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What solitary confinement taught me about surviving isolation (2020)
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoThe author, Shaka Senghor, is slightly famous and has been involved with e.g. the MIT Media Lab, so for some background on his original trial, imprisonment and release that the linked article doesn’t provide, refer to his Wikipedia article [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Senghor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Senghor
- Udik 6y agoIt's a great story of redemption. But I can't help noticing that a convicted murderer can redeem himself and be honoured with prestigious appointments; while vague allegations of remote and relatively minor misbehaviour are considered enough to demand someone's removal from any prominent position. Isn't that absurd?
- rubatuga 6y agoPretty ironic indeed
- xenadu02 6y agoYou don't see a difference between the state removing your literal freedom vs not being allowed to be on a committee or a board? It seems like any reasonable person should understand that, making such arguments deliberately disingenuous. I would also note that redemption requires real reflection, penance, and so forth. Paying some kind of price. Crying that you're being unfairly persecuted isn't the same thing. I think the discussion you want to have might belong to different posts than this one.
- pc86 6y ago> You don't see a difference between the state removing your literal freedom vs not being allowed to be on a committee or a board? This is an interesting question and comparison, but not at all the one to which you're replying.
- MikeTheGreat 6y agoI think the key difference is the journey of redemption that the murderer went through. What we admire is the person's ability to change who they are, to literally reinvent themselves, not at a superficial / public level but at the deep level of them making substantially different decisions day to day. Going from "Yeah, I'll kill someone" to "I recognize why I did that wrong thing and have taken effective steps to never do that again" is pretty huge.
- dang 6y ago"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html The generic tangent thing is particularly important [1]. The hottest few sensational topics are like black holes that suck in every passing spaceship [2]. This turns every discussion the same, when what we actually want are diffs [3]. Curiosity withers under repetition [4]. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=generic%20discussion%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20black%20hole&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... [3] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=diffs%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... [4] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20repetition%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...
- tyingq 6y agoHis biography is titled "Writing my Wrongs". That's a really terrific title for his story.
- pier25 6y ago> Read the rest of this story with a free account Are people writing on Medium aware of this?
- airstrike 6y agoMeanwhile I got "You have 1 free member-only story left this month. Sign up for Medium and get an extra one". Outside of that, private mode + reader view in Firefox usually does the trick
- mariuolo 6y agohttps://archive.ph/GODWY https://archive.ph/GODWY
- Etheryte 6y agoSmall tip regarding Medium, click the padlock in the URL bar, click cookies and remove all that contain medium.com in their name. No more article count limit.
- pier25 6y agoAwesome tip, thanks!
- ralphc 6y agoThis bothered me so much I made a bookmark to the cookies setting. This is much better, thanks from me.
- Stratoscope 6y agoThank you for that tip. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to clear cookies for a site and done it the roundabout way: go into settings, search for "cookies", remember which of the four matches under "privacy and security" is the one that works (and not the seemingly obvious "clear browsing data"), type in the domain, and go from there. Your trick of clicking the padlock (which I assume also works on the warning icon for non-HTTPS sites) is so much easier!
- airstrike 6y ago(2020)
- dang 6y agoAdded above. Thanks!
- superasn 6y ago> What I learned in the two years to follow was that I was trying to control something I had no control over, and I suffered as a result. In my third year, I began to journal. I discovered that my thoughts and my actions were the only two things I could control. It was a pivotal moment in my life. I went from being a victim of my circumstances to being a master of my destiny. Almost every book and teaching mostly comes down to this. Whether is Viktor Frankl or good old CBT. I actually read a very good passage about this in a book called Hapiness Trap - Choose anything you are aware of: a sight, sound, smell, taste, sensation, thought, feeling, movement, body part, material object—literally anything. - Focus on that thing and observe it as if you were a curious scientist. - As you’re observing it, notice who’s doing the observing. - That’s all there is to it. - In that moment, when you observe the observing, you are the observing self. - So the moment you realise what is happening—that you’re fusing with stories or believing that you are the documentary—you can instantly step back and observe. - Then all you need to do is notice that you’re observing and in that moment, there is the real you.
- ericmcer 6y agoIt is interesting how deep introspection and observation usually leads to Buddhist like ideals.
- throw1234651234 6y agoThe only issue is that: "- As you’re observing it, notice who’s doing the observing. - That’s all there is to it. - In that moment, when you observe the observing, you are the observing self." means nothing. What does this mean? Look in the mirror? Focus on your breath? Repeat the thought you just had? None of this leads to any sort of depth that is often claimed.
- omginternets 6y agoSurely you understand how you can observe your own behavior, including observation ... right?
- jcims 6y ago
- BeefySwain 6y agoHow is 4 CONSECUTIVE years of solitary isolation not "cruel and unusual"? I'm not asking rhetorically, or to start some kind of debate or discussion about the state of incarceration in the US. I am literally asking on what legal basis those who have fought such things (I assume that they have) have lost those cases.
- kelnos 6y agoA quick DDG search turned up a long list of SCOTUS decisions related to this, which might be interesting: https://solitarywatch.org/resources/u-s-supreme-court-cases/ https://solitarywatch.org/resources/u-s-supreme-court-cases/
- momento 6y agoIt's honestly unconscionable.
- kjjjjjjjjjjjjjj 6y agoNah there are definitely people who deserve it. If everyone really wants to get rid of the death penalty at least keep this. People like child rapists, mass shooters, etc all deserve lifetime solitary confinement.
- freeone3000 6y agoNo. Nobody deserves this.
- postalrat 6y agoShould they be given the option of death? Or be provided a confined but comfortable place to live?
- the_snooze 6y agoThere are indeed people who should be kept safely away from the public. But what you're supporting is just pointless cruelty.
- mssundaram 6y ago> 4. Journal The greatest gift I gave to myself while in solitary confinement was the gift of journaling. I poured my heart and soul into my notepads. I wrote about all the experiences, life choices, and traumas that led me to prison. I was lovingly honest with myself. I talked about all the things I had stuffed deep down inside, and it was the most liberating experience I had There is a Hindu practice that is similar called Vasana Daha Tantra. "Vasana" meaning imprints, "Daha" to burn, and "Tantra" meaning method - i.e. "the method to burn away imprints". The method is the same as the author has outlined above, except that when you're done you "burn the papers in an inauspicious fire". I have personally found the act of burning the papers very liberating, because much of cathartic writing I would never want anyone else to see - somethings just need to be written without any discrimination or self censoring, and knowing that it will be burned really aids to release it all. There are more dimensions to this practice however I'm sure even from a secular perspective it would be helpful, as Shaka explains.
- narrator 6y agoOnce, I was on a long hike far away from the trailhead. My phone battery died, and there was no one around, so I needed something to occupy my mind for several hours. One thing I came up with was trying to remember as much as I could about the previous years of my life. It's really a great way to entertain oneself with no external input.
- robdachshund 6y agoWhile I disagree with solitary confinement I also disagree with a murderer reinventing himself as some sort of guru and getting a diversity department job at MIT This man talks about the stigma of being a felon as being unfair when he took someone's life I would equate his confinement with torture. However I don't think we should reward him for suffering through a punishment he granted himself. When a person like this gets ted talks and photoshoots I think we've gone too far. The man has used his crime to turn himself into a brand
- Trasmatta 6y agoDoes anyone happen to know the context and background on the murder? It doesn't seem to have much info on the Wikipedia page. I'd imagine that's pretty important for making a judgement call.
- klibertp 6y agoA bit more background in the article referenced on the Wiki: https://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470567568/once-seduced-by-drug-trade-former-inmate-now-honors-my-second-chance https://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470567568/once-seduced-by-dru... Nothing specific about the murder yet, though.
- tptacek 6y agoI don't have to believe he's a guru or think about his job at MIT to recognize that he's had an experience, and a series of reactions to that experience, that are valuable when related through writing.
- laluser 6y agoThis is such an unfair comment. You're basically saying that once people are out of prison, they should commit to a life of poverty and continued suffering. The whole point of prison is to rehabilitate and make a net-positive contributor to society, which clearly this person has. The man did his time, what else can they do? Also, saying, "getting a diversity department job at MIT" is such a racist thing to say overall.
- tda 6y agoTh nytimes had an article about a 13 year old that shot (but not killed) someone, and subsequently spent 18 years in solitary confinement. The article made me so mad I ha to stop reading, truly horrifying this happened. Edit: sorry for the flame bait. Let me rephrase: this is what you get when people vote tough on crime. Be careful what you vote for
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago> And to all republicans, this is what you voted for. The flame bait is unnecessary and the anti-crime push that this guy was on the receiving end of was very much a bipartisan effort.
- tda 6y agoYes you are right. I put it anyways because votes matter, being angry on the Internet does not. And the tough on crime mentality that lead to this is pushed harder by Republicans than Democrats.
- ralph84 6y agoHis stay in solitary began in Florida in 1992. The governor of Florida at the time was a democrat. Maybe you weren't around then, but the democrats of the 90s (Clinton, Biden, etc.) were "tough on crime" types.
- tda 6y agoYes everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves, and certainly many Democrats are also to blame. But the hawks are always Republicans, and I'm sure they set the stage for this
- dang 6y agoPlease do not take HN threads into partisan flamewar. That way is hell. We're trying to go a different way. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jgwil2 6y agoWhy do numbers always get removed from titles here? I think four years in solitary gives a significantly different vibe than this editorialized version.
- gus_massa 6y agoIt's to remove some linkbaitness of listicles. If you see a case (like this article) where the number is important, you can write to the mods and them sometimes add the number back.
- airstrike 6y agoYou can also edit the title for a couple hours (?) after submitting and type the numbers back in, effectively reverting the auto-removal
- crb002 6y agoSolitary was better than getting the shit beat out of me when my ex-wife's law partner dropped by the Polk County Iowa jail on 10 March 2020 - dropped my name to a drug dealer - and was viciously attacked hours later. Read lots of great Sci-Fi, both Niven and Game of Thrones. Lots of category theory - for "security" reasons they banned software engineering books. Iowa is corrupt AF. https://chadbrewbaker.substack.com/p/good-trouble-in-little-chi-town https://chadbrewbaker.substack.com/p/good-trouble-in-little-...
- juancn 6y agoWho cares? Most of the world has been in solitary confinement in 2020. Pretty much everyone has some experience coping with it by now.