Hacker News Reader

This was posted years ago on HN and it has always stuck with me.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/07/trial-by-fire

Jesus Christ. Death penalty advocates always say there are so many checks and that only absolute monsters are executed but this is a case made off animal spirits and the testimony of a fellow prisoner, both of which were later called into serious question. What the fuck.

I think that a lot of people are just bloodthirsty and once they’ve categorized somebody as evil then anything can be done to them. Unbelievable.

> animal spirits

*mineral spirits

But thanks! "Animal spirits" intrigued me, so I read the entire article. A clusterfuck from top to bottom, particularly the bit about the cracked glass patterns... something better explained by thermal shock of cold water from fire-hoses on hot glass, and not the use of BBQ lighter fluid as an accelerant.

Haunting words: "I almost sent a man to die based on theories that were a load of crap."

I used the term "animal spirits" to describe the voodoo that the arson investigator used to justify the conviction (I admit this is confusing given that "mineral spirits" plays a role in the article). The term is often used in economics to describe the fickle and unknowable and seemingly random reasons for market motion. This arson investigation feels just as random.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com