Intentions

I've been thinking about what it means when someone says something like "I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention."

So what are intentions? The free dictionary says that an intention is a course of action you intend to follow; an aim that guides an action.

Okay, then. So your intentions are the target that you are aiming for. So when someone says to you "I'm sorry you were hurt, that's not what I was aiming for" the question becomes, what were you aiming for?

And does it even matter?

Murder without premeditation does not leave the victim any less dead. So why are the penalties automatically lessened when murder wasn't your intention? Isn't a life lost either way? Sure, that's an extremest point of view, but what I'm getting to is this:

Intentions are only as good as your omniscience. If you are not all knowing, all seeing, and all present, your intentions are only guided by the tiny sliver of understanding that you have, usually only pertaining to yourself. Since you are unable to truly comprehend the impact you will have on another person, all intention, by the nature of human understanding, is selfish.

Therefore, the next time someone who has fucked up epically has the balls to actually say "I'm sorry you were hurt, that was never my intention," I firmly believe that person should be junk punched, after which the puncher should say "Oh, I'm sorry you were hurt. My intention was only to make myself feel better."

Bitter? Maybe. But also funny as hell.