SUNDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2003
Sometimes someone makes a choice, and it can only be described as the worse of, let’s say two options. With regard to this person’s decision, I also have a choice: to try and understand why the person made a particular choice, or not to try and understand.
If I manage to understand why someone made the worst of two choices and explain it to a third party, the latter may be tempted to say, “But that’s not an excuse,” and that I am defending that person.
My answer is that just because I understand why someone made a bad choice doesn’t suddenly make the choice less bad. A bad choice is a bad choice, whether you understand what motivated the person or not. But I also believe that the choice to not want to understand why someone made a bad choice is also the worst of two options.
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