Mindless, Careless, Thoughtless, Heartless

I'm just gonna jump in. I've noticed some confusion over the four terms Mindless, Careless, Thoughtless and Heartless. It's not that I think it's silly that people get mixed up, but I do believe it's important for healthy conversations for the people in them to have a consistent understanding of what words mean. Now I'm not saying that I have everything figured out. I'm not even suggesting it. I'm only saying that I think I can help shed a little light on something that can cause arguments. So let's dive into the differences at hand:

Mindlessness:
It's mindless when you do something with absolutely no thought. I know, it would seem reasonable to assume that Thoughtlessness would fit that description, but not quite. You see, Mindlessness is basically mechanical, rote activity. You're not thinking about what you're doing, you didn't plan it - heck, you might not even be aware that you're doing it at all. The solution to this is simple: Awareness.

Carelessness:
Basically, to be careless you just need to throw caution to the wind. Carelessness is an act of reckless behavior. Riding a bike down a mountain with no helmet? Careless. Tossing someone else's belongings around with no regard for their well being? Careless. The solution is: Caution.

Thoughtlessness:
This is the basic act of disregarding another person's needs or desires in favor of your own. Or maybe not even in favor of anything. It's just disregard for someone else's feelings, needs or desires. You're essentially being selfish. Not cool, bro. Solution? Consideration.

Heartlessness:
You're being a huge jerk. You don't give a flying flip about other people's feelings at all. In fact, you might even try to do mean things just to hurt them. You're becoming the Joker and we don't like you anymore. The solution? Batman. Also Love.