> One could make a hypothetical argument that if a known terrorist planted a bomb that would kill thousands of innocent people and the terrorist was caught befo

> One could make a hypothetical argument that if a known terrorist planted a bomb that would kill thousands of innocent people and the terrorist was caught before the bomb exploded it might be considered "for the greater good" to use extreme measures to find out where the bomb is and how to disarm it. Which is a fun scenario to contemplate for entertainment, but decades of research and a fair amount of rather upsetting empirical evidence shows that torture does not actually work. All those stories where torture is used to get information? Just stories. Jack Bauer? A fictional character. If you want to get information out of otherwise-hostile people, you need to make a connection with them. You need them to trust you. Torture is only good at establishing dominance and breaking people's spirit. People will tell you anything they think you want to hear to stop torture, regardless of whether it's true. > So what is the ethically correct choice? Easy. Don't torture people. It has no positive uses.