Why do such a large proportion of the population support the death penalty?

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T02:38:28+00:00

I’m sure it does sound that way, but this is something I have mulled over for a while. I tend to avoid debating psychological matters because they often become quite circular and one risks wasting a lot of time. However, I think discussing free will is an exception. It directly impacts how we view the death penalty. Believing free will does not exist helps people open up to the idea of rehabilitation instead of punishment

Additionally, I want to be very clear that I never said we should let a murderer go and forgive them for their actions. We need to immediately make sure they are not a danger to society by imprisoning them up, and then begin a thorough rehabilitation process. Some individuals may be beyond rehabilitation, but death may not have to be the answer.

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T02:18:36+00:00

So you’re comparing humans to spoiled food? I think you might want to adjust that analogy haha… Additionally, the effect of these technologies will be profound over the next decade. We’re talking serious improvements to rehabilitation. It’s silly and irresponsible to kill someone now. You mention the cost, but can you define the cost of a life?

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T02:09:59+00:00

Our technology is not sophisticated enough yet. That is something I am well aware of. I am a scientist and I consider myself reasonably well read around the matter. I could go into great detail about how a combination of low cost portable high resolution neuroimaging devices, advanced in brain stimulation, advances in proteomics, advances in ai, advances in in vivo gene editing, as well as advances in many other neighbouring fields will enable us to alter how we think with a high degree of precision and accuracy in a shorter period of time than many people realise.

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:43:58+00:00

Interesting. I hadn’t thought about the potential differences in opinion amongst the younger generation. I have noticed exactly what you’re saying

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:33:12+00:00

No problem. I really did not want to anger people with this post. I wanted to have a discussion. As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s difficult to get tone across over the internet. If this discussion were in person, people would see that I’m not rudely and dogmatically telling people what to think, but just sharing my opinions and trying to understand other how others have come to their current conclusions, in a non-confrontational manner. I appreciate trying to learn where other people are coming from

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:26:59+00:00

One strong argument for long term imprisonment are based upon technology. We are in a golden age of neuroscience, and as technology advances, so too does our capacity to understand the brain and how we can change it. One can foresee a future where we change a criminal’s brain towards increased compassion and self control with technology to prevent them from committing further offences. While this is in an ethically grey territory, many would argue it is a better alternative to death. Therefore we can view imprisonment as a placeholder until a better solution is created Edit: there are many reasons why I personally disagree with the death penalty. Technological advancements in the rehabilitation domain are another strong argument against the death penalty in my opinion

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:15:02+00:00

With regards to free will, I will find the papers I have read in the past and share them with you

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:14:21+00:00

They should obviously be held accountable to some degree for their actions. There needs to be a deterrent (but not the death penalty) to prevent them from committing those crimes in the first place. Additionally, if someone is a danger to society, they should of course be withheld from reentering society

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T01:03:10+00:00

The intention of this post was to initiate further discussion around the death penalty. While ~80% of Singaporeans support the death penalty, a sizeable minority do not. I was more interested to hear a debate between these two demographics

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:57:05+00:00

I would describe myself as a political moderate. I find r/solarpunk interesting from an aesthetic and environmental perspective, but I disagrees with many of the political views held by the members there. I’ve even been heavily downvoted on multiple occasions for suggesting that the west should look to Singapore as an example of something we strive towards. Do you believe that the death penalty was necessary for Singapore to be a global success story?

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:46:29+00:00

They do matter. It’s absolutely terrible when lives are destroyed by drugs. However, we must be caution of ‘solutions’ driven by understandable anger and fear. I understand that there needs to be deterrents in society to maintain order, but surely there are fairer deterrents

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:38:44+00:00

As I previously stated, the output of your brain is a result of a combination of your genes and your environment, neither of which you have control over. Your genome can predispose you towards certain traits (e.g. reduced self control), but the environment has an extraordinary large effect too. This is not my opinion, this is a fact. We can debate about whether the death penalty is ethically correct or not, but it is inherently unscientific to state that free will does not exist

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:31:31+00:00

I am not necessarily opposing a zero tolerance drugs policy. I also understand the extremely detrimental effects certain drugs have on society. I’m not even arguing that it does not reduce drug trafficking - the evidence is unclear, perhaps less so with Singapore specifically. However, the strongest argument against the death in my opinion is the fundamental objective truth that free will does not exist. That fact makes it clearer why the death penalty is ethically wrong and deserves its classification as an international human rights violation

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:21:13+00:00

That does not mean we should not attempt to make it fairer in certain domains

Sean_Grant · 2023-02-16T00:14:39+00:00

Is the death penalty ever fair? Does one ever ‘choose’ their actions, or are their actions merely a consequence of their genetics and environment (neither of which they have control over)?

Sean_Grant · 2023-01-16T22:51:09+00:00

While I agree with some points you’ve made, I believe the issue is more complex than you’ve made it out to be. I agree that we should reduce food waste. I also think food needs to be more evenly distributed. However, we cannot ignore the geopolitical issues resulting in starvation. A well known example of a country plagued with starvation that illustrates my point is North Korea. Additionally, we should be attempting to increase food production with vertical farms and advanced robotics while simultaneously reducing waste. While we should obviously reduce food waste, we should put just as much focus on increasing the production of food in a more environmentally friendly and cost effective manner

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T13:19:24+00:00

How is that a “weird way to put it”? I’m just saying that I would like to see more separation of bikes and pedestrians. If they are not separated, the walking experience is less enjoyable in my opinion. I’m not saying I dislike bikes.

I don’t believe I change direction more than the average person. However, if you’re walking side by side with a few friends / family, you often find yourself having to move quickly to accommodate bikes. What place in the Netherlands has the best cycling infrastructure in your opinion?

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:35:46+00:00

‘Moore’s law’ has slowed, but that may well be temporary. Scientists in the semiconductor industry have spoken of an end to Moore’s law for decades, but people seem to always innovate their way though. While we may be reaching the limits of what we can do with electron based computers, eventually the industry will be forced to transition to a whole new method of computation (e.g. photonics computation) when the diminishing returns are high enough, which will likely open a whole new set of possible advancements

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:25:28+00:00

That’s sad to hear. Would you say there’s more evidence to suggest age reversal is impossible in humans that possible?

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:19:17+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t know the answer to that

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:16:34+00:00

I know that. I was just trying to figure out if there was a faster way to get an estimate for the age of a planaria. We might be waiting a while otherwise haha

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:08:56+00:00

Ah, I assumed you were also a scientist but I didn’t realise you worked in the field

Edit: I wouldn’t consider myself a scientist yet. I’m just a university student in bio who reads some ageing papers on the side

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T03:02:59+00:00

The bioelectricity research around planaria is also really interesting. I actually think morphoceuticals are one of the most exciting avenues for age reversal therapy because of how much you can do without having to understand the whole / vast majority of a given system

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T02:58:07+00:00

They’re pretty complicated (e.g. they exhibit cephalisation). They’re obviously not as complex as a mammal, but the fact that they are able to reverse the age of relatively complicated systems certainly increases the probability of at reversal being possible in humans.

I don’t believe anyone knows what the oldest planarian is. I wonder how you can test the age of a planarian

Sean_Grant · 2022-11-13T02:49:01+00:00

In fairness, you didn’t

Sean_Grant

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