Next Tuesday evening starts the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. This is a day of atonement. Coming 10 days after the new year, one is supposed to ask pardon for all of the transgressions they have committed in the past year. I was thinking about this earlier today, and the general theme of the holiday- that of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is such a major theme in human history, literature, and culture. From the Torah to Avatar the Last Airbender, forgiveness plays a major role in much of society's thoughts. The natural human want, the almost animalistic desire, for forgiveness is astounding. Why do humans crave this so much?
I think it stems from our self-centered need for acceptance. Societal approval means a great deal to us, and it has to humans for the last 5,000 years or more. Forgiveness means having others think better of us, thereby propelling us up in the social ladder, or at least boosting our images in other's minds.
In addition to that reason, I think this desire also comes from our need for rewards. We are taught (by our parents, schools, and most of the major religions) that, even if we do bad things, if we apologize for them, we will not only be forgiven, but we will be rewarded for our honesty. The incessant human urge for rewards also drives our need for forgiveness.
I'm not quite sure where I was going with all of this, but I thought it was an interesting thing that I'd never really thought about before. If you guys have any thoughts on why we need forgiveness, why this theme is so common in society, or comments about my opinions, comment!
Good topic for discussion. Your two suggested motivations for forgiveness are pretty selfish in nature. They really don't have much with "righting" our wrongs. I have to agree that (in my opinion at least) most apologies are motivated by self-interest. Is it possible for regret to be generated by a sincere desire of selflessness?
ReplyDeleteAaron, I'm just now reading your post but it actually relates to the existentialism discussion we had in class. Your views on rewards resonated with me. Do you ever feel as though the reward system (especially comparing America with other countries) is too generous? This question goes beyond the motivation for satisfaction and forgiveness, but it's just something I found interesting! :)
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