There are no bad ideas

Really.

Mom fired another salvo at me, calling my position on ideas semantics and saying that of course there are bad ideas. Her example is genocide. Genocide is always a bad idea. While puzzling through the thought I came up with my own extreme rhetorical example: child molestation. Child molestation is always a bad idea.

And yet, I am going to stand by my original premise. There are no bad ideas. I do not believe that a thought is bad (or good for that matter) until you act on it. Until then it is just an idea, neither good or bad, and once you act on it; it is the action that has relative value in a spectrum of good to bad (or in this case evil). In order to make this evaluation you need a context, an effect, and an intent. Failing that an idea is just an idea. Some ideas may be more comfortable than others, some may be obviously uncomfortable. That doesn't make it a bad idea though.

Genocide in the context we normally here about it usually elicits a negative response. Killing all the people of one culture is a bad thing. But does that make the thought of genocide a bad idea in and of itself?

First off, I believe there is a spin answer to this. The polio virus was the victim of a genocide. We purposely hunt down and killed an entire race. And it wasn't a bad thing. I would also say that a less standard application of the word, say a genocide on reality television programming. That too might be a good thing. In a rigorous argument though these would seem to be evasions rather than truly being on point.

So what of the context we really do abhor genocide? The action here is so vile that it is difficult to see where even thinking of this in an out of the box mentality would be a good thing. It is difficult to imagine a scenario where thinking in this direction would lead to anything positive - even from a brainstorming perspective...

"Lets kill all the left handed people."

"Well, that's some powerful lateral thinking, but I don't think that's going to be your best approach. Maybe we don't have to kill them, that's probably a little extreme."

"Ok, lets just round them up and send them to Florida."

So even just with respect to kicking the cobwebs loose this is troubling. In the end though, I still believe that while that is a fairly uncomfortable thought it isn't until one actually does something that it becomes "bad." Even the thought to do something uncomfortable isn't a "bad thought." There has to be an action.

Don't we need to be able to have a benign idea and realize that someone might act on it to understand how bad the action is? Having the thought that some other leader might be capable of a genocide doesn't constitute a bad idea. Putting yourself in their position and coming to the conclusion that you would pursue a genocide doesn't constitute a bad idea. In this case the idea of the genocide is a necessary, benign, idea that helps you understand the other person. Without that understanding, without having had the idea, you would not be able to come up with a contingency to prepare for the possibility of a genocide. As a parent, don't you need to think of child molestation to properly protect your child? Certainly these are out of the box thoughts, uncomfortable thoughts, but they would not constitute bad ideas.

I would also submit that thoughts like this are a good diagnostic tool, a signpost on the road to disaster. These are opportunities for a person to realize that there is a problem and act on it, or an opportunity for a second party to gain some insight and help to correct what will otherwise turn out to be an unfortunate agenda. But unless you believe that the thought is the sin, that all you gotta do is wanna - and then you might as well not get out of bed, you already did it; unless you believe that, then the idea is not the problem. Its the action that is bad. Seeing one's self have an idea like that, and then seeing one's self come to the conclusion that they should act on that idea; these are both moments for self reflection where one might decide they are going in a bad way. If catching one's self there leads to a change in course, then I would have to argue that the thought, the idea no matter how uncomfortable was in the end actually a good idea.

Of course everyone is allowed to have the thought that I am wrong. And I won't even call that a bad idea.