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My unpopular opinion: Questioning someone longer than they want to provide answers, when that same person is unable to leave the interview is a form of torture

My unpopular opinion: Questioning someone longer than they want to provide answers, when that same person is unable to leave the interview is a form of torture -- change my mind.

deleted 7y ago
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AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
Under that reasoning I don't see how any form of detainment could not be considered torture as well, including pretty much all public education. One must accept that the real world is not made of lines that provide convenient barriers between concepts, in other words, there are degrees of torture, and some will be much more acceptable than others.
- pas 7y ago
  The efficacy of learning for sitting in classes is very low. Especially for those who don't want to be there. So, yes, it's a quite pointless form of torture. (Kids who loathe school need therapy, not "just" school.)
rmah 7y ago
Your request is, at its heart, a question about the definition of the word "torture". The pedestrian definition of "torture" as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: 1: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure 2: a) something that causes agony or pain; b) anguish of body or mind 3: distortion or overrefinement of a meaning or an argument I guess definition 2b in the context of "mind" fits best with your proposition. Which then leads to the definition of "anguish". Alternatively, we can examine the legal definition, which will vary by jurisdiction, but for completeness, I will link to the UN definition at https://www.apt.ch/en/what-is-torture/ https://www.apt.ch/en/what-is-torture/. In brief: "Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession" Here, you'd have to ask if prolonged unwanted questioning causes "severe [mental] pain or suffering". And finally, perhaps you mean torture in the figurative sense. Either way, if simply questioning someone "longer than they want" is "torture" then pretty much all of us have, at some point tortured someone. At that point, the word "torture" becomes synonymous with "discomfort" or "to annoy" and would, IMO, lose all utility from a legal point of view. In the final analysis, what this boils down to is that the world does not exist to serve your desires. Unpleasant things can and will happen to you. Even being asked questions you don't want to answer in situations where you cannot leave. While an individual may never have experienced anything more unpleasant than that, and thus it feels horrible to them, the fact is that there are far far FAR more unpleasant experiences that millions of others have faced. Society does not owe the sheltered more than the less sheltered.
- deleted 7y ago
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- edmundsauto 7y ago
  It makes more sense if you think of torture as a gradient, not a binary. 2 hours of questioning in a room? Not that torturous. 60 days, 12 hours a day, even if your basic needs are met? Pretty bad.
on_and_off 7y ago
Not going to actually. The Merriam-Webster definition above is weak. One discussion around torture with my philosophy professor (thankfully the french engineering cursus has one or two interesting classes) really stuck to my mind. We were discussing a text where a french general that had practiced torture in Algerie. He said something that amounts to "I have asked my soldiers to electrocute me so I could see how it feels like, it is not that bad so I felt ok about using it on algerians". It misses the whole point of torture : that you totally lose control, which is where the agony comes from. Anecdotally, I have also been briefly electrocuted by accident once. The pain was indeed not that bad. But I have not been tied to a chair and subjected to somebody electrocuting me for as long as they like. This kind of repeated pain is what is impossible to resist to for very long. Not to mention that any sensation can be used that way, tickling is also a form of torture. So I can see why you can construct that forcing somebody to answer questions, possible very hard ones about somebody close to them that just died, can also be a form of torture.
- gerbilly 7y ago
  > This kind of repeated pain is what is impossible to resist to for very long I think it's the implied 'ill will' of the interrogator also has an effect. Knowing that someone means you harm and might even be willing to escalate that harm, is very stressful.
afthonos 7y ago
You’re taking a known-bad word (“torture”) and attaching it to something you disagree with, getting free mileage for your position. So, without using “torture”, what is the position of yours you’re challenging us to change?
- ConcernedCoder 7y ago
  I'm saying that being excessively questioned in a situation where you are detained against your will IS a form of torture, I'm not sure how I can be more clear?

My unpopular opinion: Questioning someone longer than they want to provide answers, when that same person is unable to leave the interview is a form of torture -- change my mind.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

Under that reasoning I don't see how any form of detainment could not be considered torture as well, including pretty much all public education. One must accept that the real world is not made of lines that provide convenient barriers between concepts, in other words, there are degrees of torture, and some will be much more acceptable than others.

pas 7y ago
The efficacy of learning for sitting in classes is very low. Especially for those who don't want to be there. So, yes, it's a quite pointless form of torture. (Kids who loathe school need therapy, not "just" school.)

rmah 7y ago

Your request is, at its heart, a question about the definition of the word "torture". The pedestrian definition of "torture" as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: 1: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure 2: a) something that causes agony or pain; b) anguish of body or mind 3: distortion or overrefinement of a meaning or an argument I guess definition 2b in the context of "mind" fits best with your proposition. Which then leads to the definition of "anguish". Alternatively, we can examine the legal definition, which will vary by jurisdiction, but for completeness, I will link to the UN definition at https://www.apt.ch/en/what-is-torture/ https://www.apt.ch/en/what-is-torture/. In brief: "Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession" Here, you'd have to ask if prolonged unwanted questioning causes "severe [mental] pain or suffering". And finally, perhaps you mean torture in the figurative sense. Either way, if simply questioning someone "longer than they want" is "torture" then pretty much all of us have, at some point tortured someone. At that point, the word "torture" becomes synonymous with "discomfort" or "to annoy" and would, IMO, lose all utility from a legal point of view. In the final analysis, what this boils down to is that the world does not exist to serve your desires. Unpleasant things can and will happen to you. Even being asked questions you don't want to answer in situations where you cannot leave. While an individual may never have experienced anything more unpleasant than that, and thus it feels horrible to them, the fact is that there are far far FAR more unpleasant experiences that millions of others have faced. Society does not owe the sheltered more than the less sheltered.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
edmundsauto 7y ago
It makes more sense if you think of torture as a gradient, not a binary. 2 hours of questioning in a room? Not that torturous. 60 days, 12 hours a day, even if your basic needs are met? Pretty bad.

on_and_off 7y ago

Not going to actually. The Merriam-Webster definition above is weak. One discussion around torture with my philosophy professor (thankfully the french engineering cursus has one or two interesting classes) really stuck to my mind. We were discussing a text where a french general that had practiced torture in Algerie. He said something that amounts to "I have asked my soldiers to electrocute me so I could see how it feels like, it is not that bad so I felt ok about using it on algerians". It misses the whole point of torture : that you totally lose control, which is where the agony comes from. Anecdotally, I have also been briefly electrocuted by accident once. The pain was indeed not that bad. But I have not been tied to a chair and subjected to somebody electrocuting me for as long as they like. This kind of repeated pain is what is impossible to resist to for very long. Not to mention that any sensation can be used that way, tickling is also a form of torture. So I can see why you can construct that forcing somebody to answer questions, possible very hard ones about somebody close to them that just died, can also be a form of torture.

gerbilly 7y ago
> This kind of repeated pain is what is impossible to resist to for very long I think it's the implied 'ill will' of the interrogator also has an effect. Knowing that someone means you harm and might even be willing to escalate that harm, is very stressful.

afthonos 7y ago

You’re taking a known-bad word (“torture”) and attaching it to something you disagree with, getting free mileage for your position. So, without using “torture”, what is the position of yours you’re challenging us to change?

ConcernedCoder 7y ago
I'm saying that being excessively questioned in a situation where you are detained against your will IS a form of torture, I'm not sure how I can be more clear?