What if your impulsive behaviors were the correct behaviors?
Regret and remorse as unworthy of the philosopher
Something I’m a slave to: feeling regret (regret of my past actions). Perhaps this is because I feel that I have 100% free will and control over all of my actions, and whenever I act in a way which I feel like I “slipped” (in judgement or action), I feel culpable.
But perhaps regret is a symptom of guilt. Why feel guilty of your past actions and behaviors? Perhaps all the ways you acted impulsively was the most genuine and “correct” ways of acting?
Where do we learn the feeling of guilt?
What I’ve noticed:
Children have a clean conscience.
Therefore children are taught to feel guilt. Perhaps guilt isn’t an intrinsic emotion to us.
Perhaps “guilt” is simply a conditioned response to a link between a certain type of action and the potential of punishment from a parent, teacher, boss, or outside force.
Therefore would the best mode of action and living is to unlearn the feeling of guilt, and to simply continue to act in accordance with our own instincts and impulses?
Why feel guilt?
Assuming guilt is something we’re taught by others, perhaps we need to question and challenge the notion of guilt.
What is the practical purpose of feeling guilt towards our past actions?
The purpose of guilt is to inform our future behavior; for us to become more “rational” with future behaviors, and less impulsive.
But what if impulsive and instinctual behaviors, reactions and actions were superior to “rational” ones?
My thought:
- Instinctual behaviors are more legitimate, as they arise from your own soul and core.
- Rational behaviors are less legitimate, as they are taught and superimposed on us by others.
You are never “taught” how to follow your instinct or gut. We are “taught” to think “rationally”.
Furthermore ever since Socrates, we are taught from a philosophical perspective that the rational is superior to the irrational and impulsive. That Apollonian reasoning and logic is superior to the impulses and sensuality of Dionysus.
A hyper-synthesis of both the extremely rational and extremely irrational?
The general trend we have been taught to strive towards in philosophy and life is this:
Constantly strive to eradicate irrationality, sensuality, and your bodily/sensual impulses and only follow your mental and rational logic.
But what if by trying to eradicate our impulsive and sensual bodily impulses, we are castrating ourselves?
I’d rather be an irrational person (with sexual organs) than a eunuch with perfect rationality
Perfect rationality is not something we should desire. Furthermore perhaps in order to increase our rationality, we must also in tandem continue to increase our irrationality. Rationality and irrationality are perhaps different sides of the same coin.
Greek literature and rap music
A philosophical thought:
Perhaps to evolve, we must embrace hyper-extremes (the Barbell, via Nassim Taleb).
For example in terms of artistic motivation, I only read ancient Greek literature, philosophy and tragedy and listen to “ratchet” and “ignorant” rap music.
Perhaps this extreme hybrid is superior.