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Scientists just created an enzyme that rapidly breaks down plastic pollution

Scientists just created an enzyme that rapidly breaks down plastic pollution
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Last year, we shared the sad impact that plastic pollution has had on some of our planet's most beautiful places. With recycling not turning out to be the savior it was made out to be, solutions to our growing plastic problem can seem distant and complex.

We have seen some glimmers of hope from both human innovation and nature itself, however. In 2016, a bacteria that evolved with the ability to break down plastic was discovered in a Japanese waste site. Two years later, scientists managed to engineer the mutant plastic-eating enzyme they called PETase—named for polyethylene terephthalate, the most common plastic found in bottles and food packaging—in a lab.

Here's an explainer of how those enzymes work:

Ending Plastic Pollution with Designer Bacteriayoutu.be

Now researchers have revealed another game-changer in the plastic-eater—a super-enzyme that can break down plastic six times faster than PETase alone.

The super-enzyme is a bit of a frankenzyme, created by linking different enzymes together. "When we linked the enzymes, rather unexpectedly, we got a dramatic increase in activity," Prof John McGeehan, at the University of Portsmouth, UK, told The Guardian. "This is a trajectory towards trying to make faster enzymes that are more industrially relevant. But it's also one of those stories about learning from nature, and then bringing it into the lab."

This new research has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Combining enzymes could be the key to making various kinds of plastics and combined materials fully recyclable. "There's huge potential," said McGeehan. "We've got several hundred in the lab that we're currently sticking together."

For example, combining the plastic-eating enzymes with existing enzymes that break down natural fibers could allow fabrics made of mixed materials to be recycled, McGeehan told The Guardian. "Mixed fabrics [of polyester and cotton] are really tricky to recycle. We've been speaking to some of the big fashion companies that produce these textiles, because they're really struggling at the moment."

This newest research isn't the first to improve upon the plastic-eating bacteria discovery. In April, a French chemistry company called Carbios shared their own mutant enzyme that can degrade 90% of plastic bottles within 10 hours. However, that enzyme, which originally discovered in a pile of composting leaves, requires heating above 70 degrees Celsius (nearly 160 degrees Fahrenheit), whereas this new super-enzyme works at room temperature.

Not that it's a cutthroat competition. We are talking about helping out the entire planet and saving life as we know it, after all. McGeehan suggested that the researchers work together with the private sector to get the enzymes working out in the real world. "If we can make better, faster enzymes by linking them together and provide them to companies like Carbios, and work in partnership, we could start doing this within the next year or two," McGeehan told The Guardian.

McGeehan did emphasize to CNN that the super-enzyme is "still way too slow" to be commercially viable at this point, but it is a huge step in the process. "We were actually quite surprised it worked so well," he told CNN.

Here's to science coming up with solutions to the problems human scientific advances have created, and here's to learning to live in better balance with nature in the process.

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Culture

Passenger on 274-day cruise is surprised to learn the one word you can't say on the ship

"It's like saying 'Macbeth' in a theater."

via Mattew Barra/Pexels
There's one word you can't say on a cruise ship.

There are some things you just don't say. You don't yell out "bomb!" on an airplane, make jokes about carrying weapons while going through security, or, as Michael Scott from The Office knows, loudly proclaim that a boat you're currently on is sinking.

Those are all pretty obvious examples, but sometimes etiquette and decorum are a little more subtle. If you're not experienced in the ways of the venue you're in, you might not know all the unspoken rules. And you might find out the hard way. Cruise ships, for example, have their own very specific set of rules and regulations that guests should abide by.

On December 10, 2023, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas set sail on the Ultimate World Cruise—a 274-day global trek that visits 11 world wonders and over 60 countries.


cruise, 9-month cruise, Marc Sebastian, cruise life, vacation, titanic, unspoken rules, etiquette, cruise etiquette, royal caribbean 9 months is a very long time to be aboard a boat, even a giant cruise ship. Photo by Peter Hansen on Unsplash

This incredible trip covered the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Mediterranean and Europe with a ticket price that ranges from $53,999 to $117,599 per passenger.

With such a unique and incredible offering, it's understandable that Royal Caribbean wanted to invite plenty of influencers to help them get the word out.

Aboard the Serenade to the Seas was popular TikToker Marc Sebastian, who documented his experience throughout the journey. In one video with over 4.3 million views, he revealed what he’s learned over his first few weeks aboard the ship; the biggest was the one word you’re not allowed to say.

"So here's [what] I've learned about cruising since I've spent 18 nights on this floating retirement home with a Cheesecake Factory attached. First, number one, you're not supposed to talk about the Titanic," he says in the clip.

Titanic! It's the ultimate taboo when you're on a giant ship traversing the ocean. Even after all these years, it's still too soon to make even lighthearted comparisons or jokes.

@marcsebastianf

someone get whoopi on the line girl i have some goss for her #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #titanic

“Who knew that? I didn’t,” Sebastian said. “I brought it up to an entire room of people having lunch that our ship is only 100 feet longer than the Titanic — when I tell you that utensils dropped. Waiters gasped. It’s dead silent.”

Sebastian was flabbergasted. "It wasn't in the... handbook," he joked. "Not that I read the handbook, clearly."

After the unexpected reaction, his cruise friend told him, “You’re not allowed to talk about the Titanic.” It makes sense.

Who wants to be reminded of the tragedy that killed around 1,500 people while sinking one of the most impressive engineering feats of the era? More experienced cruisers chimed in that they were familiar with the unique piece of etiquette.

cruise, 9-month cruise, Marc Sebastian, cruise life, vacation, titanic, unspoken rules, etiquette, cruise etiquette, royal caribbean Pro tip: Don't ask the band on board to play "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion Giphy

"When I went on a cruise, my mom told me saying Titanic was equivalent to screaming ‘bomb’ at an airport," Mikayla wrote in the comments.

"It’s like saying Macbeth in a theatre, it’s an unspoken rule" another commenter added.

"I’m sorry you’re telling me you had a Harry Potter like experience saying Voldemort at Hogwarts but it was the titanic on a modern day cruise I’m cryingggg" joked another.

Later in the video covering little known cruise facts, Sebastian admits he was surprised to learn that cruise ships have godmothers and that the pools are filled with seawater.

In an update from June of 2024, Sebastian explains that he only stayed on the cruise for 18 nights. He was not booked to stay throughout the entire voyage, and for him, that was a relief.

He initially jokes that he was kicked off the boat for saving a penguin that had jumped aboard. But in the end, he admits he was more than happy to deboard early.

"I walked off that ship not a happy man," he said, saying the ship was overstimulating and stressful. In another video, he films as the ship navigates the Drake Passage, one of the most notoriously dangerous and choppy stretches of water in the world. It looks stressful indeed, to say the least.

Cruising isn't for everyone, let alone for 274 days straight! But now Sebastian knows the golden rule for his next cruise.

This story originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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Culture

Woman shares her $37.90/hr wage working at Costco and people are rethinking their choices

"So getting a college degree is a scam?"

Canva Photos & Open Grid Scheduler/Flickr

A woman shares her stunning Costco paycheck and has users rethinking their biases.

Some misconceptions just won't die. One of the biggest is that retail and fast food jobs don't constitute real "careers," and are temporary dead-ends meant only for teens or seniors. Let's face it: There's a stigma against what are viewed as lower-level jobs, so much so that working fast food is often used as a PR stunt by politicians to show how "normal" they are or a punishment for criminals.

It really doesn't have to be this way. Imagine a world where an entry-level retail job could turn into a real career, steadily rewarding loyal employees with more and better pay, strong benefits, and advancement opportunities. Imagine if you could get on-the-job training and new certifications that would help you move up the ladder and earn even more money, all with the support of your company. Shouldn't working hard at a job, any real job, give you the right to a pretty good and comfortable life? Is that so crazy?

making money, employment, working, costco job, work Season 2 Money GIF by Sony Pictures Television Giphy

Well, it's not common, but one woman's story shows us that it is possible.

A woman has gone viral on TikTok for sharing exactly how much she earns as a loyal employee at Costco and people can't believe their eyes.

The young woman, who goes by Joce on social media, shared a video breaking down how her pay has changed over the years she's worked at the bulk-retail giant.

According to the video, she was hired in 2018 at a meager but respectable $14 per hour. In one video she jokes she always said it was "just a summer job."

But she stuck around for seven years and counting, and it's not hard to see why. Steady raises each year brought her to a whopping $37.90 in 2025.

This number doesn't even account for Costco's twice-a-year bonuses, benefits, and time-and-a-half pay on Sundays, and would put Joce at just under $80,000 per year assuming a full-time schedule. Not bad for a "summer job."


@thelifeofjoce

loyalty really paid off #costco #paytransparency

Nearly 11 million people watched the video. Commenters were in shock that someone could make so much at a so-called dead-end retail job.

In particular, people who'd spent a lot of time (and money) on advanced degrees just to be struggling with debt and burnt out in their careers were absolutely shook by the revelation:

"just looked at my masters degree and sighed" one user joked.

"Does Costco need nurses" quipped another.

"THIS is why I left teaching after 8 years with a masters degree and never looked back" someone said.

"So getting a college degree is a scam" another person added.

costco, working at costco, good wages, work, employment People are enthusiastic about working at Costco. Giphy

Others shared their own stories from their lives or from people they knew:

"True story.. RN working with me full time and keeping her part time work at Costco since she got paid same or maybe little more. eventually she went back fulltime working for Costco."

"I had a friend who worked [there] over 20 years, her 401K, was set for life. Costco employees, stay forever. Their pictures on the wall. They treat employees great"

While impressive, $37.90 per hour doesn't quite tell the full story. No, the full story is even cooler.

Joce breaks down her pay even further in another video, explaining that she's able to make so much at Costco because she moved into the optics department and became a licensed optician.

In addition to her base rate of $31.90, Joce gets a premium added to her wages. Certain specialist positions get premium pay and some store locations offer additional premiums as well. She also makes $56.85 per hour on Sundays, making for some pretty beefy paychecks.

But lest you think that Joce's optician's license should take away from her success story, think again! In responses to comments on her videos, she explains that Costco helped support her as she worked to get certified as she had no prior experience or training:

"It’s all on the job training and they give you time to study while working!" she writes. "They give you 3 months to study for the first exam (ABO), then up to a year or so to pass the second one (NCLE) to get fully licensed"


@thelifeofjoce

cleared up the confusion and my astigmatism #newglasses #costco #faq

From a young age, many of us are fed the belief that we need to spend four years in college and take on crippling debt just so we can get a degree and give ourselves a shot at a proper "grown up" job.

You know, like an engineer, doctor, generic business-person. These are the careers you're supposed to aspire to have. But there's no guarantee that achieving that dream is going to make you happy just because it's considered respectable.

Over 42 million Americans have student loan debt and the average comes out to just under $40,000. For many, it's impossible to pay off, which can be especially grueling when you find out the career you were chasing isn't as fulfilling or well-paying as you thought it would be.

It doesn't have to be this way. People like Joce are proving that there are other paths to success, and she's not alone. More and more of Gen Z is turning to "blue collar" work because it's viewed as more balanced and stable. If more companies would take care of their employees and pay a fair, living wage the way Costco does, people would have a lot more options.

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Heroes

Man finds genius loophole to beat squatters at their own game. Homeowners say he's a hero.

"All I'm doing is becoming a squatter and flipping this process on them."

Canva Photos

Flash Shelton has been nicknamed the "Squatter Hunter" and helps people take their homes back.

Squatters' rights laws are some of the most bizarrely misused legal realities we have, and something no one seems to have a good answer for. Most of us have heard stories of someone moving into a vacant home and just living there, without anyone's permission and without paying rent, and somehow this is a legal question mark until the courts sort it out.

According to The National Desk, squatters' rights are a carryover from British property law and were created to ensure that abandoned property could be used and to protect occupants from being kicked out without proper notice. The argument is that it's better to have someone openly living in a home and taking care of it, properly maintaining it, versus it laying abandoned and rotting away. Families and residents add value to a community, and those residents should have rights — or so the reasoning goes.

It should go without saying that squatter law isn't meant to allow someone to just take over someone else's property, but sometimes that's exactly what happens.

A squatter takeover is exactly what happened to Flash Shelton's mother when she put her house up for rent after her husband passed away.


A woman contacted her with interest in the property, only she wanted to do repairs and look after the home instead of paying rent. Before anyone knew it, she had furniture delivered (which she later said was accidental) and set up camp, despite Shelton's mom not agreeing to the arrangement.

But since the woman had expressed her intention and already moved in, the matter was out of police hands, as Shelton found out when he tried to contact the local sheriff. If that sounds like trespassing to you, well, join the club.

“They said, ‘I’m sorry but we can’t enter the house, and it looks like they’re living there, so you need to go through the courts',” he shared in a YouTube video.


Shelton rightfully didn't want the expense of a court battle, so he took matters into his own hands—not with violence, but with logic. He had his mom lease the home to him, and then told the squatter that she had to move everything out because he was moving things in.


squatters, homeowners, criminals, trespassing, law, property law, viral videos, youtube, squatter hunter How exactly is squatting not trespassing? It's complicated, for some reason. Giphy

“If they can take a house, I can take a house," he said.

He was calm and clear about her having to get everything out within the day or he would have people come and take it, and thankfully, she didn't put up a big fight.

That experience made him realize how squatter law can be abused, but that there's a faster system for removing a squatter than to go through the court system. If a squatter can move in and force a homeowner to take them to court to prove they are living there illegally, then he could simply move in alongside the squatter, putting the squatter in the position of having to take the homeowner to court instead.

"The legal process is so slow, and at some point when they're in there, you're going to feel like they have more rights than you do and that's how you're going to be treated. So even though you it's your house and you're paying the mortgage or whatever, at some point squatters feel like they have more rights than you, so they don't have an incentive to leave until a judge tells them to, until they're actually ordered to, and that could take months."

After successfully removing the squatters in his mother's house, Shelton has been tackling similar squatter situations for other homeowners in California, earning him the nickname "The Squatter Hunter."

"All I'm doing is becoming a squatter and flipping this process on them," Shelton told CBS News. "I figured if they could take a house, I could take a house."

According to CBS, he's successfully removed a dozen squatters in the past year. ""I'm not going in and I'm not hurting anyone," he said. "I'm not kicking them out, I'm not throwing them out." He's literally just moving in himself, setting up cameras, and then creating small annoyances until the squatters get fed up enough to move out; like making uncomfortable alterations to the home or making a ton of noise at inopportune hours.

Shelton parlayed his success into a reality show on A&E called, fittingly, Squatters. It premiered in July of 2025. To put it lightly, it looks intense! Clips posted on Shelton's social media show hostile standoffs with angry squatters and even he and his team causing damage to the home or creating nuisances to help drive the squatters out.

California isn't the only state that has seen issues with squatters. There are squatter stories from all over the U.S. of people moving into a property and refusing to leave without a court order, tying owners up in lengthy, expensive legal battles.

Though squatting is relatively rare overall, some areas of the country have more issues than others. California, Texas, Georgia, and Florida are areas, in particular, that struggle with squatters and abandoned properties.

Shelton even has a Change.org petition to try to get squatter laws changed to "make squatting in residential maintained homes criminal." Making squatting illegal "will shift the burden of proof onto the squatter and make the crime punishable with restitution an option for damages," the the petition states.

Not all homeowners will have access to someone like Shelton and his team to fight back against squatters. But until the laws change, he's doing as much as he can.

Watch Shelton share his personal story:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.


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Love Stories

Couples married 40-plus years offer their best tips for a lasting, successful relationship

"A laugh and a hug is helpful to calm the crazy."

Image via Canva/perfectwave

People married for 40 years or more share their relationship advice for lasting marriages.

The 40th wedding anniversary is called the "ruby anniversary," and making it to this milestone is a rare feat. According to Bowling State University in 2018, while 41% of marriages in the United States make it to their 25th ('silver') wedding anniversary, only 8% make it to their 50th ('golden') wedding anniversary. So, couples that have remained together 40 years have a lot of marriage advice to offer.

At 40 years, you've seen just about everything a relationship can offer, and you've gotten to know your partner in a way that no one else ever will. You've seen the good times, you've seen the bad times, you've been through sickness and health. You've probably raised a few kids and dealt with every problem that can happen in a home.

In a Reddit subforum older people sharing life advice, member u/OneTwoThreeFoolFive posed the question: "Elderly who have been *happily* married for more than 4 decades, what tips can you give to people who haven't married yet?"

Couples with long, successful marriages joyfully shared their helpful marriage advice with others. These are insightful marriage tips from 20 couples who have been married 40 years or more.

Marriage advice from those who've been married 40-plus years

marriage, married couple, old married couple, happy marriage, happy relationship up s GIF Giphy

"Listening to your partner means thinking about what your partner is saying, not thinking about what you're going to say in response." —Odd_Bodkin

"Do not marry someone that you are planning on changing. Marry someone who you can live with their less than ideal qualities." —tmaenadw

"Respect, patience, marry someone who makes you laugh because life is silly." — lmb3456


older couple, old couple, happy old couple, laughing, laughing couple Kacey Musgraves Love GIF by Cuco Giphy

"My favorite quote, 'True love is when both people think that they are the lucky one'…. Going strong since 87." — glamourgal1

"Ok, so I’m close at 38 years, so here goes. Respect your partner. Every single day. Wake up and tell yourself you love them. Every single day. Thank them every single time they do something you appreciate, like making coffee you share, or taking out the garbage. My hubby thanks me every single time I do the laundry. Every single time. It makes me feel valued and really helped get me through when the kids were small and there was a lot of laundry. Plus, Date Night. It’s really the planning and looking forward to it, not the glitzy or glamorousness of the date itself. Try to talk to each other about yourselves and not the kids for just that couple hours together. Make lots of plans for short trips either as a couple or with the kids. We were poor and our vacations were camping. Our girls loved it because they got their dad to themselves as he wasn’t working on a house project… He taught them how to pack the car, set up the tent, build a FIRE! All fun stuff for kids. Plus, fishing, hiking, and whatever else they could dream up together."— bookishlibrarym

"Take a deep breath, walk , then try to forget what stupid thing your spouse just said or did. It’s worked for some 40 years now and very happily married."— Front-Barracuda-9303

happy marriage, happily married, happily married gif, successful marriage, long marriage Grow Old Together Love GIF by ANTIQUES ROADSHOW | PBS Giphy

"Don't get married to keep from being alone or for financial stability. Wait until the right one. If you marry for money, you will pay. If you marry from loneliness, the worst kind of loneliness is being lonely in a marriage." —Ok-Resist7858

"Laugh together, but never at each other. Create a safe landing for difficult times; they will happen. Be ready to help them get through and don’t add to the difficulties. Be sympathetic and learn the cues when needed. This is for both the good and the bad times. It’s not always about you, let them have their time and they will let you have yours. Help them shine. This is a partnership that includes finances, parenting, death & illness of loved ones and working both inside and outside the home. Find what motivates them (and you) and agree to not agree when needed. When you love, admire, respect, and cherish your spouse, let them know. This doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a constant work in progress. The returns on these investments will last a lifetime. (Married for 46 years and counting, at ages 16F & 19M)." — Its-Two-Latte

"Do not rush into it." — Mrs_Gracie2001

no rush, don't rush, stop rushing, no rush relationship, don't rush Ice T Reaction GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Giphy

"A laugh and a hug is helpful to calm the crazy. We are both 66, have had a long-lived infatuation with each other from the beginning and got married at 17 . I know, infatuations are supposed to be short-lived but the passion is as strong now as it was at 17. We still love being together but the times when one is crazy can be a challenge. And focus on living within your means as money worries can be seriously problematic." — jhoover58

"Best advice was from a man who had been married 60 years. Someone asked him the secret of a lasting marriage, and he said 'Well, I’ll tell you…Ignore them when they’re stupid'." — mishymc

Married as teenagers and still married 57 years later. I was lucky to find someone at a young age who was a mature, loyal, even-tempered, hard-working, and intelligent. Life is long and it can be hard, so you need someone you can rely on ... and who can rely on you. We have always had similar goals and were willing to sacrifice and work to achieve them. Working together like that is actually very enjoyable." — Bay_de_Noc

couple goals, happy couple, happy marriage, happily married, fun couple Shake It Dancing GIF by Laff Giphy

"From a very practical perspective, the three biggest stressors on a marriage are finances, children, and division of labor. If a couple isn’t on the same page, it builds resentment: he won’t save/she won’t have fun, she lets the kids go wild/he’s too strict, he won’t help/she’s a nag. My advice is to marry someone who shares the same values. Despite Hallmark movie themes, opposites don’t do well in the long run." —Silly-Resist8306

"A few tips: Remember, your spouse is always well-intentioned. Know that marriage is hard and work through the rough patches. Vacation apart occasionally. It gets better with every year. Learn each other's love languages and respect them." —Critical_Dig799

"Have each other's backs. You are your own family unit now. Think of it as concentric circles. You and your partner are the inner circle, your parents etc the next circle. Too many people struggle to understand this and prioritize their parents over their partner. You get to make your own holiday traditions, you both get to combine your family traditions to make your own and that's OK. Make sure you agree on the basics before you get married, like really deep down agree on the basics of children, money, religion, politics. Also make sure you can talk about sex with each other before you get married. That you feel safe being able to articulate your needs and boundaries and that your partner will try to meet them, maybe not perfectly at first but will make the effort until you both figure it out together. This also applies to life outside the bedroom." — wwaxwork

got your back, got your back gif, happy couple, happy marriage, friends married I Got You Bff GIF by StickerGiant Giphy

"50 years this year. We are so lucky. Learn to fight fair. Pull your punches. Always remember you love this person and you don’t want to knock them to the ground. No bringing up old conflicts into the argument. Let old things go and stay in the present. Keep perspective. Will it matter in 5 years? Some issues are worth a big fight. Some are not worth a tiny fight. We had some really stupid fights and laugh about it today." —curiousinbiguniverse

"Take a real close look at the family you are marrying into. The longer you’re married, the more they are involved in your life like it or not. You’ll end taking care of aging parents, loser brother or sister, nieces, nephews." —Outdoor-Snacker

"Don't waste a lot of money on a big wedding. Watch the issue of Adam Ruins Everything about marriage and weddings. Treat your partner with respect and as you would like to be treated. 49 years and going strong for us. The payoff is the golden years with lots of funny stories and inside jokes and good companionship." —joekerr9999

"So many things. For men: learn to communicate the way she understands (I have found women will hardly ever understand how we communicate). For both: Forgive the little flaws. Do special things for each other regularly. Be willing to give space. Don't use the D word unless you're serious. Don't put your children ahead of your marriage. Don't speak in anger. Accept that you two are different and have different styles. Say 'I love you' daily. Give compliments. Have sex regularly (Don't use it as a weapon)." —JWR-Giraffe-5268

"Most of what's been said so far. I'd like to add sleep naked and close. Still after 52 years married." — j00e420

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Mental Health

Experts share why being guilt-prone is actually a top sign that someone is trustworthy

There are tools to manage guilt in healthy ways.

Photo credit: Canva

A man appears guilty.

Self-conscious emotions often get a bad rap. When we think of shame or embarrassment, guilt is not usually far behind. We often assume these types of feelings are negative, but the truth is—they can be excellent indicators that a person has a pretty decent moral compass.

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers sought to determine indicators of trustworthiness. The 2018 paper "Who is trustworthy? Predicting Trustworthy intentions and behavior" makes a huge distinction about their intentions right off the bat: "Existing trust research has disproportionately focused on what makes people more or less trusting, and has largely ignored the question of what makes people more or less trustworthy."

Their findings are pretty clear cut: The number one indicator of trustworthiness? Being prone to guilt. "Guilt-proneness predicts trustworthiness better than a variety of other personality measures, and we identify sense of interpersonal responsibility as the underlying mechanism by both measuring it and manipulating it directly. People who are high in guilt-proneness are more likely to be trustworthy than are individuals who are low in guilt-proneness, but they are not universally more generous."


Writer Leah Fessler cites the study in her piece, "Who should you trust? Psychologists have a fascinating answer," for Quartz: "Guilt-proneness is not the same as feeling guilty, and this distinction is key to understanding why guilt-proneness is a positive trait, especially as it relates to trustworthiness."

It's all about the anticipation of guilt, and one's hope is: this trait might prevent someone from behaving in a negative manner. The line of thinking goes something like this: "If I steal money from Emily, that would really hurt her feelings, so I won't do it."

Fessler further explains, "We typically think about guilt as a signal that someone did do something wrong, which is why it’s seen as a character flaw." She references Emma Levine, an assistant psychology professor at University of Chicago. "But feeling guilty about wrongdoing is a good thing," Levine says, "whereas doing something wrong and not feeling guilty would be problematic, as it suggests a lack of remorse and no intention to repair your transgressions."

Explanation as to why guilt can be a good thing. www.youtube.com, Anna Akana

In the article "The Problem with Guilt" for Psychology Today, authors Tara Ceranic Salinas, Ph.D., and Ed Love, Ph.D., explain simply that "Guilt serves an important purpose in guiding our behavior by causing us to evaluate our moral worth and how we fit in the various communities to which we belong. Along with shame and embarrassment, it is part of the self-conscious emotion family, and these inward-facing emotions motivate ethical behavior. (Note: they don't distinguish between guilt or guilt-prone, but we get the idea.)

They acknowledge that "Guilt is tricky. Feeling guilty makes us realize we have messed up–even if we haven’t!" They provide a few tools for processing guilt, such as acknowledgement (owning what they've done), self-reflection (how does it make them feel?), and still having plenty of compassion for yourself after the mistake has been made. None of us are perfect, even those who are trustworthy.

guilt, feeling guilty, emotion, trust A woman looks guilty. Giphy

The Reddit post titled "Guilt-prone people are highly skilled at recognising other people’s emotions" has another spin on the matter. The guilt-prone aren't not just more trustworthy. They're more empathetic.

A commenter shares, "It's not surprising if you think about the neurobiology of it. Guilt, shame, and empathy come from the same areas in the brain. Psychopaths have less amount of grey matter in the parts of the brain that regulates these traits."

Probably safe to assume that "psychopaths" aren't the most trustworthy, so, yes—it totally tracks.

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