Why Good People Do Bad Things by James Hollis

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In his book Why Good People Do Bad Things? James Hollis attempted to explain why good intentions frequently lead to exact opposite outcomes. One can argue that this problem results from human nature, which leads us to judge the book by its cover, while the truth may differ drastically from human perception. Famous writers and philosophers, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and Miguel de Unamuno, noticed the yawning gap between intention and outcome (Hollis 27). The mixture of hubris and bias paves the road to mistakes and catastrophic consequences.

In this essay, I will apply the concept of the gap between intentions and outcomes to real-life history. In particular, I will attempt to analyze certain historical events when the actions guided by a seemingly noble cause resulted in death, destruction, and bitter disappointment. As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so I will try to support this statement with facts.

I expect that finding the material for an essay would be the easiest part of the essay. After all, the tendency to misjudge the situation and act out of delusional perception haunts humanity through time and space. Therefore, I will narrow the focus to U.S. history, which should still leave me with sufficient material. However, I anticipate facing certain difficulties distinguishing between good intentions leading to bad outcomes and premeditated malice. In particular, bad people, if that adjective may even be applied without context, may be quite skilled in disguising their true intentions, making them look noble. As such, I should be exercising extra caution in order to avoid the pitfall of hubris and bias while evaluating events selected for my essay.

Work Cited

Hollis, James. Why Good people do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves. Harvard Gotham Books, 2007.

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