4 ms·
How Soylent and Oculus Could Fix the Prison System
- mikeyouse 11y agoI can't decide whether this is a clever satire, a serious proposal, or a pitch for an episode of Black Mirror.
- cududa 11y agoThis proposal is a really good example of why people have so much disdain for valley culture..
- biomcgary 11y agoIt is Minority Report minus the precogs, so I vote for options one and three.
- pdkl95 11y ago> Minority Report minus the precogs Unfortunately, there is a huge push right now to create exactly this kind of "pre-crime" nonsense. Don't ignore the "serious proposal" possibility, because other people are treating it seriously. A lot of it is snake oil and wishful thinking, but that never stopped a bad idea from being adopted. https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7457-predicting_crime_in_a_big_data_world https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7457-predicting_crime_in_a_big_d...
- stuaxo 11y agoNot having read the article, it definitely seems like peak ycombinator.
- gravypod 11y agoThe soylent point is definitely of some substance although I don't know if it's quite potable. All puns aside. That would be a much better alternative to feeding prisoners the food they currently get. It would be much more balanced and fair.
- b34r 11y agoThat's kind of the point. Terrifying, but humane.
- gravypod 11y agoOn an unrelated note, why would being trapped in a submarine be scary? I'm sure given the right motivation and enough time you could figure out how to empty the ballasts and get out or accidentally break something and die. Sounds like a great adventure puzzle game, and with 50-50 odds too. I like those odds better than floating away in space.
- chrismartin 11y agoDepends on the depth and air pressure inside the hull. Sudden decompression can be a certain death sentence.
- maxerickson 11y agoFear is often irrational.
- NikolaeVarius 11y agoI 99% believe this is just a modern day "A Modest Proposal", but at the same time, there is a part of me that could believe someone is actually serious.
- DKnoll 11y agoSomehow you take what is already a terrifying concept, and turn it into something even worse. Even on your most basic points you manage to completely misunderstand the nature of the prison system. Do you really think non-ruggedised portable electronics will last 2 years in the prison system? They often don't even last 2 years in the enterprise. I'd expect the entire Matrix outfit you describe would have about a 15 minute lifetime before it meets an untimely demise against a cell wall. I don't see how putting 100% of inmates into solitary confinement conditions, with the sole exception of also wiring them into the Matrix, is an appealing alternative to the sexual assault of 21% of inmates. Many countries with modern prison systems manage to rehabilitate prisoners without stripping them of their humanity and also without being implicit in their rape through inaction and indifference.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- hotcool 11y agoAfter reading numerous experiences of long-term inmates and how difficult it is for them to re-integrate with modern society,[1] it occurred to me that a carefully modified version of Rejection Therapy[2] would help them (re)define the boundaries of their environment. Soylent and Oculus may work on the "inside", but neither are representative of normal society. Rejection certainly is. I like this out-of-the-box thinking though. We need more of it. [1]http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/magazine/you-just-got-out-of-prison-now-what.html http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/magazine/you-just-got-o... [2] http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/16/377239011/by-making-a-game-out-of-rejection-a-man-conquers-fear http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/16/37723901...
- paulddraper 11y agoThis would make prison terrifying.