For an interesting dramatic exploration of the seven deadly sins, I recommend Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's 1933 musical production (a "sung ballet") called The Seven Deadly Sins. It is about a couple of sisters (both named Anna) from Louisiana, who set out from their family home to seek their fortune. The work consists of a set of episodes, one illustrating each of the seven deadly sins. Interestingly, each of the sins is illustrated by what would typically be considered virtuous behavior on the part of one of the sisters.
There is a good staging available on DVD - the Peter Sellars production with the two Annas played by the soprano Teresa Stratus and the dancer Nora Kimball (Kimball plays the virtuous sister). Although the story is set in the US, it is sung in German, but the aforementioned DVD has English subtitles.
The work is IMO quite clever and entertaining, particularly if you like 20th century avant-garde opera.
So I was reading the list of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins and I was impressed with the list (seeing how many of these sins are what ultimately bring down many major historical figures). I also recognize how many of these sins were responsible for some of my major setbacks in life, and am thinking of creative ways to reduce their effects (by putting value on things that don't involve any of those sins).
I'm curious: to what extent do the "seven deadly sins" cover the most common reasons why people engage in self-defeating behavior? Are there any major omissions in the list of "seven deadly sins"? If you were to make a list of "X deadly sins", which sins would you include?
As examples: should excessive guilt be counted as a sin? Should stupidity be counted as a sin? What about being excessively "autistic"?
Which of the "Seven deadly sins" do you think are most applicable to LessWrong posters? To what extent are they responsible for akrasia?