Modified: July 14, 2023
forgive
This page is from my personal notes, and has not been specifically reviewed for public consumption. It might be incomplete, wrong, outdated, or stupid. Caveat lector.A key insight of Christianity is that forgiveness is something we do for ourselves: it's not just about extending grace to the party being forgiven (though it is also that).
Game-theoretically, forgiveness allows tit-for-tat agents to escape from defection loops, opening the possibility of a better equilibrium for everyone involved.
Psychologically, forgiving others removes poison from our own hearts, and since projection is unavoidable, also makes it easier to forgive ourselves (and vice versa).
A nice insight from NameRedacted:
Acceptance in Buddhist parlance plays a similar role to forgiveness in Christianity. Accepting the world is closer to forgiving the world for being so messed up, rather than any sort of connotation that we won't do anything about it.
Also