Chapter 20
Selfish Guilt
People Affected: everyone older than 24 months
Type of Emotion: conceptual punishment
Conceptual Trigger: “ I failed to prevent harm to an unfortunate person ”
Mental Effect: negative
Key Feature: the more preventable harm, the stronger the effect
Key Feature: effect generally stronger in women
Type of Emotion: conceptual punishment
Conceptual Trigger: “ I failed to prevent harm to an unfortunate person ”
Mental Effect: negative
Key Feature: the more preventable harm, the stronger the effect
Key Feature: effect generally stronger in women
Purpose
Selfish guilt encourages everyone to not wait for others to help the unfortunate.
Without selfish guilt, people would wait for others to help the unfortunate. When someone else helped an unfortunate person, you would stop feeling compassion without being harmed.
With selfish guilt, people who wait do not escape feeling a negative effect. If you let another person help an unfortunate person, you will start feeling selfish guilt when you stop feeling compassion.
Charities make it easier to stop compassion or avoid selfish guilt. You just pick up the phone and make a donation. Before charities, you had to visit unfortunate people to help them.
Commercial insurance is an alternative to compassion and selfish guilt. Both systems give large amounts to a few unfortunate people by taking small amounts from many fortunate people.
Conceptual Trigger
Selfish guilt is not triggered unless you could have prevented harm. Beggars do not feel selfish guilt saying no to another beggar.
Selfish guilt is not triggered unless the other person suffered misfortune. You do not feel selfish guilt saying no to an able-bodied beggar.
If selfish guilt did not require misfortune, it would harm group survival. Everyone would feel selfish guilt whenever they said no to a request for money. The streets would be lined with able-bodied beggars.
Selfish guilt can be mistakenly triggered by other species. You would feel selfish guilt if you left an animal writhing in pain.
Mental Effect
Selfish guilt encourages everyone to not wait for others to help the unfortunate.
Without selfish guilt, people would wait for others to help the unfortunate. When someone else helped an unfortunate person, you would stop feeling compassion without being harmed.
With selfish guilt, people who wait do not escape feeling a negative effect. If you let another person help an unfortunate person, you will start feeling selfish guilt when you stop feeling compassion.
Charities make it easier to stop compassion or avoid selfish guilt. You just pick up the phone and make a donation. Before charities, you had to visit unfortunate people to help them.
Commercial insurance is an alternative to compassion and selfish guilt. Both systems give large amounts to a few unfortunate people by taking small amounts from many fortunate people.
Conceptual Trigger
Selfish guilt is not triggered unless you could have prevented harm. Beggars do not feel selfish guilt saying no to another beggar.
Selfish guilt is not triggered unless the other person suffered misfortune. You do not feel selfish guilt saying no to an able-bodied beggar.
If selfish guilt did not require misfortune, it would harm group survival. Everyone would feel selfish guilt whenever they said no to a request for money. The streets would be lined with able-bodied beggars.
Selfish guilt can be mistakenly triggered by other species. You would feel selfish guilt if you left an animal writhing in pain.
Mental Effect
Selfish guilt varies with the preventable harm. The more harm you could have prevented, the stronger the negative effect. You will feel selfish guilt if you drive by a stranded motorist gesturing for help. You will feel stronger selfish guilt if the motorist dies of exposure that night.
Selfish guilt varies with preventable harm to increase the likelihood of helping next time. The stronger selfish guilt is, the more likely you will help in the future. If you have passed a stranded motorist that died, you are more likely to help stranded motorists in the future.
Compassion and selfish guilt are generally stronger in women. The difference is evident in voting and volunteering. Women are more inclined to vote for the left. Most volunteers are women.
Compassion and selfish guilt are stronger in women because they spend more time with children. Children are more likely to suffer misfortune. Also, rescuing a child saves more years of life than rescuing an adult.
Compassion and selfish guilt are the only group emotions that are stronger in women.
Selfish guilt varies with preventable harm to increase the likelihood of helping next time. The stronger selfish guilt is, the more likely you will help in the future. If you have passed a stranded motorist that died, you are more likely to help stranded motorists in the future.
Compassion and selfish guilt are generally stronger in women. The difference is evident in voting and volunteering. Women are more inclined to vote for the left. Most volunteers are women.
Compassion and selfish guilt are stronger in women because they spend more time with children. Children are more likely to suffer misfortune. Also, rescuing a child saves more years of life than rescuing an adult.
Compassion and selfish guilt are the only group emotions that are stronger in women.
Happiness Dissected is a more practical version of The Origin of Emotions.