Sam Harris Wrestling the trolls.

[Coito ergo sum]

Waterboarding, from what I've heard, generally is something that almost nobody can withstand. I've heard that even a trained Navy SEAL or the toughest-of-the-tough will crack in minutes. It is over quickly, and, it doesn't leave permanent physical damage. It probably, I would think, leaves a psychological mark, but it is pretty quick, so I don't know if it's any worse than someone, say, interrogating you for 9 hours under hot lights, using psychological tricks to try to get you to talk.... in some ways, it might not even be as bad, long term, as that....

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

Cons: If you don't know anything about it -- you still will talk -- and you will tell them whatever you possibly can to get them to stop. If they say "tell us where the bomb is!" You may try to say "I don't know" but if they keep going, you will make something up if it will get them to stop.

I think that if there was actionable intelligence of an impending 9/11/01 style attack on the US, and we had a guy in custody who the CIA reasonably believed had information that could help stop it. I don't know....I think, you know, 2 minutes of waterboarding to get the info out of him, or verify that he doesn't have it, might not be the end of the world. Of course, if he doesn't have the information and sends you on a wild goose chase, then maybe that would be self-defeating.

[Pappa]

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

I don't purport to know much about the science of torture, but I have read in the past that the above is not the case. Yes, a person being tortured will spill the beans, but they'll usually do it in a way that's not very helpful.

[Bella Fortuna]

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

I don't purport to know much about the science of torture, but I have read in the past that the above is not the case. Yes, a person being tortured will spill the beans, but they'll usually do it in a way that's not very helpful.

Through interpretive dance?

[Pappa]

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

I don't purport to know much about the science of torture, but I have read in the past that the above is not the case. Yes, a person being tortured will spill the beans, but they'll usually do it in a way that's not very helpful.

Through interpretive dance?

No, allegorical poetry.

[Bella Fortuna]

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

I don't purport to know much about the science of torture, but I have read in the past that the above is not the case. Yes, a person being tortured will spill the beans, but they'll usually do it in a way that's not very helpful.

Through interpretive dance?

No, allegorical poetry.

Thank fuck, I was afraid you were going to say the art of mime.

[Pappa]

Pros: If you know something -- you will talk. I think that is pretty darn clear from all the experts. If you know where the bomb is, whether it's ticking or still under construction, you will spill the beans.

I don't purport to know much about the science of torture, but I have read in the past that the above is not the case. Yes, a person being tortured will spill the beans, but they'll usually do it in a way that's not very helpful.

Through interpretive dance?

No, allegorical poetry.

Thank fuck, I was afraid you were going to say the art of mime.

That really is torture.

[Sean Hayden]

[Coito ergo sum]

I was thinking Pantomime.