Following a chance incident during a snowstorm, Daniel Morris contemplates how we ascribe intent to others and suggests a new way to extend the benefit of the doubt.

It’s like saying a lion doesn't mean to scare away a gazelle by approaching it. Even if the lion has no intention of hurting the gazelle, how is the gazelle supposed to know that? How is the gazelle supposed to recognize which lion will eat it and which lion just wants to get a drink from the oasis? Maybe it’s the fact that a body of water with a lion near it can never be an oasis for a gazelle.