Criminal Guilt
You feel criminal guilt when you harm someone by breaking the rules.
You feel criminal guilt, for example, when you:
You have break the rules to feel criminal guilt.
If you harm someone without breaking the rules, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you run a red light and hit a bicyclist, you feel criminal guilt. If the bicyclist runs a red light and you hit him, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you knock somebody down while texting and walking, you feel criminal guilt. If you knock somebody down while playing a contact sport, you don't feel criminal guilt.
You have to cause harm to feel criminal guilt.
If you break the rules without harming someone, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you run a red light and don't hit anybody, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you text while walking and do not knock anybody down, you don't feel criminal guilt.
Criminals who commit victimless crimes, like drug users and prostitutes, don't feel criminal guilt. Their crimes cannot cause harm because they have no victims.
People do not feel criminal guilt when they tell white lies. They are called white lies because they are believed to cause no harm. Telling a lie, for example, about why you are late for a lunch meeting. The lie stops the other person feeling revenge towards you but does not cause them real harm.
Shoplifters avoid feeling criminal guilt by reminding themselves that their victim is a large corporation. They tell themselves that a large corporation will not be harmed by their petty theft.
The more harm you cause, the stronger the criminal guilt you feel.
If you dent another car door when opening your door, you will feel weak criminal guilt. If you permanently handicap someone while driving drunk, you will feel much stronger criminal guilt. If you steal $100 from a rich man, you will feel weak criminal guilt. If you steal $100 from a homeless man, you will feel much stronger criminal guilt.
The police will often parade the relatives of murder victims to cry in front of television cameras. They hope to increase the murder's criminal guilt enough to force them to give themselves up.
You never stop feeling criminal guilt.
If you harm someone by breaking the rules, you will always feel criminal guilt when you remember the incident or person. You cannot stop criminal guilt by confessing or being punished. Criminals often confess hoping that it will stop their criminal guilt - it does not. In addition to serving time, criminals still feel criminal guilt and have little to distract them from feeling it.
Criminal guilt can become a substantial source of unhappiness.
Each time you cause someone harm by breaking the rules leaves you feeling criminal guilt forever. Over a lifetime those incidents and criminal guilt accumulate in your head. For older people who have wronged a lot of people, criminal guilt becomes a major source of unhappiness they cannot escape. Although unseen, criminal guilt can be the equivalent of a chronic ailment that causes constant pain.
You feel criminal guilt, for example, when you:
- steal $100 from somebody
- hit a bicyclist when running a red light
- knock somebody down while texting and walking
- cause permanent injury to somebody while driving drunk
- kill someone against their wishes
You have break the rules to feel criminal guilt.
If you harm someone without breaking the rules, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you run a red light and hit a bicyclist, you feel criminal guilt. If the bicyclist runs a red light and you hit him, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you knock somebody down while texting and walking, you feel criminal guilt. If you knock somebody down while playing a contact sport, you don't feel criminal guilt.
You have to cause harm to feel criminal guilt.
If you break the rules without harming someone, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you run a red light and don't hit anybody, you don't feel criminal guilt. If you text while walking and do not knock anybody down, you don't feel criminal guilt.
Criminals who commit victimless crimes, like drug users and prostitutes, don't feel criminal guilt. Their crimes cannot cause harm because they have no victims.
People do not feel criminal guilt when they tell white lies. They are called white lies because they are believed to cause no harm. Telling a lie, for example, about why you are late for a lunch meeting. The lie stops the other person feeling revenge towards you but does not cause them real harm.
Shoplifters avoid feeling criminal guilt by reminding themselves that their victim is a large corporation. They tell themselves that a large corporation will not be harmed by their petty theft.
The more harm you cause, the stronger the criminal guilt you feel.
If you dent another car door when opening your door, you will feel weak criminal guilt. If you permanently handicap someone while driving drunk, you will feel much stronger criminal guilt. If you steal $100 from a rich man, you will feel weak criminal guilt. If you steal $100 from a homeless man, you will feel much stronger criminal guilt.
The police will often parade the relatives of murder victims to cry in front of television cameras. They hope to increase the murder's criminal guilt enough to force them to give themselves up.
You never stop feeling criminal guilt.
If you harm someone by breaking the rules, you will always feel criminal guilt when you remember the incident or person. You cannot stop criminal guilt by confessing or being punished. Criminals often confess hoping that it will stop their criminal guilt - it does not. In addition to serving time, criminals still feel criminal guilt and have little to distract them from feeling it.
Criminal guilt can become a substantial source of unhappiness.
Each time you cause someone harm by breaking the rules leaves you feeling criminal guilt forever. Over a lifetime those incidents and criminal guilt accumulate in your head. For older people who have wronged a lot of people, criminal guilt becomes a major source of unhappiness they cannot escape. Although unseen, criminal guilt can be the equivalent of a chronic ailment that causes constant pain.
Criminal guilt and selfish guilt are different emotions.
While both are negative emotions you feel when somebody else is harmed, they are caused by very different situations. While criminal guilt is caused when you harm someone by breaking the rules, selfish guilt is caused when you fail to help an unfortunate person. You feel criminal guilt when you set fire to someone's house. You feel selfish guilt when you fail to tell someone their house is on fire.
For more about emotions, visit: Happiness Dissected
