Happier Abroad Forum Community

I just had a realization of a possible situation: good people like punishment. Not meaning in an S & M way, but that they see punishment as a good thing & don't discriminate between any (or at least most) situations of that kind of response. So if someone acted disproportionately to someone else's actions or just flipped out over nothing, they'd reflexively be okay with it.

That's a theory on why people that act holier than thou are get so extreme with their "retaliations."

'Like' is probably not the appropriate description here. It's more about fair minded individuals accepting they've done wrong and are brave enough to face the consequences without question. I don't think anyone enjoys punishment unless they get some sort of sexual gratification from it.

No, I meant that they reflexively like any retaliation because it's reminiscent of punishment. There's a such thing as justified revenge, sure- but the sometimes get to a point where they don't distinguish & simply knee-jerk (like a dog just eating whatever falls on the floor- they're so used to it being food that they eat a screw or plastic piece to something).