What if regrets were our best allies?

We see them most of the time as a problem. But a life without regrets would be very worrying, as they seem necessary for our adaptation, explains the author of a book just published in the United States.

Without regrets. The formula “has become surprisingly invasive, even for a cliché”, remark The Washington Post in his review of a book just published in the United States, The Power of Regret (“The Power of Regret”, not translated into French), by Daniel H. Pink. In songs, in books, in the form of tattoos… The refrain “I don’t regret anything” is often brandished as a positive assertion.

After the science of timing (The good momentFlammarion, 2019), the art of persuasion (Convince whoever you wantFlammarion, 2016) and the secrets of motivation (The Truth About What Motivates UsFlammarion, 2016), Pink – a former political adviser, who was once the pen of US Vice-President Al Gore – has therefore decided to take an interest in these unloved regrets.

“It is generally believed that the secret to a successful life is the absence of suffering and inconvenience, but this is not true”, immediately affirms the author to the American daily. On the contrary, regrets can be virtuous. Citing the work of American researcher Amy Summerville, Pink explains that having regrets is comparable to physical pain: the sensation should be interpreted as “a warning sent by our body to let us know that something is wrong”.

In this sense, regrets would be eminently functional: by forcing us to imagine how things could have turned out better, they help us project ourselves towards more positive outcomes in the future.