People are really trying their best, let's accept human fallibility

From "Let’s all give each other a pass, shall we?" by Ann Althouse. She points to a passage by David Rackoff.

From "Half Empty" by David Rakoff (who was facing the cancer treatment of amputation of his left arm and shoulder):

A friend asks if I’ve “picked out” my prosthetic yet, as though I’d have my choice of titanium-plated cyborgiana at my disposal, like some amputee Second Life World of Warcraft character. Another friend, upon hearing my news, utters an unedited, “Oh my God, that’s so depressing!” Over supper, I am asked by another, “So if it goes to the lungs, is it all over?”...

But here’s the point I want to make about the stuff people say. Unless someone looks you in the eye and hisses, “You fucking asshole, I can’t wait until you die of this,” people are really trying their best. Just like being happy and sad, you will find yourself on both sides of the equation many times over your lifetime, either saying or hearing the wrong thing. Let’s all give each other a pass, shall we?

Magnanimity, graciousness, and tolerance of fallibility seem to be in short supply today. Part of it is that there are people out there who are constantly seeking affirmation of their own self-perceived victimhood and others who need to find things to be outraged about.

Just when increasing complexity of the human system (technology, governance, economy, morality, etc.) requires greater communication, we have a countervailing incentive not to communicate. If you engage in communication, you open yourself to assault by intolerant, unforgiving, and coercive/repressive individuals who need to manufacture outrage or manipulate your less-than-perfect words in order to serve their own agenda.

When there is no trust, graciousness, magnanimity, tolerance or forgiveness for failure, there can be no comity, community, no civilization.

Human fallibility is inherent. Failures give us an opportunity to grow. Forgiveness gives us an opportunity to bond.