How Soylent and Oculus Could Fix the Prison System | Hacker News Reader

How Soylent and Oculus Could Fix the Prison System

maneatingrobot.com

21 pointsminikites14 comments

I can't decide whether this is a clever satire, a serious proposal, or a pitch for an episode of Black Mirror.

This proposal is a really good example of why people have so much disdain for valley culture..

It is Minority Report minus the precogs, so I vote for options one and three.

> Minority Report minus the precogs

Unfortunately, there is a huge push right now to create exactly this kind of "pre-crime" nonsense. Don't ignore the "serious proposal" possibility, because other people are treating it seriously. A lot of it is snake oil and wishful thinking, but that never stopped a bad idea from being adopted.

https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7457-predicting_crime_in_a_big_d...

Not having read the article, it definitely seems like peak ycombinator.

Somehow you take what is already a terrifying concept, and turn it into something even worse.

Even on your most basic points you manage to completely misunderstand the nature of the prison system.

Do you really think non-ruggedised portable electronics will last 2 years in the prison system? They often don't even last 2 years in the enterprise. I'd expect the entire Matrix outfit you describe would have about a 15 minute lifetime before it meets an untimely demise against a cell wall.

I don't see how putting 100% of inmates into solitary confinement conditions, with the sole exception of also wiring them into the Matrix, is an appealing alternative to the sexual assault of 21% of inmates.

Many countries with modern prison systems manage to rehabilitate prisoners without stripping them of their humanity and also without being implicit in their rape through inaction and indifference.

On an unrelated note, why would being trapped in a submarine be scary?

I'm sure given the right motivation and enough time you could figure out how to empty the ballasts and get out or accidentally break something and die.

Sounds like a great adventure puzzle game, and with 50-50 odds too. I like those odds better than floating away in space.

Depends on the depth and air pressure inside the hull. Sudden decompression can be a certain death sentence.

Fear is often irrational.

I 99% believe this is just a modern day "A Modest Proposal", but at the same time, there is a part of me that could believe someone is actually serious.

After reading numerous experiences of long-term inmates and how difficult it is for them to re-integrate with modern society,[1] it occurred to me that a carefully modified version of Rejection Therapy[2] would help them (re)define the boundaries of their environment.

Soylent and Oculus may work on the "inside", but neither are representative of normal society. Rejection certainly is.

I like this out-of-the-box thinking though. We need more of it.

[1]http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/magazine/you-just-got-o...

[2] http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/16/37723901...

The soylent point is definitely of some substance although I don't know if it's quite potable.

All puns aside. That would be a much better alternative to feeding prisoners the food they currently get. It would be much more balanced and fair.

That's kind of the point. Terrifying, but humane.

This would make prison terrifying.

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