In this interview excerpt, Speaker A explains that regrets stem from the brain's capacity for counterfactual thinking, which emerges after early childhood. They note that only very young children, people with certain neurodegenerative disorders, and sociopaths lack regrets. The conversation shifts to moral regrets, highlighting how people can feel intense, lingering guilt over past harmful actions, such as bullying decades earlier. Speaker A shares a personal story about not attending a funeral for a man named Bob more than 20 years ago, illustrating how a single missed social ritual can haunt someone for decades, even when other memories fade. Speaker B probes how to handle such persistent regrets, prompting a discussion of coping narratives—whether to dismiss the regret or to internalize self‑criticism. The excerpt underscores the universality of regret, its psychological roots, and the challenge of reconciling long‑standing remorse.
