Forgivable actions?

[solbr006UMD]

The Buggers attacked earth when they didn’t know humans were intelligent beings and stopped when they found out. Ender had no idea he was killing Buggers and because of that they forgave him. Are actions ignorant of all the information more excusable than those with all the information?

[spootytwk]

I don't know if ignorance makes things forgivable. If you look at what Columbus, Cortez or many other early explorers are guilty of it's astonishing. They were completely ignorant about the people and cultures they destroyed but is it forgivable? I feel that if you are ignorant about something that you are trying to overcome it is your responsibility to educate yourself about it so that you can take the most responsible action possible. For instance if I was going to be a missionary to Cambodia I would want to know as much about their current beliefs, culture, and over all life before storming in there and demanding change. I don't think ignorance is a forgivable excuse for genocide.

[HaricotVert]

Actions ignorant of information are definitely more excusable than the actions of those with information. Knowing all the consequences and all the information makes you responsible. However, if you knew nothing and didnt know what you were doing or even why you were doing it how can you be reponsible?

Senario: You are taken to a room and blindfolded. The man who led you in the room gives you a gun. He tells you it's a BBgun and they are performing a test on accuracy when people cannot see. He tells you to aim at where the sound comes from, testing how well a person can aim using sound alone. You wait for a moment and hear a chime from straight ahead, you take aim and fire. But there's an immense kick from the gun, like a kick from an actual gun not a BBgun. You lift the blindfold to see a man with a cover over his head hanging 3 feet infront of you, with a small red circle on his chest growing bigger. The man who brought you in the room lifts the cover off the man. It's real. HE's real. He's dead.

How can you be at fault here? You can't.

[spootytwk]

You bring up a good point. The blind folded person in your scenario is very much like Ender and the target being the Formics. But one could argue that you still have a choice whether or not to pull the trigger. You could also shoot at the ceiling or floor to test the gun before shooting where they tell you to. I'm just playing devils advocate here though.

[locke]

ah homework...