Torture

[Fatstep]

We all know what it is, and in some societies it is even accepted as common practice to P.O.W.s. I want to know what you think the ultimate kind of mental torture would be, no cutting off limbs or branding, mental only.

 

I believe if we could have a brain that is alive living off of machines in a jar, if it's true that we have souls then that would be the ultimate torture. You have no senses and have no control over anything, you are living in a jar and fully aware, but you are not really a human, you're just a brain that's alive.

[ronthepon]

That's much like sleep then.

[Fatstep]

Would you need to sleep? There is no physical activity that would require your brain's functions. You are just sitting until your brain gives in. Think about it.

[ronthepon]

So then it's like a deaf, blind, paralysed human lying on a bed. Yeah, it will feel horrible for perhaps the first few moments, but humans are capable of reacting to such situations. Infact, the initial boredom and well... irriation could actually give way for bliss. Nirvana style.

 

If you're just a brain, thinking is all you do. There is no pain, becuase there is not stimulus for it. There is no sadness, because there is no reason for it. There no happiness either for the same reason.

 

In fact, there is no 'you' at all. The brain cannot correlate with the environment and make sense of any thing.

[ronthepon]

In my opinion, mental torture of the ultimate kind (seeing that we are getting conceptual here) would be the implantation of a stimulating device in the 'pain centers' of our brain. Then the set be turned to 'maximum stimulation'.

 

Real life practical creation of the cruciatus curse.

 

PS: That happens to be one of the most silly links I've ever provided for reference.

[Queso]

Hell.

 

Imagine being interrogated by the CIA in the 50's and 60's and they feed you LSD at severely high doses for over two months straight. NON STOP.

 

Hell is the only word to describe such menacing, and SIMPLE, methods of torture.

[ronthepon]

To imagine that would be really hard for us ordinary, inexperienced people.:evil:

[TheBigDog]

Effective mental torture plays on loss of control and futility of hope. Once the mind has decided that there is not hope to hang onto, and that they are completely powerless in any situation, the interrogator selectively builds the subject back up so they feel that cooperation is both empowering and helpful.

 

There doesn't need to be any physical contact. It is a psychological tight-rope-walk that requires very skilled observation and deep understanding of the needs of the individual being interrogated. Every person needs to be handled in a unique fashion.

 

Bill

[infamous]

Effective mental torture plays on loss of control and futility of hope.

 

 

Exactly Big, and when I think about the worst sort of mental torture one could endure, I visualize a father or mother being forced to watch as their child is slowly tortured and eventually put to death. Being forced to watch a loved one suffer without being able to help in any way would be, in my opinion, the most extreme sort of mental torture one could experience.

 

 

...............................Infy

[Fatstep]

What about a country's soldiers coming into your home and asking a young child which parent they want killed, when they love both of them, and if they don't say which they kill both, infront of the child? That's pretty bad.

[TheBigDog]

What about a country's soldiers coming into your home and asking a young child which parent they want killed, when they love both of them, and if they don't say which they kill both, infront of the child? That's pretty bad.

Maybe I was off base with my first understanding of this thread. You seem to be interested in pure brutality. I am not going to speculate on that topic.

 

I will however counter one of your initial statements...

 

We all know what it is, and in some societies it is even accepted as common practice to P.O.W.s.

 

What countries?

 

Bill

[Fatstep]

No, I was just adding something I thought would have been bad also, I'm not a brutal person(Saddam did what I described).

 

Since I would be violating the AP exam rules I will say this, I wasn't on the AP Government Exam *Hint Hint*, a question about U.S. going over the Conventions in Pakistan and Afghanistan and making 'deals' with the leaders about their soldiers.

 

I'll see if I can find some legitimacy for that.