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Anonymous account because my employers don't know this. I spent 3 years in solitary confinement in Virginia during my 10 year sentence and the experience defini

Anonymous account because my employers don't know this. I spent 3 years in solitary confinement in Virginia during my 10 year sentence and the experience definitely changed me, though probably was actually beneficial in a strange way. I spent the time focused on mathematics and actually became a decent analyst near the end of it. I continued studying math until my release, after which I went to college and eventually got a PhD in it. After deciding not to pursue a career in academia, I became a developer and have recently moved into data science, which I like better because I get to use my mathematical skills along with programming. My experience is obviously atypical though. I saw many people mentally deteriorate, attempt suicide, and essentially give up hope in life while under this sanction. What is worse, the state at that time was imposing a truly inhumane punishment on the rastafarian community within prisons. Due to the rastas not following prison grooming habits by refusing to shave off their dreadlocks, the prison system moved a group of them into the hole. When I left it, some had been there for 10 years straight. I can assure you that many of these men were deeply disturbed. I was lucky in that I have a psychology that can endure this sort of abuse and come out of it stronger, but most people are not wired like this. Given what I have seen, this really is tantamount to torture. I wish so much that normal US citizens would tour a prison and see what this does to people, because maybe then this would be outlawed.

jacquesm 9y ago
> I spent 3 years in solitary confinement Holy crap. That's torture. Good to see you still in one piece. > Given what I have seen, this really is tantamount to torture. It is torture.
sigstoat 9y ago
> I wish so much that normal US citizens would tour a prison and see what this does to people, because maybe then this would be outlawed. it didn't even occur to me that you could tour a prison and see much of anything. how would you expect the effects of solitary confinement to be visible during a tour?
- con_to_dev 9y ago
  Short term stays are not so bad, the person is stressed, but not showing signs of any real disturbance. The longer term stays are where you see the worst. You will generally notice that the person is just off in some way. They may stare into space rather than at you when you talk to them, pace around and mumble, have twitches or obsessive tics, etc. You will immediately notice who has been there awhile. Some simply have a psychotic break and this is quite obvious as well. I'll also say that I was speaking rhetorically, you generally can't visit a prison and certainly not the hole. This should be allowed though, people need to see what this does to people.
pfarnsworth 9y ago
May I ask what did you do to get punished with 3 years in solitary confinement?
- con_to_dev 9y ago
  Possession of marijuana while in a correctional institution. My case got dragged out and I was in solitary until it was resolved. EDIT: I'll add to this that marijuana was one of the things that helped me in prison. It really did function as a medicine at times, letting me drift away from the craziness of my situation and think about myself and what I wanted to become and the person I wanted to be. I think that helped me to internally rehabilitate myself and become the person I am today.
  - pfarnsworth 9y ago
    Wow 3 years for that sounds particularly harsh. I'm sorry that happened but I'm glad you feel better for the experience.
    - ExactoKnight 9y ago
      It doesn't sound harsh. It is. It's worse than that. It's a moral abomination with no rational basis in humanity whatsover. Don't sugar coat the reprehensible to sound agreeable.
  - yodsanklai 9y ago
    This is insane, revolting. I can't understand how this is even possible in a civilized country.
    - syshum 9y ago
      >> how this is even possible in a civilized country. Its not. we do not live in a Civilized Country (the USA) we live in a Barbaric Nation with as the facade of civility painted over the Barbarism
forkerenok 9y ago
I'm impressed with your story. Would you mind sharing more on your learning experience in solitude? What books/resources you had at your disposal? What was it like having to grok things without being able to ping-pong on understanding with peers (in what would be a study group)? EDIT: line breaks.
- con_to_dev 9y ago
  I read and solved most of the problems from Walter Rudin's Real and Complex Analysis, Stephen Willard's General Topology, and a small collection of other books I bought with my limited funds and had shipped to me. I mostly bought from Dover, which has a very nice collection of quality math texts for very low prices, I will say. My learning method was to try to get up to three texts on the same subject, so I could compare different treatments of the material. This was beneficial because if one text was unclear, I could compare with how the other texts explained this concept and it would hopefully dawn upon me what is right and makes sense. Other than that, I can say that I was at it 8 to 10 hours a day and in many respects, it was my one form of entertainment. I solved PDE's or proved theorems like other people did sudoku or crosswords. I looked at the problems as puzzles and tried very hard to solve them because it was all I had that was amusing. I also became very aware of how beautiful mathematics is and I truly began to love it. That passion helped a lot.
  - tempestn 9y ago
    I expect your intelligence helped as well. Many people would simply not be capable of that type of self-directed learning, however much uninterrupted time they had on their hands. That advantage is probably a big part of what allowed you to get through the experience and even get some benefit from it. This reminds me of a similar thing you see with people who manage to escape the trap of abusive or just otherwise bad parents. Many people fall into mimicking those same behaviors later in life, or are just so psychologically damaged by them that it significantly hampers their future quality of life. Of course, some people do manage to have positive, productive lives despite terrible childhood experiences, but on average those who do tend to have above-average intelligence; they're able to rationalize what happened to them, and thereby have some control over its effects.
kurthr 9y ago
Note that often prison officials will come up with reasons to move weak/nerdy/awkward inmates into solitary to "protect" them from more violent inmates. Sometimes that detention requires coming up with "violations" of prison rules that can lead to denial or delay of probation release.
bordercases 9y ago
Amazing.
pmarreck 9y ago
I think you got really lucky. The evidence is piling up that extended solitary is inhumane because the social isolation and lack of stimulus drives you insane: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary.aspx https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary.aspx I'm really glad you turned things around. Perhaps one day you can write a book about your experience, perhaps under a pseudonym.
- fao_ 9y ago
  > I think you got really lucky. The evidence is piling up that extended solitary is inhumane because the social isolation and lack of stimulus drives you insane [op] > I spent the time focused on mathematics and actually became a decent analyst near the end of it. Finally, a one-path track to mathematical competence
sizzle 9y ago
Thank you for sharing your experience and congrats on turning your life around. Please share your story in a book or blog to spread hope to others in prison who need something to live for and a positive role model. Take care friend.
coldtea 9y ago
>When I left it, some had been there for 10 years straight. I can assure you that many of these men were deeply disturbed. Such treatment, and for such BS reason (grooming), even of convicted murderers and such, shows a terrible medieval society. Those responsible for this should have gone into jail themselves in a civilized society.
akkat 9y ago
There are a few stories similar to that but take place in Soviet Russia. Natan Sharansky became really good at chess during his 9 years in prison and Eliyahu Rips developed a previously unsolved mathematical proof during his 2 years.

jacquesm 9y ago

> I spent 3 years in solitary confinement Holy crap. That's torture. Good to see you still in one piece. > Given what I have seen, this really is tantamount to torture. It is torture.

sigstoat 9y ago

> I wish so much that normal US citizens would tour a prison and see what this does to people, because maybe then this would be outlawed. it didn't even occur to me that you could tour a prison and see much of anything. how would you expect the effects of solitary confinement to be visible during a tour?

con_to_dev 9y ago
Short term stays are not so bad, the person is stressed, but not showing signs of any real disturbance. The longer term stays are where you see the worst. You will generally notice that the person is just off in some way. They may stare into space rather than at you when you talk to them, pace around and mumble, have twitches or obsessive tics, etc. You will immediately notice who has been there awhile. Some simply have a psychotic break and this is quite obvious as well. I'll also say that I was speaking rhetorically, you generally can't visit a prison and certainly not the hole. This should be allowed though, people need to see what this does to people.

pfarnsworth 9y ago

May I ask what did you do to get punished with 3 years in solitary confinement?

con_to_dev 9y ago
Possession of marijuana while in a correctional institution. My case got dragged out and I was in solitary until it was resolved. EDIT: I'll add to this that marijuana was one of the things that helped me in prison. It really did function as a medicine at times, letting me drift away from the craziness of my situation and think about myself and what I wanted to become and the person I wanted to be. I think that helped me to internally rehabilitate myself and become the person I am today.
- pfarnsworth 9y ago
  Wow 3 years for that sounds particularly harsh. I'm sorry that happened but I'm glad you feel better for the experience.
  - ExactoKnight 9y ago
    It doesn't sound harsh. It is. It's worse than that. It's a moral abomination with no rational basis in humanity whatsover. Don't sugar coat the reprehensible to sound agreeable.
- yodsanklai 9y ago
  This is insane, revolting. I can't understand how this is even possible in a civilized country.
  - syshum 9y ago
    >> how this is even possible in a civilized country. Its not. we do not live in a Civilized Country (the USA) we live in a Barbaric Nation with as the facade of civility painted over the Barbarism

forkerenok 9y ago

I'm impressed with your story. Would you mind sharing more on your learning experience in solitude? What books/resources you had at your disposal? What was it like having to grok things without being able to ping-pong on understanding with peers (in what would be a study group)? EDIT: line breaks.

con_to_dev 9y ago
I read and solved most of the problems from Walter Rudin's Real and Complex Analysis, Stephen Willard's General Topology, and a small collection of other books I bought with my limited funds and had shipped to me. I mostly bought from Dover, which has a very nice collection of quality math texts for very low prices, I will say. My learning method was to try to get up to three texts on the same subject, so I could compare different treatments of the material. This was beneficial because if one text was unclear, I could compare with how the other texts explained this concept and it would hopefully dawn upon me what is right and makes sense. Other than that, I can say that I was at it 8 to 10 hours a day and in many respects, it was my one form of entertainment. I solved PDE's or proved theorems like other people did sudoku or crosswords. I looked at the problems as puzzles and tried very hard to solve them because it was all I had that was amusing. I also became very aware of how beautiful mathematics is and I truly began to love it. That passion helped a lot.
- tempestn 9y ago
  I expect your intelligence helped as well. Many people would simply not be capable of that type of self-directed learning, however much uninterrupted time they had on their hands. That advantage is probably a big part of what allowed you to get through the experience and even get some benefit from it. This reminds me of a similar thing you see with people who manage to escape the trap of abusive or just otherwise bad parents. Many people fall into mimicking those same behaviors later in life, or are just so psychologically damaged by them that it significantly hampers their future quality of life. Of course, some people do manage to have positive, productive lives despite terrible childhood experiences, but on average those who do tend to have above-average intelligence; they're able to rationalize what happened to them, and thereby have some control over its effects.

kurthr 9y ago

Note that often prison officials will come up with reasons to move weak/nerdy/awkward inmates into solitary to "protect" them from more violent inmates. Sometimes that detention requires coming up with "violations" of prison rules that can lead to denial or delay of probation release.

bordercases 9y ago

Amazing.

pmarreck 9y ago

I think you got really lucky. The evidence is piling up that extended solitary is inhumane because the social isolation and lack of stimulus drives you insane: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary.aspx https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary.aspx I'm really glad you turned things around. Perhaps one day you can write a book about your experience, perhaps under a pseudonym.

fao_ 9y ago
> I think you got really lucky. The evidence is piling up that extended solitary is inhumane because the social isolation and lack of stimulus drives you insane [op] > I spent the time focused on mathematics and actually became a decent analyst near the end of it. Finally, a one-path track to mathematical competence

sizzle 9y ago

Thank you for sharing your experience and congrats on turning your life around. Please share your story in a book or blog to spread hope to others in prison who need something to live for and a positive role model. Take care friend.

coldtea 9y ago

>When I left it, some had been there for 10 years straight. I can assure you that many of these men were deeply disturbed. Such treatment, and for such BS reason (grooming), even of convicted murderers and such, shows a terrible medieval society. Those responsible for this should have gone into jail themselves in a civilized society.

akkat 9y ago

There are a few stories similar to that but take place in Soviet Russia. Natan Sharansky became really good at chess during his 9 years in prison and Eliyahu Rips developed a previously unsolved mathematical proof during his 2 years.