I ran across an interesting (to me, anyway) paragraph entitled "Analysis of Regret." It's on the web but doesn't have an attribution listed and I have paraphrased it a little here. It takes a couple of read-throughs but makes some interesting points. So don't say you don't learn nuthin on this blog. I learned that all my regrets are because I'm attempting to live a life that is consistent with my values. At least I think so. Maybe I just regret so rarely coming out on top! But I admit, the part about regret being a safeguard against stupidity did get my attention. Just think how many more bonehead stunts I would have pulled without it.
Analysis of regret (paraphrased)
After one makes a decision, or even does something one likes, one may feel a certain amount of regret. Why? If the choice was rational, isn't the regret unnecessary? I disagree. I believe that regret is feeling on behalf of subjugated values. In interesting decisions, one is weighing values. Regret acts as a disincentive to subjugate one's values unnecessarily, and its effect even in rational decisions is another side of the same coin. Without regret, perhaps we might always merely choose a single value, or no values at all, or some weak compromise to sate a little of each value, in making a decision. Regret provides an incentive instead to try to achieve the best overall value fit. Eliminating regret eliminates a safeguard against stupidity.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment