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I agree that the police officers' actions were moral, but I don't understand the thief's thought process. To me, the threat of going to jail for many years for
by kmm 9y ago
I agree that the police officers' actions were moral, but I don't understand the thief's thought process. To me, the threat of going to jail for many years for manslaughter would be a vastly more effective deterrent than some punches.
If some genie gave me the choice, I'd gladly choose getting the shit kicked out of me (or worse) instead of losing my freedom for 15 to 20 years. Was he that incapable of imagining the consequences of his actions?
- eru 9y agoSitting in your armchair, you might make that tradeoff. When getting punched, your brain might work differently. Especially when you might fear more than a few punches---in the heat of the beating you might fear for your life.
- hobbyjogger 9y agoWe all react much more strongly to stimuli (here punishment but in other cases rewards too) when those stimuli are "swift and certain." That's true even in the face of an alternative that is more severe but also delayed and only contingent (possible jail time, if ultimately tried and convicted). To me the effectiveness of the police assault is not particularly hard to understand or imagine. It's the same principle that leads many folks to resort to self-destructive behaviors in the short-term (addiction, etc.), even though many addicts completely understand and acknowledge the long-term consequences.