4 ms·

What happened to Brenden Dassey was so egregious that I feel comfortable describing anyone who helped put him in jail as either hopelessly corrupt or stupid. (O

• DanBC 11y ago
  Watching the various people bully and manipulate him into a confession was distressing.
  • DasIch 11y ago
    I think that cuts both ways though. The "confession" is a joke but his performance on the stand isn't convincing either. Whatever he says at any point can't be taken to be the truth.
    • DanBC 11y ago
      > but his performance on the stand isn't convincing either. His IQ is around 70. That's borderline learning disabled. Of course his performance isn't convincing - he's traumatised by the process, doesn't understand what's happening, and is easily manipulable.
      • DasIch 11y ago
        Indeed but he can be manipulated by his family and his lawyers just as easily as by the investigators. He simply can't be relied upon so you have to look at the evidence instead. Based on that I don't think he's guilty, there is really nothing to tie him to the crime and to believe he would be able to clean up any traces is just ridiculous.
      • alistairSH 11y ago
        His IQ is around 70. That's borderline learning disabled. An IQ at that level is considered intellectually disabled. Nothing borderline about it. But, that's completely different than learning disabled - you can have a very high IQ and have disabilities like dyslexia.
        • DanBC 11y ago
          I'm in the UK and our definitions are different, so thanks for the clarification.
    • tunesmith 11y ago
      Him being on the stand was one of the most suspenseful parts of the show for me, since I was wondering if the prosecutor was going to make him start doing a false confession again.
• will_pseudonym 11y ago
  They are only human. Check out "Mistakes were made (but not by me)" -- great book about the impact of cognitive dissonance! They likely got a feeling and stopped being completely rational. They wanted to prove themselves right and avoid the psychological injury of admitting a mistake--for some people, their entire identities are tied to them being great at their job, so that particular psychological injury is existentially scary.
  • dantillberg 11y ago
    That is definitely a potential reason for people in positions of authority to act illogically and unfairly, but we never should allow that to be used as an excuse. We hold civil servants to a higher bar because they wield so much power yet are expected to be restrained in how they use it. I do tend to agree perhaps that there are more likely explanations for their actions than stupidity or corruption (as the GP suggested), but we should be wary when it comes to looking for signs of the latter, as a skilled corrupt civil servant / politician will always hide their malfeasance under the guise of slowness, stupidity, miscommunication, etc.
    • will_pseudonym 11y ago
      Agreed. I hate the system and how badly it seems to be functioning for so many disadvantaged people. I just wanted to share that lovely book. It kind of humanizes the people who are "terrible" by giving color to why they kind of turn to the dark side. Most/all think they're correct and holy (just like most/all of the dark side does)...