Re: Is the death penalty Extropian?

Joe E. Dees (jdees0@students.uwf.edu)
Tue, 24 Nov 1998 21:18:54 -0600

Date sent:      	Tue, 24 Nov 1998 13:45:46 -0800
To:             	extropians@extropy.com
From:           	Max More <max@maxmore.com>
Subject:        	Re: Is the death penalty Extropian?
Copies to:      	maxmore@globalpac.com
Send reply to:  	extropians@extropy.com

> At 10:27 AM 11/24/98 -0800, Mark wrote:
> >
> >Your argument seems to be that you can reprogram them into a 'useful member
> >of society' and that society will benefit from that. I find the idea of a
> >legal system deciding what mental software people should run utterly
> abhorrent,
> >regardless of any economic arguments. Given a choice between physical death
> >or involuntary reprogramming into slave labor, I'll take death, thanks.
>
> What if the choice is not between death and total personality
> reprogramming? What if a violent criminal is given a choice: Either stay in
> jail for decades (or be executed), or undergo gene therapy or some other
> treatment that gives them better impulse control.
>
> Max
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Max More, Ph.D.
> <more@extropy.org> or <max@maxmore.com>
>
> http://www.maxmore.com
> Consulting services on the impact of advanced technologies
> President, Extropy Institute:
> exi-info@extropy.org, http://www.extropy.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
Reminds me of Alfred Bester's novel "The Demolished Man." My solution is this: anyone convicted of a sufficiently heinous crime to deserve capital punishment should be locked up for life, with two alternatives offered; painless euthanasia anytime s/he requests it, and prefrontal lobotomy (or a more efficient/less intrusive future equivalent) followed by freedom. If, after lobotomy and release, the criminal commits an equally reprehensible act, s/he should be reincarcerated, with the alternatives reduced to two (life imprisonment or euthanasia). Joe