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Woman 1: Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition. But it was hard not to expect that the torture
techniques once made popular by the Inquisitors might see a renewed popularity. Torture is
defined as "the infliction of severe pain or suffering in order to obtain information."
Or, depending who you ask, any one of the "Twilight" movies. And to some people, if
there's a lot at stake and a chance you can get what you need using a bit of "enhanced
interrogation," it might seem like a pretty fair trade. But, from a scientific perspective,
there are some major reasons why this doesn't actually pan out.
Take water boarding, for example. In this method, water is forced through the nasal
passage and throat causing immediate stimulation of the glossopharyngeal nerve, or gag reflex.
This results in a terrifying sensation of choking, drowning, extreme pain and, if uninterrupted,
death, that will cause the victim to say just about anything to make it stop.
The intensely stressful situations brought on by torture also bombard two areas of the
brain, called the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, with hormones that compromise brain
functioning and severely damage brain tissue, potentially destroying the very memories and
information you're trying to extract. Throw in the chance that your torture subject might
accidentally die, leaving you with a ticking bomb to unearth and no living person who knows
where it is, and, all-in-all, it seems like torture might not be the best way to go.
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