Torture is banned because it is cruel and inhumane. But as Shane O’Mara (Professor of Experimental Brain Research at Trinity College Dublin and TRAUMA Curator) writes in this account of the human brain under stress, another reason torture should never be condoned is because it does not work the way torturers assume it does. In countless films and TV shows such as Homeland and 24, torture is portrayed as a harsh necessity. If cruelty can extract secrets that will save lives, so be it. CIA officers and others conducted torture using precisely this justification.
But does torture accomplish what its defenders say it does?
To mark the launch of Why Torture Doesn't Work by Shane O'Mara, Richard English spoke about some of the many reasons why this is such an important book of universal relevance that addresses one of the agenda-determining issues of our period. Shane O’Mara guided us through the neuroscience of suffering, revealing the brain to be much more complex than the brute calculations of torturers have allowed.
This event was chaired by Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin, Patrick Prendergast.
