Context

What a fun word that one is eh? Context. Sounds like a corporation. Or a laxative. Or maybe even someone somehow misspelling content. Don’t worry, you’ll never see that sort of mistake in my blug.

But, as funny and linguistically odd it is (I mean, is it a text trying to con me? Wait, is that how they sneak in the laxatives?), context matters. Which isn’t exactly a resounding and earth shattering conclusion to draw, but it’s a vital little lesson to learn. It plays into the greater reasoning behind information as a whole.

Take for example what could be described as the most notable moral dilemna ever, not because it’s a particularly difficult dilemna (it doesn’t make you think, most people know the answer as soon as they hear it) but because it has such versatility to it:

What do you do if you catch someone stealing to help their family?

On paper, you either pardon them because you think they have good justification for it, or you punish them because you believe… well, that side of the argument has a lot more variety (crime merits punishment, alternative means, yadda yadda yadda). Both can be argued for, but the gut instinct of a reader is usually the answer they will go with. That gut instinct is going to roll us back around to context and why the dilemna is used often.

What if the thief was a convicted criminal beforehand? What if the person they stole the food from was also poor? What if there was no alternative for the thief that didn’t involve an unnaceptable outcome? What if the thief used physical violence to commit the crime?

The wonderful thing about these is that they can be layered on top of each other. Stacked and stacked until you stop having an easy decision and start having a dilemma worthy of a 7th grade debate class.

That my friends, is life. That, is context. Any number of factors can be at play. And often we make decisions without context, simply because we don’t know it exists, or don’t think it matters. Here’s the thing though!

That’s okay!

We’re only human, and the truth is we aren’t always ideal. This doesn‘t entitle you to ignoring context and justifying rash decisions or actions by claiming you didn’t know the whole story.

What it does entitle you to is the knowledge that there is a full story and you need to try your best to find it. Learn from mistakes and all that. Because context does matter in the end.

Humans are allowed to make mistakes. Except the one where we don’t learn from them.

The World Makes Sense.