Action and Reaction in the Real World

Physics at the Newtonian level is pretty simple: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  (I imagine a rising chorus of objections from students dealing with Stokes Law, coefficients in the Starling equation, or multi-body interaction problems.  I acknowledge them, but beg their indulgence.)

It is far less simple when dealing with people.

When the Ashley Madison website was hacked (www.ashleymadison.com "The Original Extramarital Affairs Site") the personal information of 37 million users was posted to the Internet. (For the kids out there that's a three and a seven followed by six zeroes.  Other reports put the number at 32 million.  Even for China that's a lot of people.)  Some of the email addresses were from government sites prompting some to fear that the information could be used not just for the usual blackmail and social embarrassment, but to compromise security .

Among the names was Josh Duggar, the oldest child on the cable channel reality television show, "19 Kids and Counting".  The show focused on the Duggar family, devout Christians who don't practice birth control and whose children follow strict courtship rules.  He's had some documented problems in the past with "inappropriate behavior" when he was younger.  In all the hoopla when that was revealed I don't recall discussions of the fact that he apparently confessed to his parents and accepted responsibility.  I always expect evasion and denial before admission, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Although it'll be some time living down his handle, "josh_the_man", but I'm indebted to him for this quote:

"As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences." (http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/20/us/josh-duggar-ashley-madison)