this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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Greentext

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This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

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Anon comes out to his religious parents (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[โ€“] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'd say the intent is important here. If he did it to help the kid, I'd say you are right. If he did it to scam some people out of money for playing Xbox, then it's not an excuse. Since this is a made up story, we can discuss either.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Well taking the greentext at face value (otherwise what are we even discussing), it did help the kid. It prevented traumatic unscientific "treatment", as well as offering a supportive ear - that's helping the kid

Now let's say the intent was to scam - let's say you were scammed into a self help program, and it gives you the confidence to succeed or helps you heal from past trauma... I'd argue that you weren't scammed, because it worked (even if the intent was predatory)

Psychics come to mind - if people walk out better than they came in, I don't think you've done anything wrong. If they don't, then you're taking advantage of them - to me, outcomes matter more than intent.

I think of them like unlicensed therapists - even if you get a license, if you're causing more harm than help you're acting unethically, even if you've done the paperwork and have good intentions

Outcomes matter more than intent, they're what we have to live with