CATCHING CROOKS VIA MINDREADING….TalkLeft has a story today about a guy who has a technique for peering into someone’s thoughts to find out if they’ve committed a crime:
A technique called “brain fingerprinting,” which seeks to probe whether a suspect has specific knowledge of a crime, could become a powerful weapon in national security, its inventor believes.
As it turns out, it’s unlikely his invention actually works, but what if it did? Would it be a good idea?
Here’s a thought experiment: suppose this guy actually had a foolproof, nonintrusive way of determining if a suspect in a crime were telling the truth:
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What restrictions would need to be placed on its use?
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Would we need courts and juries (as we know them) any longer?
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How could it be abused?
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Is there a downside to a 100% reliable way of catching criminals?
The reason these questions are interesting is that it wouldn’t surprise me if such a technique ? genuinely reliable and easy to use ? were developed sometime in the next few decades. If it is, should we use it?
