The Ache of the Unchosen Life: Why the Brain Revisits What Might Have Been (opens in new tab)

Regret is often spoken of as though it arrives after catastrophe. But catastrophe is usually late to the story. It begins earlier. With the road glanced at twice. With the apartment not taken. With the man not married. With the life that remained possible just long enough to acquire glamour. People imagine regret is about loss. Often it is about comparison. And comparison, in late modern life, has become nearly liturgical. A recent study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience suggests...