Impossibility of "Doing No Harm?"

When I was small, my dad used to tell me that "you should not do harm to others".

In a sense, this is a low aiming goal.

Why not "you should do good to others"?

You should actively try to do good to others, not only avoiding bringing harm to others. True.

However, especially in the world of international cooperation, they recently started emphasizing the importance of doing no harm.

Why? Because we realized that trying to do good sometimes brings about horrific consequences.

Trying to introduce market based economic system erodes traditional non-monetary caring culture.

Constructing power plant destroys local environment.

Donating goods and services deprives people of motivation to work.

etc etc.

We cannot stop raising examples of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

We should at least try not to do harm before thinking about doing good.

True.

But at the same time, I feel that we are beings who cannot stop doing harm to others.

If we really really want to do no harm to others, the best way is to stay in your room and keep masturbating. (of course without watching porn)

As long as we go out and live a social life, there might be people who dislike our behavior.

And that's fine.

Maybe, what's important is to be aware of the fact that we can't stop bringing about harm to others.

Being aware of it might be the first step towards bringing about less harm to the world.