


+2 votes
"Apologies" themselves of course deserve to be questioned, and our culture is all about apologizing because so many things in our culture are geared towards making people comfortable. If you asked someone a question or made a comment that might be offensive/made-them-feel-uncomfortable, the politically correct thing is to apologize.

And there are times when people piss someone off and understand why they did, and feel the to apologize, which can make the situation more comfortable.

And anarchists, while they apologize themselves as well, don't really like it since it's an empty gesture, apologies are pretty damn useless if the apologizer doesn't understand why they are doing it.

What do they do when they are speaking to someone who they see as more than an acquaintance?

so sorry to ask this question

"so sorry to ask this question"....smiley

a short 'egoist' response: one owns it; with an added Nietzschean twist of gratitude for the opportunity to become magnanimous toward oneself while acting in a manner likened to a hard resting place, a camp-bed, toward the one pained so none of us add more misery to a world already full of it.

edit for added thoughts. and another for typos.
"so none of us add more misery to a world already full of it."

The first thought in my hindbrain, before it was actually a thought.

Thank you.

1 Answer

+3 votes
i'd say, taking responsibility for one's action/behavior.

i agree that apologies are rampant and far too often very shallow. but i think there are many times when apologies are absolutely appropriate, when sincere.

'I'm sorry' is often not an apology, but an expression of condolence or regret. maybe there are better phrases for those kinds of situations.
by (13.4k points)
I upvote because that seems pretty spot on to me, it would be an apology along with an explanation of it and your feelings about the measure, but i guess it's an issue of mass society the over-apologizing and shallow apologies
maybe it's just my lateral thinking...

but i have the thought that this parallels the idea of the Gift... a gift is only a gift when it is freely given, and freely accepted.

A true apology isn't an action by an isolated individual;  rather, an affirmation of the the relationship between several individuals.   

(ickk!!!, the wording of that is too d.phil for my peace, but i'll leave it til i can phrase it to suit my bricks and bottles.)
i kinda like the gift analogy.