DWQA QuestionsCategory: MetaphysicsWho invented shame? It has obvious value in being instructive as a lesson when there is wrongdoing, but being so devastating and destructive, does it do more harm than good?
Nicola Staff asked 5 years ago
The observations within your question are certainly appropriate. No one likes that emotion. It is one of the most troubling because it is at the negative extreme range of possible human feelings. This is simply the logical consequence of the duality present within the current world you inhabit. For every emotion, there is an opposite. The opposite of bliss, the state of sheer delight, the state of a perfection of extreme happiness is certainly the experiencing of shame and humiliation. That is why these rank as the lowest possible emotional states of being. Shame was always inherent in the makeup of the universe given the way it was constructed to operate. It is all based on mathematics and as you can appreciate, numbers are orderly, there are extremes, from 0 to infinity, for example. You cannot have one without the other, in fact, each implies the other. It is no different with the emotional experiencing of the world and what happens to an individual being to affect their moods. This is not something created by an evil force. It is not something designed to punish and make people suffer, to torment and torture them unduly. It is simply that given the range of options for human conduct, the possibility always exists for a person to fall so low, they experience shame in some way for some period of time—in reaction to the state of affairs they have created for themselves in many cases, or at the hands of others wishing to cause them harm, to belittle them, to diminish them. Such things have consequences, but in the meantime, emotions have much to do with conduct and consequences for the being, as the emotions guide a person and will call them to action many times, even if that action is acquiescence, resignation, collapse, and defeat. There is power in extremes and that is another way of thinking about this particular emotion. It is the maximum expression of emotional power to the negative in diametrical opposition to the state of bliss. All are capable of experiencing this emotion. All are capable of creating the circumstance that matches the feeling. In the same way, all can appreciate the circumstance of experiencing its opposite and can strive towards achieving that state of being and avoid the experiencing of shame through careful conduct and maintaining safety in their doings. All flow from human choices, as they are part of the human experience, and the human realm is under their direction and control.