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We like heroes, villains and a clearly marked line between them. We like to believe that terrible decisions are made by terrible people, because that lets the rest of us sleep comfortably. If harm is caused by monsters, then good people "like us" are safe from responsibility.

Unfortunately, human beings are rarely that tidy.

Most people do not wake up planning to hurt someone. Most politicians do not enter public life hoping to leave people poorer, frightened or abandoned.

And yet good intentions do not prevent harm.

Sometimes they help us excuse it.

The uncomfortable truth is that people who cause damage usually have an explanation. They were protecting the organisation.

Preserving stability.

Choosing the lesser evil.

...Suffering from a rogue AI agent.

Perhaps some of those explanations are even true.

But there is a dangerous moment when explanation becomes absolution. When "this is why I did it" quietly turns into "therefore none of this is my responsibility".

That is where accountability disappears.

We saw in this column a couple of weeks ago that political honesty requires leaders to acknowledge who was hurt by their decisions. We saw in last week's piece that integrity begins when nobody is watching.

This third piece asks the harder question: what happens when we cause harm while still believing we are good people?

Usually, we protect our self-image.

Human beings are spectacularly talented at remaining the hero of their own stories. When our behaviour conflicts with our values, we rarely decide that we have become the villain. We adjust the story instead.

I did not have all the information.

The department advised me.

The alternative would have been worse.

It was not technically my decision.

There was a rogue AI agent (have I said that before?).

And the perennial favourite: (nameless, vague) lessons have been learnt........

© Canberra Times