The Curse of the Counterfactual - LessWrong - lesswrong.com ![rw-book-cover|200x400](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article4.6bc1851654a0.png) ## Metadata - Author: **lesswrong.com** - Full Title: The Curse of the Counterfactual - LessWrong - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/E4zGWYzh6ZiG85b2z/the-curse-of-the-counterfactual ## Highlights - The Curse of the Counterfactual is a side-effect of the way our brains process is-ought distinctions. It causes our brains to compare our past, present, and future to various counterfactual imaginings, and then blame and punish ourselves for the difference between reality, and whatever we just made up to replace it.