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Immunity To Remorse In A Pill
Erik Baard writes "Several lines of research to prevent the formation of post traumatic stress disorder might also have the effect of stunting the development of healthy feelings of remorse over one's wrongdoings. With such therapies available one day, will soldiers or police officers be less hesitant to use lethal force in questionable situations? Will rapists and murderers qualify for treatment? This Village Voice article explores the ethical implications without pointing to any single answer."
Hello, I am Anonymous Coward, the guy whose comments you can read daily on this fine Web site. What I am about to tell you is not easy for me, however, I will just let my conscience clear.
I have been trolling Slashdot since its inception. I find guilty pleasure in posting all those first posts, Natalie Portman and hot grits posts, in Soviet Russia and Beowulf clusters posts, as well as information about Stephen King's death or Townsend's pedophily (oh, wait, cross out that one).
The remorse is killing me. I don't know if you will ever forgive me Taco, but if you don't, my wretched life is a good punishment for such an evil deed.
Sincerely,
Anonymous Coward
Could this line of research also lead to the development of a pill that could induce remorseful feelings? If so, what would be the implications of administering such a drug to criminals? Kinda reminds me of a stupid episode of Sliders (yes I know, redundant statment) where they had the 'police' officers who went around medicating everyone... strange.
The worst of the predators feel no remorse; they're sociopaths.
They are always getting one step closer to "the perfect soldier." Nanotech stealthsuits, nutrition patches and now drugs that take away guilt and remorse. Murder has never been so easy (uh... probably!).
The next step would be to have a drug that wipes the memory (it is possible to inhibit the brain's long-term memory "commits" chemically) of the grunts in the field after a certain amount of time has elapsed, making for the ultimate in top-secret, covert missions.
If nobody remembers the horrendous attrocities, it's like they never happened at all!
for great justice, this sig has been moved
No-Remorse Pills means never having to say you're sorry... :)
Some thoughts:
1) Is a fearless soldier actually an asset? I'm not so certain that it is. Fear keeps soldiers alive, and keeps them shooting. Fearless soldiers might be scary as hell, but they might just be easy targets too because they aren't cautious. Another possible problem with fearless soldiers is that they might not be afraid to disobey orders, or whatever they feel the hell like doing.
2) Is a guiltless soldier actually an asset? Will the removal of guilt-feelings weaken the bond between soldiers which is essential to their military effectiveness? Will they be more susceptible to infighting?
any thoughts, please?
Logic, macros, and more
this could explain much of what's been going on lately...
I think now that the Ft. Bragg murders have been attributed to the use of the antimalarial drug Lariam (aka mefloquine). It apparently has the nasty side effects of making users of it less able to control destructive and/or suicidal behavior and thoughts. This once came up when I was talking to a guy who used to work at the same place as me. He was given mefloquine by his doctor prior to a trip to SE Asia. He said that he had random thoughts pop up like "If I took this razor blade to my hand, I could see all the musculature in my hand just like in an anatomy book." He said he felt safe only if he had to concentrate on something like work; at home to focus on something he took to building models. Effects lasted for about six months and there wasn't anything to do about it but wait. Anyway, that's what happened to a well-adjusted and happy individual, as opposed to someone who just got out of a combat zone and went home to a wife that wanted a divorce like at Ft. Bragg. Ah the power of chemistry.