It takes courage to ask for forgiveness. It's a moment of vulnerability. The trial, then, is actually faced by the one who has to forgive. Their response if anything, except accepting the apology makes a nasty mark. The apology asked with complete genuinity and not given wholeheartedly is : crumbling on an individual level and socially destructive on a macro level. Socially destructive because it sets a norm of considering the act of saying sorry; foolhardy and nonsensical whereby crushing possibilities of seeing any future humane attributes, coming from the person who is neglected an apology that they expected. If behavioral trends head in this direction, eradicating humane approach via experiences of people with one another, then there will come a time when the paucity of another feeling for you, empathy, will become a crisis needing serious attention. It's simpler to understand the value of an apology before going to such extremes, for it's vitality to dawn upon us.