the.com/accountability
the receipt nobody saves until the moment they desperately need it.
means the state of being answerable for your actions, decisions, and their consequences — owning the outcome, not just the intention.
from From 'account,' which traces back through Old French 'aconter' to Latin 'computare' — to count, to reckon. The same counting-house ledger that tallies money also tallies deeds: to 'give an account' was literally to render the numbers and explain them. 'Accountable' (answerable, liable to be called to reckoning) appears in English by the 1500s, and the abstract noun 'accountability' followed later. The bookkeeping metaphor never quite left — even now, being held accountable means someone is checking your figures.
- word origin
- From Latin computare, the same root as compute.
- diffusion effect
- Bigger groups feel less personal blame for failures.
- public pledge
- Stating goals aloud measurably boosts follow-through rates.
- buddy system
- Sharing progress with one person triples success odds.
- the gap
- Most people demand it loudest from everyone but themselves.
nuremberg trials — 24 nazi leaders prosecuted for war crimes in 1945-1946
international criminal court — established 2002 in the hague to prosecute individuals for genocide and crimes against humanity