Sunday, December 03, 2006

Scientific American Discovers Technocorrections

A couple of items over at Scientific American online that point to the broader realizations of technocorrections that are beginning to blossom. Here, they note that judges are starting to allow brain imaging as evidence at trial. Here you'll find some of what they'll be looking at, differences in the brains of psychopaths and their abilities to read people's faces and emotions compared to non-psychopaths. And before you think, oh, that's just going to be a new touchy-feely way for defense counsel to get off the guilty, note that the imaging techniques can also be used for profiling and preemptive action by the government. And surely prosecutors are clever enough to pull out any findings of absence of these cranial characteristics to bolster their cases. As we've said before, this is a brave new world for everyone, at trial, at treatment, at return to communities. It's happening in front of us and yet, if you Google "technocorrections," you'll mainly get these posts, Tony Fabelo's original article, and a couple of British studies. On the other hand, this article will tip you off to some of the potential as Britain becomes a "surveillance society."

We need to do better.

No comments: