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Comment by xwdv | Hacker News Reader

If it’s mentally taxing why not create some sort of automated firing squad? First version could just be a line of guns manually aimed and then set to fire simultaneously off some timer.

More advanced versions could eventually feature face recognition for auto aiming and arbitrary placement of the gun turrets.

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Why stop there? We could just load them up on an assembly line and have one of those automotive robotic arms use an air gun on them like they do for cattle. Better yet just rip their heads clean off with an automated guillotine. Then us regular folk could check it out on the latest “how it’s made” episode and remark to our selves on how satisfying the sheer efficiency of it is. Do that long enough and we could even have kids react to the old people’s way of electrocuting them in a chair. They’ll think that shit be cray. Sounds to me like the killing business is ripe for disruption.

From the Onion: Ohio Replaces Lethal Injection With Humane New Head-Ripping-Off Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfsMMVgIToA

If it's ripping, is it really a guillotine?

Well, no. I seem to remember the history of the guillotine would preclude ripping as it was supposed to be cleaner than other chopping methods.

There are countless other more humane ways to kill people, if we must. No need for a "high tech" solution here.

I'd prefer they keep it difficult/impossible to do though. Making capital punishment easier is the opposite of what they should be doing.

It might be instructive to look at how people choose to die when they have a free choice. Ah, what am I saying, why am I trying to think of better ways to execute people? We should just stop doing that.

Since it was an invention to make it easier on people who do the executions, yes we probably don't have to focus on optimizing our disconnect to killing.

Indeed. There's also the point of making it as cheap as possible, or profitable to rich people, like with soylent green.

The high tech aspect is what brings dignity and humanity to the execution. If you had to be killed, wouldn’t you rather be killed by our best and brightest technology, rather than some cheap off the shelf bolt gun?

Can't we just use those execution bolt guns at that point? It seems silly to make a big distance and chance of missing. The products can be bought off the shelf from slaughter houses.

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