It doesn’t look like undeserved guilt gets you anything that plain vanilla guilt doesn’t. Vanilla guilt suffices to make it so that it’s not in your self-interest to kill your brother, arrange for a disaster etc.
I think the implication is that undeserved guilt serves to signal to others—once the event has actually happened—that those things were not in your self interest. Everyone can see they weren’t, because you are publicly paying a higher cost than the benefit you would receive for having caused them.
Vanilla guilt perhaps helps, but it’s a much less powerful signal to the community. First, you must have committed a crime in the past, so they can know that you are a guilt-feeling person. Second, they have to trust that your personality hasn’t changed since then. Third, they have to know about/remember the incident in question, and fourth they have to make the mental leap of using that memory as evidence in this situation.
First, you must have committed a crime in the past, so they can know that you are a guilt-feeling person. Second, they have to trust that your personality hasn’t changed since then. Third, they have to know about/remember the incident in question, and fourth they have to make the mental leap of using that memory as evidence in this situation.
Those reasons do make sense. I think the post should mention them.
It doesn’t look like undeserved guilt gets you anything that plain vanilla guilt doesn’t. Vanilla guilt suffices to make it so that it’s not in your self-interest to kill your brother, arrange for a disaster etc.
What do you mean by “vanilla” guilt?
Feeling bad for actually having committed a crime.
I think the implication is that undeserved guilt serves to signal to others—once the event has actually happened—that those things were not in your self interest. Everyone can see they weren’t, because you are publicly paying a higher cost than the benefit you would receive for having caused them.
Vanilla guilt perhaps helps, but it’s a much less powerful signal to the community. First, you must have committed a crime in the past, so they can know that you are a guilt-feeling person. Second, they have to trust that your personality hasn’t changed since then. Third, they have to know about/remember the incident in question, and fourth they have to make the mental leap of using that memory as evidence in this situation.
Those reasons do make sense. I think the post should mention them.
It’s the kind with the lovely bits of vanilla bean in, comes in a tin with the white flowers on the label, you know the stuff.
And then of course there’s chocolate guilt. I used to get that all the time at Chanukah.
Ah, if only it were true