For Some, Death is Too Good

[legion]

Biotechnology could extend criminals' lives to make punishment last HUNDREDS of years | Mail Online

Sentencing a criminal to 1,000 years in an artificial hell may one day become a reality.

At least, that is the claim of scientists at Oxford University who have been exploring controversial technologies that could extend human life.

They say billions are being invested in techniques that could mean the cruellest criminals will be kept alive indefinitely in condition befitting their crime.

According to their research, prison firms could also develop drugs that make time pass slowly, making an inmate’s sentence feel like an eternity.

Last year, a team of scientists led by Rebecca Roache began exploring technologies that could keep prisoners in an artificial hell.

‘Some crimes are so bad they require a really long period of punishment, and a lot of people seem to get out of that punishment by dying,’ Dr Roache told Ross Andersen in Aeon magazine.

Dr Roache highlights what she describes as the ‘laughably inadequate’ sentence of 30 years in prison for Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek.

The pair were convicted of murdering Luczak's four year-old son, Daniel, who was beaten, starved and tortured before his death.

On her Practical Ethics blog, Dr Roache notes that Luczak and Krezolek will receive the humane treatment that Daniel never did.

‘They will, for example, be fed and watered, housed in clean cells, allowed access to a toilet and washing facilities, allowed out of their cells for exercise and recreation,’ she writes.

Turning to human engineering as a possible solutions, Dr Roache looks at the idea of life span enhancements so that a life sentence in prison could last hundreds of years.

‘Dr Aubrey de Grey, co-founder of the anti-ageing Sens research foundation, believes that the first person to live to 1,000 years has already been born,’ she said.

‘The benefits of such radical lifespan enhancement are obvious - but it could also be harnessed to increase the severity of punishments’

As well as extending life, Dr Roache noted that there are a number of psychoactive drugs that distort people’s sense of time.

She said that society might not be far off developing a pill that could make someone feel like they were serving a 1,000-year sentence.

‘Of course, there is a widely held view that any amount of tinkering with a person’s brain is unacceptably invasive,’ she said. ‘But you might not need to interfere with the brain directly.’

Time distortion, for instance, is already a technique used in interrogation, where people are exposed to constant light, or unusual light changes, so that they can’t tell what time of day it is.

Another scenario being explored by the group is uploading the criminal's mind to a digital realm to speed up the 1,000 year sentence.

‘As the technology required to scan and map human brain processes improves, some believe it will one day be possible to upload human minds on to computers,’ Dr Roache said.

This means that with sufficient computer power, it would be possible to speed up the rate at which an uploaded mind runs.

Similarly, uploading the mind of a convicted criminal and running it a million times faster than normal would enable the uploaded criminal to serve a 1,000 year sentence in eight-and-a-half hours.

‘This would, obviously, be much cheaper for the taxpayer than extending criminals’ lifespans to enable them to serve 1,000 years in real time,’ said Dr Roache.

If these technologies are developed, one crime that could ever justify eternal imprisonment was something that would endanger mankind.

‘Suppose there was some physics experiment that stood a decent chance of generating a black hole that could destroy the planet and all future generations,’ said Dr Roache.

'If someone deliberately set up an experiment like that, I could see that being the kind of supercrime that would justify an eternal sentence.’

[Aurel]

Seriously? How about Finding a cure for cancer first...if biotechnology is so powerful.

[cashflyer]

Just send them to the Phantom Zone.

[Nostril Cheese]

So glad I don't live with this kind of hatred in my heart....

[Rusty914s]

I want my 2 minutes back.

[M.D. Holloway]

wow...keep them alive for ever to continue to suffer for the crime they committed...hard core.

Dr Roache would have done well during the middle ages...$2 says she's into high leather boots, a riding crop and some serious anger issues...I wouldn't want to leave dirty dishes in the sink with that one!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Damn......that's effed up.

[ckissick]

The girl's got to lay off the comic books.

[slakjaw]

Damn yo. The things people put their energy into are amazing. All the good that could be done to help good people and this dude comes up with keep inmates alive for longer so they can suffer more.

[aap1966]

"Longer than you think Dad, longer than you think!"

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by aap1966

"Longer than you think Dad, longer than you think!"

Seriously messed up story. First one that ever gave me chills...

[dondarnell]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Seriously messed up story. First one that ever gave me chills...

ditto

[DanielDudley]

This thread is punishment enough...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The criminal sympathizers in our legal system would never allow it anyway. Besides there are too many people making too much money off of the status quo. They want us to coddle convicted criminals on the taxpayer dime to fund enormous prison empires, enormous staffs of highly-paid correctional officers, etc.

[911_Dude]

Thats great, keep a prisoner alive for a 1000 years at $75,000/year. Cost at constant dollar. Thats $75 million for inmate storage. I think a death sentence, or "regular" life sentence is just fine.

What a sick bastard.

[cashflyer]

"We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?"

[sc_rufctr]

Legal torture. The whole concept reminds me of the dark ages and the rack.

But what if they could extend your life? Let's say 600+ years. I'd certainly be in the queue.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

"We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?"

A Matrix existence... Are these your words?

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Are these your words?

I wish.
My thoughts are no deeper than Jack Handey's.

The quote is from a game called "Alpha Centauri".
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Part #28 - The more things change...


See also:
Brain in a vat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

Thats great, keep a prisoner alive for a 1000 years at $75,000/year. Cost at constant dollar. Thats $75 million for inmate storage. I think a death sentence, or "regular" life sentence is just fine.

What a sick bastard.

This is what I thought... like we don't spend enough on prisons already?