≠ Excuse
a misunderstanding that arises regularly in discussions of the origins of evil: people recoil at any explanation, because they confuse explanations with excuses. But it is important that we understand the origins of the Rwandan genocide—not so that we can exonerate the killers, but so that we can use that knowledge to decrease the risk of such things happening again in Rwanda or elsewhere.
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Observation ‘what’ vs explanation ‘why’
E.g.
- Astronomy vs astrophysics
- Learning/culture/art vs evolved architecture that enables learning / evoking/transmitting culture / appreciating art
- Psychological traditions vs in light of evolution