I think I'm at the length limit so let me add: it's an auction. A contest, a betrayal contest. When everyone goes along with the abuse, the amount of abuse g

I think I'm at the length limit so let me add: it's an auction. A contest, a betrayal contest. When everyone goes along with the abuse, the amount of abuse goes up. Instantly. Not even overnight, like 8AM to 9AM. The only thing that protected the dignity of Chileans was--for a long time--the resistance, counter-terrorist (officially designated as such by the President in the final radio address, a message that carries official weight, final instructions from a shrink in fact--he researched psychiatry--but more of like a psych, a real attendant of the soul. And as such his suicide was unconditionally heroic, not cowardly by any means. The Chilean left tiptoes around this, uh-uh. Suicide is legitimate under the threat of torture. Better to die than betray. The other option was in fact to cooperate, get threatened all the time by everyone, suck up to the worst people on earth, and the biggest thing--bid up the betrayal contest, and betray. Treason. Betrayal. The absolute worst, the lowest circle of Hell. I've been told by many doctors I'm stupid to think such a thing, for real, like in practice not on film in real life. But it's not so strange. Some people are smart, they cooperate. Some people are dumb, they don't. But don't think you're so smart, if it hadn't been me it would have been up to you, could you have done what I did? I actually think you could in fact. Everyone, the instant you realize the betrayal contest is a set-up, and they capture you--you have a limit too, believe it or not. It will come as a total surprise, but you can only take so much. At some point, there are conditions (which is what this experiment is, measuring those conditions to get as close to them as possible) under which you physically couldn't submit (shrinks unanimously agree to the contrary). Maximum suffering with no consequences, science applied to the mind. Your dignity is defined by your courage. At any rate the Chilean Idealists--especially the detenidos desaparecidos (not going to translate that)--those guys stuck up to torture, that's why they erased all traces of them. Didn't want to see how much a man can take and still not cooperate. José María Sepúlveda. They erased the really dangerous ones, the ones who were totally right and totally wronged, they guys who bit and shit and nobody wanted to be assigned to torture. And three thousand of them, tres mil, under those specific conditions of erasure. Three thousand really dangerous men and women, on a totally different level than anything I've ever done or been through. I went in like a lot of people, them to much worse than me, comparatively speaking my only merit was making it out. Live to tell the tale, nothing more. Them? Just wow.