Both “an eye for an eye” and “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” is too simplistic to be used as policy.

So here’s my policy (which might be revised as I gain more wisdom).

Definitions:

  • taking my finger: doing small wrongdoing toward me
  • taking my eye: doing significant wrongdoing toward me
  • wrongdoing: causing losses to others

The policy:

  • If you take one of my fingers and it’s clear to me that you did it accidentally, then I’ll forgive you.
  • If you take one of my fingers and it seems to me that you did it intentionally, then I’ll add “take one of your finger” to my to-do list so that you don’t try to do any other wrongdoing to me.
  • If you take one of my eyes and it seems to me that you did it accidentally, then I’ll add “take one of your eyes” to my to-do list so that you become more careful and not repeat such accidents in the future.
  • If you take one of my eyes and it’s clear to me that you did it intentionally, then I’ll add “take both of your hands” to my to-do list so that you can’t take any more eyes in the future.

Considerations:

  • Just forgiving wrongdoings creates a perverse incentive structure where people aren’t encouraged to avoid making wrongdoing.
  • Avenging little accidental wrongdoings causes people to not want to interact with you in the fear of making accidental mistakes.
  • Focusing too much on exacting vengeance or delivering “justice” can make you forget about your other life goals and purposes. This is why I said, “I’ll add this thing to my to-do list” and not “I’ll do this thing to you as soon as possible and by all means possible.”
    • The exception to this is when someone is posing an active threat toward me. Such occasions should be handled in a prompt manner.
  • Possible means of vengeance: legal action, physical violence, character assassination, verbal abuse, mental abuse, etc.