Jean Luc Picard on the subject of torture

[nankerphelge]

Bored on a Sunday night so I was sitting here watching a Star Trek tape (yes, I'm a nerd). Anyhoo, it happened to be an episode where the bad guys kidnap Patrick Stewart and start torturing him- ironically, the bad guys say he is not a prisoner of war, so they're treating him as a terrorist. Stewart tells his captors: "Torture has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control. One wonders why it is still practiced."

Thought that was pretty good.

[Orsino]

1. "Chain Of Command"

...was the two-parter, I think. The last line was especially moving, in which Picard, back aboard his ship, confesses that after all that torture and brainwashing, he really began to believe there were five lights.

Awesome. Well-written and -acted.

The temporary replacement captain is a bit relevant these days, too, with his mantra, "Make it happen."

[Der Blaue Engel]

2. True...

...but was it just me, or was that ep totally hot?? (Or maybe I'm just revealing TMI about me.) :evilgrin:

[AngryAmish]

3. Torture works

The key is not to f--- up the guy so he would tell you anything.

A guy I know was an Air Force pilot. They go through training to resist/keep yourself alive through torture. He broke real easy and he is a tough guy. Sleep deprivation is the easiest way. (He was not actually tortured, but they apply aggresive interrogation techniques.)

Some people never break. But, most of the time, it works.

[Bill Kephart]

4. If memory serves

Star Trek had a habit of addressing the social issues of the day in its subject matter. The original had the first inter-racial kiss I believe.

[bloom]

5. It is interesting to see how the subject was treated recently.

It would be great to see a show take that on now - in light of current policy.

[kodi]

7. you mean like in the film versions of 1984?

i am convinced that i would tell anyone anything if i had a cage strapped to my face with a starving rat in it.

orwell hated rats from his time in spain fighting the fascists

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

6. Jean-Luc Picard for President.

n/t

[leftyandproud]

8. actually, torture almost always works

but it is still inhumane and should be illegal.

[solinvictus]

9. Torture...

Think about it, if you inflict physical harm to someone, they'll give you any information they can, true or not, to get you to stop. Hell, you could torture someone enough and they'd sign a confession to kidnapping and murdering the Limbergh baby or that they were Mary, Queen of Scots. It doesn't seem reliable to me.

[AngryAmish]

10. The key is not to torture them that much

Reward/Punishment systems similar to prisons work well.

In the Soviet Union they had a system know as the "conveyer". Essentially, you keep people up long enough you break their will and they will tell you anything.

[saltpoint]

11. I honor the Captain's good thoughts.

We could do with more like him.