Yours sincerely, What the Foucault, Intentions, and Accountability

"???? ????? ??? ??????" (I didn’t mean for this to happen)."

It’s a common phrase you probably heard, or maybe even said it yourself. I’ve definitely been in conversations where someone says this, and I’m left thinking, “But it did happen. Now what?”

So where is this coming from? I was reminded of it in a recent class when our professor asked us to translate a quote from Paul-Michel Foucault into our national languages. For me, that meant Amharic, a task that felt both familiar and challenging.

The quote went like this: “People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they don’t know is what what they do does.”

Reading and translating it reminded me of something I often think about, how intentions really don’t mean much to the person who has to live with the consequences. Our actions are bigger than our awareness, affecting others in ways we may never expect. And yet, we rarely give much thought to those effects, or to the impact our choices have on others.

I’ve always believed that many of the world’s problems step from this lack of consideration for how our actions affect others. We tend to operate with a kind of tunnel vision, where our good intentions seem clear to us, yet we rarely look beyond them to see the full impact. That is why we often hear, “I didn’t mean for that to happen” or “That wasn’t my intention”. But intentions alone don’t guarantee good outcomes.

For instance, a friend makes a careless comment, never intending to hurt you, yet it still stings. Or a policy is implemented with the intent of enhancing growth, but it ends up excluding a vulnerable group. In both cases, the actions had unintended consequences, yet those affected are left to deal with the fallout. It doesn’t mean that the intention behind the actions was malicious; it simply means that the harm exists regardless of intent.

And, our intentions stay with us, they’re our private motivations. But the consequences of our actions, like this Foucault quote reminds us, have a life of their own.

Meaning we should always go beyond simply understanding why we act and instead to question the impact of our actions. Maybe it’s a hope for more empathy, one that closes the gap between our intentions and the external realities they create. Because if you say to me, “???? ????? ??? ??????,” the reality remains that it did happen. Intention doesn’t undo the harm, only accountability and awareness of impact can bridge that gap.

So yes, I hope we learn to be mindful, not just of why we do what we do, but of what our actions do to others. This can mean pausing to consider the potential impacts of our actions before moving forward, especially in situations where we may be unaware of how others might feel or interpret our words. It can also mean seeking feedback from those around us after taking an action or making a decision.

Yes, we’re human, and we may not always make perfect decisions, but I hope that by considering both intentions? and consequences, we can be better for each other, and at the very least, take responsibility for our actions.

Also, the translation I did for the quote is:

“??? ?? ???????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ????????? ????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ?? ???????? ???”

I would love to read your versions too, in Amharic and any other language.