SHERMER SPEAKS OUT
Torture Doesn’t Work

In this video, based on his column on the subject in Scientific American, Michael Shermer demonstrates why torture does not work as a method of extracting useful and actionable information, primarily because people being tortured will say anything to stop the pain, including confessing to crimes they didn’t commit (like witchcraft) and giving false information (where a terrorist attack may happen next). Instead, studies show that developing a rapport with the person under interrogation produces higher quality intelligence.