
So: the road to hell is paved with unthinking good intention. Similarly: I act with examined good intentions, and that’s good enough.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" - I agree with your interpretation but might phrase it a bit differently. Remember, wisdom is a cardinal virtue, so I think a Stoic version of that quote might be "the road to vice is paved with foolish, uninformed intentions".
The point being: you can have good intentions, but if you are a fool, you are still not acting Stoic. The point of intentions being important is, ultimately, for improvement over time, not necessarily perfect outcomes in the moment. We have to work with a complex reality, and good intentions with humility is the only way to move forward.
Consider the person who is sucked into communism without a proper understanding of human nature. Their intentions may be good, but they are not humble and wise enough to understand the full implications.
I might quibble with you over the word “uninformed” and push harder on my word “examined.” We are constantly—maybe chronically—in situations where we simply do not have all the information needed to make the best decision. So, in that sense, our decision will be “uninformed.” But, it can still be a Stoic act if you examine the situation rationally and act as best you can with the information you’ve got.
Again, that’s a quibble. I want to underscore how excellent the podcast was. It was a message I think we all need to hear and take to heart.
Excellent podcast! I found myself nodding along often.
One thing I kept pondering both during and after the podcast was the proverb, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I’ve never understood that and your podcast was underscoring my confusion. If I am acting only with the best of intentions, and that action is “good enough,” how can I be paving the way to the ultimate negative outcome?
I finally hit on this concept:The intentions you are acting with must be “examined” intentions. Just as good outcomes do not make up for acting poorly (as you posited, I think correctly), unthinking good intention likewise isn’t good enough. You have to think it through.
So: the road to hell is paved with unthinking good intention. Similarly: I act with examined good intentions, and that’s good enough.
Thanks for the input, John!
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" - I agree with your interpretation but might phrase it a bit differently. Remember, wisdom is a cardinal virtue, so I think a Stoic version of that quote might be "the road to vice is paved with foolish, uninformed intentions".
The point being: you can have good intentions, but if you are a fool, you are still not acting Stoic. The point of intentions being important is, ultimately, for improvement over time, not necessarily perfect outcomes in the moment. We have to work with a complex reality, and good intentions with humility is the only way to move forward.
Consider the person who is sucked into communism without a proper understanding of human nature. Their intentions may be good, but they are not humble and wise enough to understand the full implications.
I might quibble with you over the word “uninformed” and push harder on my word “examined.” We are constantly—maybe chronically—in situations where we simply do not have all the information needed to make the best decision. So, in that sense, our decision will be “uninformed.” But, it can still be a Stoic act if you examine the situation rationally and act as best you can with the information you’ve got.
Again, that’s a quibble. I want to underscore how excellent the podcast was. It was a message I think we all need to hear and take to heart.
Absolutely, it's a worthy quibble! Examined may be the better word. Thanks for reading and listening :)
Thanks, Brandon. This helped me to get my thinking straight today 🙏🏻
Glad you enjoyed it!