
English: 
There are tens of thousands of people in solitary
confinement all around the world. There may even
be a prison using it not far away from where
you are right now. And the experiences of
prisoners in solitary are completely changing
how we think about the human mind.
PART 1 � All Alone
For a long time, people in the Western philosophical
tradition have said that human minds are separate, 100% discrete
individuals, sealed off units. You can
find ideas like this in thinkers like
René Descartes or Zera Yacob, even Aristotle,
who said "man is a political creature
and one whose nature is to live with others," thought that human beings were separate from each other and the world.
We enjoy socialising,  need socialising maybe, but still - there's that gap.
I'm not gonna get too deep into this today,
but that model of the individual self isolated
from others? It's the theory of mind that
capitalism assumes.

English: 
There are tens of thousands of people in solitary confinement all around the world.
There may even be a prison using it not far away from where you are right now.
And the experiences of prisoners in solitary are completely changing how we think
about the human mind.
[Music]
Part one: all alone
For a long time people in the Western philosophical tradition have said that human minds are separate.
100 percent discrete individuals, sealed-off units.
You can find ideas like this in thinkers like Rene Descartes, or Zera Yacob.
Even Aristotle who said man is a political creature and one whose nature is to live with others
Thought that human beings were separate from each other and the world.
We enjoy socializing, need socializing maybe, but still there's that gap.
I'm not gonna get too deep into this today, but that model of the individual self isolated from others?
It's the theory of mind that capitalism assumes.

English: 
And it was part of what inspired a lot of early proponents of solitary confinement.
Take somebody who's done wrong, seal them away somewhere where they can reflect have a chat with their ideal self and hopefully come out better.
It almost sounds humane! More humane at least than
Thumbscrews, or burning them in public, or executions.
Surely.
It's difficult to know exactly how many people are being held in solitary confinement today.
In the United States, all the estimates I've seen are measured in tens of thousands, but
Disagreements about definitions as well as changing definitions and policies and court decisions
Reporting and recording errors and different counting procedures have led to a lack of reliable and valid data on supermax issues.
Also, sometimes people are subjected to what looks an awful lot like solitary confinement, but isn't officially called that.
They call it the secure housing unit, or the control unit, or preventative detention.

English: 
And it was part of what inspired a lot of
early proponents of solitary confinement.
Take somebody who's done wrong, seal them away somewhere
where they can reflect, have a chat with
their Ideal Self, and hopefully come out better.
It almost sounds humane, more humane at least than thumbscrews or burning them in public or executions.
Surely?
It's difficult to know how exactly many
people are being held in solitary confinement
today. In the United States all the estimates
I've seen are measured in tens of thousands,
but, "disagreements about definitions - as
well as changing definitions and policies
and court decisions - reporting and recording
errors, and different counting procedures
have led to a lack of reliable and valid data
on supermax issues."
Also, sometimes people are subjected to what
looks an awful lot like solitary confinement
but isn't officially called that: they call
it the "Secure Housing Unit" or the "Control

English: 
Unit" or "Preventative Detention." In
my country the Department of Justice has said
that we don't do solitary confinement, and
yet a report in 2017 by Her Majesty's Inspectorate
of Prisons said that not only are we doing
it, we're even doing it to children.
However many people are being in held in solitary
though and whatever its legal definition,
in her book Solitary Confinement philosophy
professor Lisa Guenther argues that
they almost invariably don't come out better.
They are harmed by the experience of course:
as well as the unpleasantness of being locked up they can also hallucinate, become disoriented, distressed,
depressed, anxious, psychotic, suicidal even. But even beyond that human beings
kept in solitary can actually lose their minds and their ability to interpret their own experiences.
"There are many ways to destroy a person,
but one of the simplest and most devastating
is through prolonged solitary confinement.
Deprived of meaningful human interaction,

English: 
In my country, the Department of Justice has said that we don't do solitary confinement.
And yet a report in 2017 by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of prisons said that not only are we doing it, we're even doing it to children.
However many people are being held in solitary though and whatever its legal definition,
In her book Solitary Confinement falsely professor Lisa Guenther argues that they almost
Invariably don't come out better. They are harmed by the experience
Of course as well as a general unpleasantness of being locked up, they can also hallucinate,
Become disoriented, distressed, depressed, anxious, psychotic, suicidal even.
But even beyond that,
Human beings kept in solitary can actually lose their minds, and their ability to interpret their own experiences.
There are many ways to destroy a person, but one of the simplest and most devastating is through prolonged solitary confinement.
Deprived of meaningful human interaction, otherwise healthy prisoners become unhinged.

English: 
otherwise healthy prisoners become unhinged.
They see things that do not exist, and they
fail to see things that do. Their sense of
their own bodies - even the fundamental
capacity to feel pain and distinguish their
own pain from that of others - erodes to
the point where they are no longer sure if
they are being harmed or harming themselves."
And Guenther says that's because we've
been wrong about minds all this time: we're not actually
discrete individuals, at least not
as much as we thought. We're a network.
We're not a hive mind obviously, but if
we were 100% separate then we wouldn't expect
solitary to completely destroy somebody's capacity for meaningful experience in quite
the way that it can. She says that in order
to explain what it does to a human being we're gonna need
an entirely new theory of the mind.
PART 2 - Phenomenology
Guenther begins with the testimony of survivors
of solitary confinement, so let's hear some.
Now be warned, they are a little bit disturbing. But have a listen and see what you can spot. Here are the words of Jack Henry Abbott, who

English: 
They see things that do not exist, and they fail to see things that do.
Their sense of their own bodies
Even the fundamental capacity to feel pain and distinguish their own pain from that of others
Erodes to the point where they're no longer sure if they're being harmed or harming themselves.
And Guenther says that's because we've been wrong about minds all this time.
We're not actually discrete individuals, at least not as much as we thought. We're a network.
We're not a hive mind, obviously.
But if we were 100 percent separate,
Then we wouldn't expect solitary to completely destroy somebody's capacity for meaningful experience in quite the way that it can.
She says in order to explain what it does to a human being, we're gonna need an entirely new theory of mind.
Part two: phenomenology
Guenther begins with the testimony of survivors of solitary confinement.
So let's hear some.
Now be warned, they are a little bit disturbing, but have a listen and see what you can spot.

English: 
Here are the words of Jack Henry Abbott who was imprisoned in solitary confinement and complete darkness.
I heard someone screaming far away
And it was me.
I fell against the wall and, as if it were a catapult, was hurled across the cell to the opposite wall back and forth
I reeled from the door to the walls
Screaming. Insane.
That was after only twenty three days.
Here's some more from prisoners in Walpole prison in Massachusetts. The shortest term was 11 days the longest 10 months.
I seem to see movements real fast motions in front of me and then it seems like they're doing the thing behind your back
Can't quite see them. Did someone just hit me? I dwell on it for hours.
Melting. Everything in the cell starts moving.
Everything gets darker you feel like you're losing your vision.
I can't concentrate, can't read. Your mind's narcotized.

English: 
was imprisoned in solitary confinement and complete
darkness:
"I heard someone screaming far away and
it was me. I fell against the wall, and as
if it were a catapult, was hurled across the
cell to the opposite wall. Back and forth
I reeled, from the door to the walls, screaming.
Insane."
That was after only 23 days. Here's some more,
from prisoners kept in Walpole Prison In Massachusetts.
The shortest term was 11 days, the longest
ten months:
"I seem to see movements... real fast motions in front of me. Then
seems like they're doing things behind your
back... can't quite see them. Did someone
just hit me? I dwell on it for hours..."
"Melting, everything in the cell
starts moving; everything gets darker, you
feel like you are losing your vision."
"I can't concentrate, can't
read... Your mind's narcotized...Sometimes

English: 
can't grasp words in my mind that I know.
Get stuck, have to think of another word.
Memory is going. You feel you are losing something
you might not get back."
And finally, the words of Robert King, a Black
Panther who was imprisoned in a cell 6 foot
by 9 foot for a murder he didn't commit
for 29 years and lived:
"When I walked out of Angola, I didn't
realise how permanently the experience of
solitary would mark me. Even now my sight
is impaired. I find it very difficult to judge
long distances - a result of living in such
a small space. Emotionally, too, I've found
it hard to move on. I talk about my 29 years
in solitary as if it was the past, but the
truth is it never leaves you. In some ways
I am still there."

English: 
Sometimes can't grasp words in my mind that I know. Get stuck have to think of another word
Memory is going. You feel you are losing something you might not get back.
And finally, the words of Robert King, a Black Panther who was imprisoned in a cell 6 foot by 9 foot
For a murder he didn't commit for 29 years and lived.
When I walked out of Angola, I didn't realize how permanently the experience of solitary would mark me.
Even now my sight is impaired.
I find it very difficult to judge long distances, a result of living in such a small space.
Emotionally, too, I found it hard to move on.
I talk about my 29 years in solitary as if it was the past, but the truth is it never leaves you.
In some ways I am still there.

English: 
What is it about living in a static, unchanging world without other people,
That causes these kinds of experiences?
And remember, these are just the people who got out and are able to talk about it.
There'd be others who could tell us a lot more about solitary if only they were in a state to.
But that, I am forbid to tell, the secrets of my prison-house
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood.
To account for these experiences Guenther draws on a tradition in philosophy known as Phenomenology.
Now a full survey of phenomenology is somewhat beyond today's scope but in brief
It's the practice in philosophy of putting the quality of experience first.
We ask what is it like to experience the world.
And once we've got some kind of answer to that then we move on to questions like,
What is the world like? A nd we can spot some interesting things in this way.
Take this cup. If I were to consider it in the way that I normally do I say that

English: 
What is it about living in a static, unchanging world without other people that causes
these kinds of experiences? And remember, these are just the people who got out and
are able to talk about it. There'd be others
who could tell us a lot more about solitary
if only they were in a state to.
"But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young
blood."
To account for these experiences, Guenther
draws on a tradition in philosophy known as
phenomenology. Now a full survey of phenomenology is somewhat beyond today's scope, but in brief it's
the practice in philosophy of putting the quality
of experience first. We ask, "What is it like to experience
the world?" and once we've got some kind of answer to that, then we move on to questions like, "What is the world like?"
And we spot some interesting things in this way.
Take this cup. If I were to consider it in

English: 
It's a cup and it has a pattern on it, it's got a chip out of it just here. I can drink tea out of it.
There's tea stains in it. But if I pay attention to the way in which I experience it
I noticed that I can never see all of it at once
Although I think of it as being a single,
Separate chunk of matter, I only ever see one side of it at a time.
And I never see it just on its own
I always see it against some background, or in some context. In some relation to me.
So, in fact, I'm not separate from the world at all. All my thoughts and the contents of my mind are
Inescapably bound up with it.
For the phenomenologist,
Experience is not the inscription of impressions on the blank slate of the mind
but rather the
Intentional relation of consciousness to a world that is neither out there in a separate realm beyond consciousness

English: 
the way that I normally do I'd say that it's
a cup, and it has this pattern on it; it's got a chip out of it just here...
I can drink tea out of it; there's tea stains in it. But if I pay attention to the way in which I experience it I notice that
I can never see all of it at once. Although
I think of it as being a single, separate
chunk of matter, I only ever see one
side of it at a time. And I never see it just
on its own; I always see it against some background
or in certain light or in some context,
in some relation to me. So in fact I'm not separate from the world at all! All my thoughts
and all the contents of my mind are inescapably
bound up with it.
"For the phenomenologist, experience is
not the inscription of impressions on the
blank slate of the mind but, rather, the intentional
relation of consciousness to a world that
is neither "out there" in a separate realm
beyond consciousness nor "in here" in

English: 
the form of an innate idea. For the phenomenologist,
consciousness is not a thing... consciousness
is always consciousness of something... Persons do not exist as such without a world to which they belong."
In a previous video we talked about Split
Mind theory - the idea that to be a human being
is to be split into two parts, the Experienced Self and the Ideal Self?
The Ideal Self is like an internal other, that
monitors and critiques our behaviour. And Guenther
takes this idea up, and says maybe other people and the stimulation they provide and the examples they set to us
are key to forming the Ideal Self. With nobody else around there's
nobody to check whether what you just saw
was real or only in your head; there's nobody
to tell you, implicitly or explicitly, how
you should behave and so your ability to do
that for yourself starts to break down. The
mind starts to break down.

English: 
Nor in here in the form of an innate idea. For the phenomenologist, consciousness is not a thing.
Consciousness is always consciousness of something.
Persons do not exist as such without a world to which they belong.
In a previous video we talked about
Split mind theory, the idea that to be a human being is to be split into two halves,
The experienced self and the ideal self.
The ideal self is like an internal other that monitors and critiques our
Behavior and Guenther takes this idea up and says maybe other people,
And the stimulation they provide, and the examples they set to us are key to forming that ideal self.
With nobody else around, there's nobody to check whether what you just saw was real or only in your head.
There's nobody to tell you, implicitly or explicitly,
How you should behave. And so your ability to do that for yourself?
Starts to break down.
The mind starts to break down.

English: 
If one is deprived for long enough of the
Experience of other concrete persons in a shared or common space, it is possible for one's own sense of
Personhood to diminish or even collapse.,
While the transcendental ego, or the pure capacity for experience, remains.
Without the concrete experience of other embodied egos oriented towards common objects in a shared world,
My own experience of the boundaries of those perceptual objects begins to waver.
It becomes difficult to tell what is real and what is only my imagination playing tricks on me. I may begin to hallucinate,
Spontaneously generating an experience of imaginary others in the absence of concrete bodily relations.
Or I may have less dramatic, but no less unnerving, perceptual distortions,
Like the Supermax prisoners for whom the wire mesh on their door begins to vibrate
Or the surface of the wall seems to bulge

English: 
"If one is deprived for long enough of the
experience of other concrete persons in a
shared or common space, it is possible for
one's own sense of personhood to diminish
or even collapse, while the transcendental
ego, or the pure capacity for experience,
remains... Without the concrete experience
of other embodied egos oriented towards common
objects in a shared world, my own experience
of the boundaries of those perceptual objects
begins to waver. It becomes difficult to tell
what is real and what is only my imagination
playing tricks on me...
I may begin to hallucinate, spontaneously
generating an experience of imaginary others
in the absence of concrete bodily relations.
Or I may have less dramatic but no less unnerving
perceptual distortions, like the supermax
prisoners for whom the wire mesh on their

English: 
To the extent that we regard the prisoner is an individual who is
Separable from the world and others, even if we acknowledge that
This individual is a social animal whose environment has some sort of effect on physical and mental health,
We fail to grasp the depths of the harm inflicted by solitary confinement.
The essential relatedness to others of the human mind
is exposed, perhaps, most clearly by those prisoners who throw their own feces on the walls of their cells
So someone has to come in and clean it up
Ordinarily we might say, "Oh, they're just being disgusting or trying to be awful towards the guards"
But Guenther invites us to the idea that people who do this can do it because they literally have nothing else left to do.
In a six foot by nine foot cell alone for years
Sometimes decades
There are no actions they can take that will meaningfully change their world.

English: 
door begins to vibrate or the surface of the
wall seems to bulge.
To the extent that we regard the prisoner
as an individual who is separable from the
world and others, even if we acknowledge that
this individual is a "social animal" whose
"environment" has some sort of effect
on physical and mental health, we fail to
grasp the depths of the harm inflicted by
solitary confinement."
The essential relatedness-to-others of the
human mind is exposed perhaps most clearly
by those prisoners who throw their own faeces at the walls of their cells so someone has to come in and clean it up.
Ordinarily we might say, "Oh they're just being disgusting or trying to be awful towards the guards."
But Guenther invites us to the idea hat people who do this can
do it because they literally have nothing
else left to do. In a six foot by nine foot
cells, alone, for years, sometimes decades, there are no actions they can take that will meaningfully change their world.
There are no tasks left to perform that can establish a relationship with somebody else.

English: 
And If deprived of that relation with the world and others the mind will break down, so almost
as a self-defence mechanism it forces a connection with somebody, even using the crudest of methods,
even though that somebody will probably punish them more in the long term as a result.
PART 3 - Torture
Little wonder then that many people consider
solitary confinement to be a form of torture.
Since the 20th Century torture techniques
have come on a little bit: it's no longer in vogue
to just put someone in thumbscrews or stretch them on the rack. It's also not a particularly reliable way of obtaining information.
If the goal of the torture is to get information, which it isn't always. The CIA's "Human Resources Exploitation
Training Manual" has this to say,
"The torture situation is an external conflict,
a contest between the subject and his tormentor.
The pain which is being inflicted upon him

English: 
There are no tasks left to perform that can establish a relationship with somebody else.
And if deprived of that relation with the world and others, the mind will break down
So almost as a self defense mechanism
It forces a connection with somebody,
Even using the crudest of methods, even though that somebody will probably punish them more in a long term as a result.
Part three: torture
Little wonder then that many people will consider solitary confinement to be a form of torture.
Since the 20th century, torture techniques have come on a little bit
It's no longer in vogue to just put someone in thumb screws or stretch them on the rack.
It's also not a particularly reliable way of obtaining information, if the goal of the torture is to get information
Which it isn't always.
The CIA's human resources exploitation training manual
Has this to say: the torture situation is an external conflict,
A contest between the subject and his tormentor. The pain which is being inflicted upon him from outside himself
May actually intensify his will to resist.

English: 
from outside himself may actually intensify
his will to resist. On the other hand, pain
which he feels he is inflicting upon himself
is more likely to sap his resistance."
And in line with that, Guenther says that
torture in the modern age tends to focus on
turning the victim against themselves. Turning
the Experienced Self against the Ideal Self.
The use of stress positions, like forcing
a prisoner to squat for hours at a time, exploits
their own body as the torture device, wearing them down psychologically as well as physically. It's a little bit
like playing good cop bad cop, only you make the prisoner their own bad cop. That way it's a lot
easier for the torturer to come in and pretend to be the good cop who genuinely cares about
the prisoner and just wants to get them out of this awful situation. Survivors of places like the Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo
Bay have testified that loud music was played at them for hours by United States soldiers as an
"enhanced interrogation technique" and
the principle there is the same.

English: 
On the other hand, pain, which he feels he is inflicting upon himself,
Will be more likely to sap his resistance.
And in line with that,
Guenther says that torture in the modern age tends to focus on turning the victim against themselves.
Turning the experience itself against the ideal self. The use of stress positions like forcing a prisoner to squat for hours on end
Exploits their own body as the torture device wearing them down psychologically as well as physically.
It's a little bit like playing good cop bad cop, only you make the prisoner their own bad cop.
That way it's a lot easier for the torturer to come in and pretend to be the good cop who genuinely cares about
The prisoner and just wants to get him out of this awful situation.
Survivors of places like the Abu Ghraib prison
and Guantanamo Bay have testified that loud music was played at them for hours by United States soldiers as an
Enhanced interrogation technique and the principle there is the same.

English: 
Guenther argues that solitary confinement is the purest distillation of this torture principle,
turning the prisoners capacity for any kind of experience, not just pain or sound, against them.
Turning the structure of their own minds against them.
There are some practical implications of this discussion that are uncomfortable, but it would be disingenuous not to note them.
The first is that if solitary confinement is a form of torture,
Legally or morally,
Then that would mean that the United States,
Which imprisons more people than any other country both in terms of absolute numbers and relative to their population and regularly uses solitary confinement,
Would be one of if not the
Biggest torturers in the world.
Certain recent events might blunt the moral shock of a sentence like that
[Distorted] America
But in fairness to the current regime, this practice predates them by many years.
Secondly,
The inhabitants of prisons in the United States and in my country the UK are

English: 
Guenther argues that solitary confinement
is the purest distillation of this torture
principle. Turning the prisoner's capacity
for any kind of experience, not just pain
or sound, against them. Turning the structure
of their own minds against them.
There are some practical implications of this discussion that are uncomfortable but it would be disingenuous not to note. The first
is that if solitary confinement is a form
a torture, legally or morally, then that would
mean that the United States, which imprisons
more people than any other country, both in
terms of absolute numbers and relative
to their population, and regularly uses solitary
confinement, would be one of, if not the,
biggest torturers in the world. Certain
recent events might blunt the moral shock
of a sentence like that,
AMERICA
but in fairness to the current regime this
practice predates them by many years.
Secondly, the inhabitants of prisons in the United States and in my country, the UK, are disproportionately people

English: 
Disproportionately people of color, and therefore so are the inhabitants of solitary confinement cells.
In addition you might think, as I did actually before I started researching this video, that solitary confinement is only for the worst of the worst,
It's only for the really dangerous people the really bad eggs.
But that's also not true.
Breaking prison rules can earn you time in solitary,
And in prison there are a lot of rules that it's sometimes difficult to avoid breaking,
especially the rules on fighting if you're caught in a bad spot and you need to defend yourself.
In Pelican Bay Penitentiary in California, you can earn a trip to the special housing unit
For tattooing, for having more than five dollars without permission, and even for attempted suicide.
Although it seems a lot like extra punishment,
There are no extra trials or legal loopholes that you have to go through before solitary is added to your sentence.
It's also worth asking the really really hard question.
Even if solitary was in practice only for the worst of the worst. Would it be okay to do even then?

English: 
of colour, and therefore so are the inhabitants
of solitary confinement cells. In addition,
you might think, as I did actually before I started researching this video, that solitary confinement is only for the worst of the worst! It's only for the really dangerous people,
the really bad eggs. But that's also
not true. Breaking prison rules can earn you
time in solitary, and in prison there are
a lot of rules that it's sometimes difficult
to avoid breaking. Especially the rules on fighting, if you're caught in a bad spot and you need to defend yourself.
In Pelican Bay Penitentiary in California,
you can earn a trip to the "Special Housing
Unit" for tattooing, for having more than $5
without permission, and even for attempted
suicide. Though it seems a lot like extra punishment there are
extra trials or legal loopholes that you have to go through before solitary is added to your sentence.
It's also worth asking the really, really hard question: even if solitary was in practice only
for the worst of the worst would it be okay to do, even then? Given the nature

English: 
Given the nature and the type of a harm that it does, is that an OK thing to inflict on anyone?
I originally had quite a different ending for this video planned,
But I changed it more or less the last minute because I started to worry that it was coming across as a little bit preachy.
So, umm.
The the neo-nazi terrorist, Anders Brevik,
Murdered 77 people including several teenagers in
2011, and, uhh, he's been in various forms of solitary confinement ever since.
And I have to confess I
I have no sympathy for the man.
I certainly would not want to be the guy who has to sit down and talk to Anders Brevik once a week
Just cuz he's gonna lose his mind if if we don't.
I have sympathy and compassion for a lot of people in prison, but if you're coming at this from a place of well
Why should I care about these people?

English: 
and the type of harm that it does, is that an okay thing to inflict on anyone?
I originally had quite a different ending for this video planned
but I changed it at more or less the last minute because I started to worry that it was coming across as a little bit preachy?
So, uh... the Neo-Nazi terrorist Anders
Brevik murdered 77 people including several
teenagers in 2011 and he has been in various forms of solitary confinement
ever since and I have to confess I have
no sympathy for the man.
I certainly wouldn't wanna be the guy who has to sit down and talk
to Anders Brevik once a week just cause
he's gonna lose his mind if we don't. I have
sympathy and compassion for a lot of people in prison, but if you're coming at this from a place of, "Well why should I care about these people?" then

English: 
at least in that one case, yeah, I completely agree.
But at the same time, how we feel about people in prison isn't really the philosophical issue at stake here.
The question that we're bumping up against is what is solitary confinement, and maybe prison more
generally, for? Why are we doing this to people? And if the answer is suppose to be because of rehabilitation, it makes bad people good, then we can't really afford the fact that solitary
(and maybe to an extent prison generally)
is pretty incompatible with that goal. You can't rehabilitate
somebody who's just been cancelled, who's just been destroyed, in that way.
We tell them to reflect on what they've done, but we just knacker them so that they can't reflect on it. We tell them to take responsibility for their actions

English: 
Then at least in that one case
Yeah, I I completely agree. But at the same time, how we feel about
People in prison isn't really the philosophical issue at stake here. The question that we're bumping up against
Is what is solitary confinement, and maybe prison more generally, for?
Like why, why're we doing this to people?
And if the answer is supposed to be
Because of rehabilitation, it makes makes bad people good, then
We can't really ignore the fact that solitary, and maybe to an extent prison generally, is pretty incompatible with that goal.
Like you you you can't rehabilitate somebody who's just been
Cancelled. Who's just been destroyed in that way. Where we we tell them
To reflect on what they've done, but we just knacker them so that they can't reflect on it.
We tell them to take responsibility for their actions,

English: 
but we deprive them of any possible actions for which they might take responsibility.
We tell them to make social and ethical transformations but deprive them of anybody relative to whom
they might make that kind of transformation. So we definitely don't help people in solitary confinement;
We just make them easier to control and maybe give ourselves some Schadenfreude.
This is really starting to get personal now but um... sometimes
when I'm really going through a rough patch in my life I have this fantasy that I get on a plane over the ocean and it crashes
but I survive and I wash up on a beautiful desert island and everyone in my old life just thinks I'm dead, and I live there alone on the island

English: 
But we deprive them of any possible actions for which they might take responsibility.
We tell them to make social and ethical Transformations,
But we deprive them of anybody relative to whom they might make that kind of a transformation
So
We definitely don't help people in solitary confinement. We.
We just make them easier to control and maybe give ourselves a little bit of schadenfreude.
This is really starting to get personal now, but, um,
Sometimes when I'm really going through a rough patch in my life, I
have this fantasy that I get on a plane over the ocean,
And it crashes,
but I survive and
I wash up on a beautiful desert island, and everyone in my old life
They just think I'm dead, and I live there,
Alone on the island for the rest of my days

English: 
for the rest of my days. Because there's no-one there who can hurt me, and there's no-one there who I can hurt.
But as I get older I realise that's not a healthy fantasy: that's a death wish, and for better and
worse we really are all intertwined. The poet John Donne wrote, appropriately enough:
"No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every
man is a piece of the continent, A part of
the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As
well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine
own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because
I am involved in mankind, And therefore never
send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

English: 
Because there's no one there who who can hurt me
And there's no one who I can hurt, but
As I get older I realized that that's not a healthy fantasy. That's a death wish.
And, uh.
For better and worse, we really are all intertwined there. The poet, John Donne, once wrote appropriate enough
No, man is an island entire of itself
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were.
Every man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore
Never send to know For Whom the Bell Tolls.
It tolls for thee.

English: 
Special thanks to Dan Olsen, Mike Rugnetta
Antony DeAngelo and Gabrion from cashing gaya for lending their vocal talents to this episode. You can find links to all their works below.
[Music]

English: 
Special thanks to Dan Olson, Mike Rugnetta,
Anthony D'Angelo, and Gabrion from KesshinGaia
for lending their vocal talents to this episode.
You can find links to all their work below.
