ShawnJ99@aol.com writes :-
>What would you prefer to offer someone, jail,
>execution, or just reprogramming of the
>violent/stupid/whatever part of their brain?
Given we're talking about reprogramming technologies that don't exist
yet, I'd suggest another, possibly simpler, technology from science
fiction. In Iain M Banks non-extropic but nevertheless
entertaining "Culture" novels, their communist-utopian society deals
with persistant violent criminals (or says it would, it's not clear if
it's ever had to) by assigning a 'slap drone' to them. A small but
physically powerful expert-system/sub-AI robot follows them everywhere
and physically prevents them from injuring others. Apart from that, they
are left at liberty.
If they get fed up with this, they can always volunteer to have their
psychology altered to a 'sane' Culture standard, or just leave Culture
controlled space.
Seems a justifiable approach to me,
Bob Grahame : London.