Is regret meaningful?

I see too many negative associations with regret to make it something more useful than it is harmful. But I guess it would have to depend on how a person's wired. It could keep you in fear in attempting something failed in the past just as easily as correcting the way next go around. Or if a lesson learned was entirely unique for that past situation, that can only shelter you emotionally to dwell. I don't think we ever forget the things we regret even if we put a block on it. When something similar rears it's head, dredging up the past becomes involuntary. Use it if you have to but don't go out of your way to hold onto it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Recognizing mistakes and being regretful aren't necessarily the same thing. Although I get what sort of person you're referencing, it's entirely possible to have an apologetic attitude about your errors while at the same time not letting them trouble you after significant time's past.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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The apologetic attitude can linger long after you've bid adieu to regret, and often times it does.

I don't see what's so wrong about being sorry, though. Built in mechanism to avoid from doing the same stupid shit. To me, it's the same as gaining the lesson. It's not the same as regret, it's the memory of it. Cast that aside, you're going to repeat yourself.

Mind you, I define this as something completely tame, nowhere close to beating yourself up over something.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.