How to never feel the emotion guilt again.

[hitch1978]

Sorry, did I mislead you?

I have no idea, I want yours...

[hitch1978]

I feel so guilty.

[Phil153]

Do the right thing from now on. A man with a busy and virtuous life should be able to avoid guilt.

[tame_deuces]

1. Death.
2. Become a sociopath (the political correct term these days is to have antisocial personality disorder).

And...er...I'm pretty certain that sums it up really.

[hitch1978]

OK, so what drives us to feel guilt?

What is guilt? Do we have to do something wrong to feel guilty? What is wrongdoing?

I have been made to feel guilty when I have done nothing wrong, by someone who would rather me feel bad than themselves.

Ridiculous example ahoy - Mike and John walk into a bar, Mike asks John to hang his coat up and upon getting to the rack there is only enough room for one coat. John hangs his own coat and upon seeing a second rack walks toward it. A piano falls on his head.

Case 1) Self inspired guilt. John dies, mike feels terrible forever, and guilty.

Case 2) Prosecuted guilt. The piano lands on John's foot, breaking it. John constantly says 'If you hadn't made me hang your cost up...'

In neither case Mike has done any wrong. how do you avoid feeling either type of guilt?

[tame_deuces]

Well, the pretty much accepted definition of guilt within psychology is pretty much on par with your everyday definition of it. Some sort of affective state stemming from having done something you think you shouldn't have.

There is also evidence that points out that guilt has slightly different 'meaning' and 'triggers' in different cultures, which makes it natural to assume that guilt atleast partially is a cultural construct we have learned throughout our upbringing.

As usual, evolutionary theory has theorized that guilt is an adaption that makes survival easier within a social context. Iow. the ability to feel guilt is somehow linked to 'making it' in a social society.

All things considered, and with my own best educated guess, both things make sense. At some level the capacity for feeling guilt is probably part of our biology, but what sets it will differ from culture to culture and with what you have learned.

As for dealing with it, there are probably many ways to go about that from individual to individual. There are 'therapy' strategies for it within psychology, but clinical psychology is not my field so I don't know much about them.

[Splendour]

Eat donuts...they always make me feel better!

[Splendour]

tame_deuces made some nice observations...I'd like to add that guilt is also something that people will attempt to make you feel in order to manipulate or control you...

There is probably also conditioned guilty...you feel guilty under certain circumstances due to prior or family conditioning...

[onesandzeros]

Guilt can only be felt in denial of truth.

[tame_deuces]

[ QUOTE ]
Guilt can only be felt in denial of truth.

[/ QUOTE ]

A nice oneliner which doesn't mean a thing.