On Guilt

A unilateral decision

Guilt is feeling bad about committing something bad in the past. Many philosophies describe guilt as a good thing, that motivates one to be good. On the one hand, there is some truth to this. If we feel bad after doing bad things, that is clearly a disincentive. On the other hand, guilt has its bad side too.

Problems of Guilt

One problem I have with guilt is that it is almost infinite. If I were to enumerate all the bad things I’ve done, I wouldn’t know where to stop. Or even where to start for that matter.

Another problem. For every guilty secret I can remember, there are ten which I can’t remember, or misremember. And people always seem to have double standards about guilt. For example, if you are German or Japanese, it is fine to feel guilty about all the naughty things your grand-parents or great-grand-parents did during WWII. On the other hand, if you bombed Dresden, or Hiroshima, or Nagasaki, you’re not allowed to be guilty. You have to be content with pride or happiness. But not guilt. With wars at least, the losing side seems to have some monopoly over guilt.

But my chief beef with guilt is that it a vicious cycle. It is a monster that feeds on itself and grows. Because once you feel guilty, you can be guilty about being guilty. And guilty about being guilty about being guilty.

A unilateral decision

So I’ve taken a unilateral decision. I’ve decided to abolish guilt. At least the portion of guilt that exists within my personal jurisdiction:

If you are feeling guilty about anything you have thought about, said or done to me, you are completely and unconditionally forgiven. You can stop feeling guilty.*

[* The fine print is: there is no fine print. I said unconditionally.]