This was a really fun one to make! Thank you so much to Mike, Dan, Anthony, and Gabrion for helping with it! (I have now got myself a new microphone, so hopefully after this the sound quality will improve!)

@shiron222

5 жыл бұрын

I'm curious though. In the case of the worst psychopaths, the kind of people who are incapable of ANY connection or empathy. The kind of people who have genuine differences in their brains that make it impossible to connect to others...how does it affect them? Do they have the same connection the statistical majority of people do, just shallowly or does it not exist at all?

@ilovescaramouche4734

5 жыл бұрын

Philosophy Tube ur so HOT ugh yes plsss

@countcontessa1580

5 жыл бұрын

Loveo Little I wish I could get a piece of olly pie 😩👌

@ilovescaramouche4734

5 жыл бұрын

Count Contessa we love a man that cares abt ur feelings 🍆💦💦 feminist queen

@ThenNow

5 жыл бұрын

Seems like its the studio rather than the microphone?

a friend of mine was put in jail because the cops who her roommate called on her during her suicide attempt misinterpreted her attempt to harm herself as aggravated assault. she was placed in solitary confinement because she was suicidal and deemed a risk to herself and also because she was a transfeminine person in a men's prison. she learned later that she had been screaming "it's gray! it's gray!" over and over again, but has no memory of this. let me repeat that she committed no crime. she was not sentenced to prison. she was simply held in jail for months while the authorities figured out what to do with her in their slow, plodding, stupid way. and even she was subjected to torture.

@andrews9719

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry, but I'd contest all of that. The only way she'd been locked up for the situation you described is if someone was pressing charges against her. That being said, she could have beaten those charges, but nonetheless the state had cause to detain her in jail. Also, jails don't put trans people in jail just because they're in a male jail. Most jails have PC houses for trans people. Also, explain how she was subject to torture? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but your friend seems to have a few screws loose.

@Gaff.

5 жыл бұрын

@Andrew S If you want to call bullshit, I suppose that's your prerogative. But honestly, your second paragraph is one of the worst things I've ever read. Solitary confinement is the torture being referenced, you are unfortunately being a jerk, and _your friend seems to have a few screws loose_ is a disgraceful remark. 'A few screws loose' is it? Cos she was suicidal? Cos her mind was harmed by solitary confinement? What?

@andrews9719

5 жыл бұрын

Ei’ríġ Proinsias Dammantaċ Ó Gamhna. You’re just talking in circles. You’ve already assumed that solitary confinement is torture. By itself it isn’t. And you can judge they way I phrased it, but we know what the point is. The person being talked about is clearly lying and embellishing their experience. You stating my comments are harsh does nothing to change this point. It is clear that solitary confinement didn’t hurt her mind or damage her brain, but rather that she was put into solitary confinement because she was a genuine risk to others. Your logic is backwards, and does not factor the reactionary actions taken. Basically, all you’re stating is “your comments are disgraceful, solitary is bad” with no substance.

@Gaff.

5 жыл бұрын

@Andrew S Yes, solitary confinement is torture. What do you mean, 'by itself'? Solitary confinement has never helped anyone and has no reason to exist apart from torture. If you're not trying to harm someone, then don't put them in solitary confinement. Your comments aren't just harsh, but wrong. We don't know for a fact that anyone is lying. Your comments are combative, which tends to paint people into corners and avoid meaningful discussion. 'It is clear that solitary confinement didn’t hurt her mind or damage her brain, but rather that she was put into solitary confinement because she was a genuine risk to others.' Guess I missed that one...when did that get clarified? The claim was that she was a risk to herself anyway, not to others. This is my problem with your comments. You're not trying to be constructive or honest in any way. You're just trying to be a dick and well done, you're doing great there. What substance do I need to express the view that solitary confinement is bad? I thought that was a given. Guess not. Well, to most people, it is. I also assumed you'd watched the video, but you probably didn't. Ironically, my initial comment was a response to the very fact that your comment had no substance, and I requested you provide it, which you have not done. Just gave me more unsubstantiated claims that things are 'clear' and my logic is 'backwards' or I'm 'talking in circles'. No substance in any of that.

@keonbush6135

5 жыл бұрын

Andrew S Have you been in solitary or in solitary in a prison that already doesn’t care about you and gives you shit food?

Putting someone who attempted suicide into solitary confinement is beyond horrific.

@mailam8846

Жыл бұрын

It's mostly just kinda stupid. As soon as they leave they'll try again, and bodily autonomy is completely ignored. Wouldn't be the first time for america

@ShitYourself7

4 ай бұрын

Why? It's a good thing cause they aren't around others

@ShitYourself7

4 ай бұрын

​@@mailam8846it would be the first time in America

@Robstafarian

4 ай бұрын

@@ShitYourself7 Solitary confinement is a form of torture which has severe psychological consequences, including inducing suicidal ideation.

I spent 10 days in what they call “medical”, which meant I was locked in a tiny cell by myself for 23 hours a day and was only allowed to come out once to get my meds. When I finally got moved into “population” I was so distraught I was having panic attacks and hallucinations and I remember asking to talk to someone about it. The guard told me that I was probably going to have to go back to “medical” if I was having such issues and I immediately told him I was fine, nevermind, bc the thought of going back to isolation was too traumatic. I was only locked up for a few weeks and still, when isolated, I was at least able to see someone for 15 minutes to get my meds. Knowing what that did to me, I cannot imagine what some of these people go through. It is unimaginable cruelty and should be stopped immediately. Really great vid btw, you did an amazing job at portraying the horrors of solitary confinement.

@xzonia1

5 жыл бұрын

I'm so sorry you went through that! I'm glad you're out now and able to interact freely with others.

@armanmkhitaryan27

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry, I know it's not a pleasant thing to talk about, but it would help us get more information about solitary confinement: why did they put you in "medical"? What was their justification? Did they try to punish you for something?

@lesliefluette1784

5 жыл бұрын

xzonia1 thank you :)

@lesliefluette1784

5 жыл бұрын

Arman McHitaryan I was put in medical because I had opiates and benzodiazepines in my system and they needed to “monitor” me to make sure I was okay, which is fine but I didn’t need to be locked in a cell by myself completely closed off from everyone and everything to do that. It was really inhumane. I needed help (I had a drug problem at the time), I didn’t need to be shoved into a tiny space with no rehabilitative opportunities.

@shinobu5186

5 жыл бұрын

That's pretty insane. Where I grew up most people are addicted to opiates. Before I went to college, it wasn't uncommon to find people dead from an overdose in public restrooms, and now it is no wonder if that is how they treat people that need help.

It's crazy that there are some mental hospitals that also use solitary confinement. It really makes you question what sort of science they're using to treat people.

@menthamelissa5094

5 жыл бұрын

the 'us' and 'them' kind perhaps? we/the healthy - they/ the mentally ill? instead of we - all of us - with our healthy moments and our unhealthy ones? instead of we - if we would have had your life experiences, who would have possibly been exactly in your shoes?

@jasonslade6259

5 жыл бұрын

They just know that putting them in solitary pacifies them and makes them easier to deal with. They don't consider the long term damage they could be doing.

@majestycrush

5 жыл бұрын

because theyre dumb as fuck

@lexnight

5 жыл бұрын

If it's anything like drug rehab centers, they aren't using any kind of modern science at all in most places. It's whatever antiquated psuedopopsci was in vogue 40 years ago when whatever the old white guy who founded it first came into the field, and then they entrench that as The Way regardless of (in drug/alcohol rehab for instance) whether 99.9 percent of their clients ultimately fail the program. (My father was in and out of rehab all my life, as well as worked as a psych nurse at various institutions and wards. The state of science based treatment use is genuinely abyssmal, from what I saw.)

@mariooo2493

5 жыл бұрын

@@menthamelissa5094 i dont really want to write this but my phone doesnt let me get out of this so i have to send something

Going on 3 years clean from Heroin and other substances. I myself have been subjected to the torturous circumstances of the US prison system. To the point made at 14:00 or so about who is subjected to solitary (or "the hole" as they call it here), it isn't just hard criminals or inmates who violate rules and conduct, but also for the mentally ill. The disabled. People who are physically sick. People who haven't been convicted of any crimes, but belong to gangs or political organizations or "keep separate" status (confidential informant, co-defendant, etc). I was sent to the hole because I couldn't walk. I needed surgery on my spine. I had been to a doctor just 24 hours before arrest, and I explained this to the staff. I said "please contact my doctor. I'm afraid I'm going to end up paralyzed." They refused. They laughed at me. Mocked me. Called me a liar and ultimately left me there until I was in fact paralyzed. I had an abscess in my spine, which crushed my spinal cord. 36 hours later, the jailhouse doctor saw me and said "Oh my god!" Before having me sent to the E.R. where I was force-released from custody and had immediate emergency surgery. I was told I had a 90% chance of never walking again (I learned to walk again after about 2 years, miraculously). My story is not unique.

When my little brother was in prison, he would intentionally start fights so he could be placed in solitary confinement. Because in solitary confinement he wasn't having to protect himself against other prisoners. He eventually joined the Aryan Nation as a means of protecting himself during his incarceration. So basically, the prison system, at least in the US, is so needlessly brutal by design, that prisoners would voluntarily opt for a situation which most are aware would cause them almost certain mental damage.

@DanyIsDeadChannel313

5 жыл бұрын

Solitary condiment for one day? If you choose for long term it would be horrible. Rather survive prison. Wouldn't you get in trouble by fighting prisoners and further longering your time?

@EmeraldMinnie

5 жыл бұрын

Like I said, he eventually joined the Aryan Nation/Brotherhood/Who Gives a Shit. I didn't say he always made the best decisions, but he saw that as a way to protect himself at least in the short term. The problem was that he then became labelled as a troublemaker by guards and they would fuck with him by threatening to kick his ass for being in the wrong bunk, which he wasn't, etc. All he did was paint a target on himself when he was eventually released from solitary. In the meantime, he's developed an anxiety around closed doors.

@Torthrodhel

5 жыл бұрын

@Xanthalous Rachaum you so clearly didn't watch any of the video and just came on here to signal your politics, you lieing mccarthyist opportunist.

@gregmcgregginton574

5 жыл бұрын

@@Torthrodhel also, calling someone a "commie" unironically in 2019, fucking yikes

@regrettheprophet

4 жыл бұрын

This is called a gangster check in. If you check in PC you will never be able to go back to Gen Pop, but a lot of people will walk up and hit someone in the back of the head with a lock just to get put in the SHU

As a transwoman I fear solidarity confinement more than anything, even death. We get put in effective solitary for "safety reasons" in a lot of prisons. I'm not a law breaker, but I hold politically unpopular leftist views, and have had to talk my way out of being charged with prostitution on multiple occasions. And as someone with an anxiety disorder, I have also had to explain stress puking a number of times.

@katrinam6795

Жыл бұрын

There is a famous ex prison guy from Germany who was interviewed on sexuality in prison and did that pretty well. According to that experience, if you are put into a men's prison as transwoman, or femme-presenting, there are safety concerns for real. The same is true for isolated, not physically strong men though. So not defending solitary confinement but adding that safety concerns are real.

I feel that this video focuses too heavily on lack of social contact as cause for the harm of solitary confinement, and downplays the role that lack of agency and lack of sensory stimulus play. Viewed through the lens of self-determination theory, solitary confinement attacks all three basic human needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The "solitary" part - being separated from human contact - attacks relatedness, while "confinement" attacks autonomy and competence. So I don't think that the desert island scenario you talked about is quite the same as solitary confinement. And in real-world cases where people live alone in nature for long periods of time, although they are profoundly lonely, it usually doesn't take as severe a toll on their sanity as being in solitary confinement does, because two of their three basic psychological needs can still be met. Taking into account research showing that people will sometimes even prefer pain over mild boredom if given the choice, maybe it's not so much the isolation, but the combination of isolation and boredom that does people in.

@TheAsyouwysh

5 жыл бұрын

Stuntddude "people will sometimes prefer pain over mild boredom" me in the bedroom

@varunlale9303

4 жыл бұрын

Exactly what I thought. It is not so much as the necessity of *human* interaction/stimuli that are required but stimuli of any kind. People should at least be provided books, writing equipment, and light so that they can at least have some level of stimulation....

@broobit7540

4 жыл бұрын

Boredom absolutely plays into it. I was in solitary for 24 hours and time moved incredibly slowly. The only thing I had in there was a bible. I wished so much I had some good literature to read.

@rainbowevil

3 жыл бұрын

@B Roobit ahh the United States, where separation of church and state is both in the constitution and also completely ignorable...

@lyricman5302

3 жыл бұрын

@@varunlale9303 that's how I'm able to stay in class

MY brother was in solitaire confinement for 180 days because someone stole his bed sheets, and tried to strangle a guard. Mind you, my brother had no idea who these people were in prison, and yet they punished my little brother. He was only in Prison for theft. Its not even a violent crime. I'm not saying theft is okay, but 180 days for something that wasn't even his fault.... i cried every day.

@jcoliveira93

5 жыл бұрын

I'm so, so sorry

@wm6789

5 жыл бұрын

Happy Cow eh he lived, I bet it toughened him up

@ralfphelps8365

5 жыл бұрын

@@wm6789 mate solitary confinement is probably the worst thing I could ever imagine. It's doesn't toughen u up, it would destroy you.

@caseyhayes7510

4 жыл бұрын

@@wm6789 a bullet doesn't toughen up your skull, you fucking idiot.

@mrinternetguy3625

4 жыл бұрын

@@wm6789 More like increased his chances of becoming a criminal.

The part about prisoners throwing feces reminds me of some patients I have met whilst working in hospital. Usually it was very old patients who came in from a nursing home, who had been bed-ridden for quite some time, who don‘t get a lot of visitors or none at all. Their behaviour is usually blamed on dementia or some kind of brain damage, but I wonder now how big a part their loneliness plays.

@jerryofrevere4773

5 жыл бұрын

It's pretty alarming to look at the parallels between prison and mental health or elderly living facilities. I don't have much in the way of data on the subject but as far as I've heard from relatives working in those kinds of places, the policies tend to seriously restrict the rights of the residents, not to mention the especially low frequency at which they're visited by family and loved ones. There's a lot of talk about the problems with the way prisons are rum, but the broader issue is with how we treat social deviancy and rehabilitation in general. The method seems to mostly be separating these people from the rest of the world instead of actually attempting to help them re-enter it.

@andyrevan

4 жыл бұрын

I wonder if keeping cats or dogs in these places would help

@MatanteDodo

2 жыл бұрын

I attended a conference on elderly care and they had an example for how communicating with dementia patients was important: a woman had become uncooperative and aggressive at once, and it was blamed on her dementia progressing and she was put on antipsychotics so she would stop screaming and pushing nurses away. A few years in, her doctor retired and someone else evaluated her. She was taken off the antipsychotics to evaluate her mental condition, and though she was no longer able to speak, she managed to point to the source of her distress: she had an infected dental abscess and the physical pain was affecting her mood. She spent years with a painful infection destroying her jawbone and only given medication to make her unable to express that pain, instead of figuring out what she was trying to say.

I often worry about disabled people and senior citizens who are sequestered in their homes or living facilities, rarely ever seeing other people because they're too physically or mentally impaired to go out on their own and who don't get many visitors. I wonder if they suffer these same issues as well? It's not solitary confinement in the sense that no one has locked them up, but they still have limited interaction with other people, and that has to be a hellish way to spend the last years of your life for many people.

@dontgetfooled3602

5 жыл бұрын

I was diagnosed late in life with an ASD. Prior to that my anxiety, agoraphobia, and intolerance for social situations had slowly cut me off from any meaningful interpersonal contact to the point where I was spending sometimes 3 months at a time without interacting with another person in a meaningful way. That went on for about 5 years. During which I slowly descended into a horrible state. I was drinking, taking benzodiazepines. I have large chunks of my memory missing. Sometimes whole weeks that I cannot recall at all where I would often injure myself and even ended up with pigeons nesting in a room in my apartment because I was so oblivious to what was happening around me. Eventually I injured myself seriously and was unable to move my hand for several months as a result. During the medical treatment for that injury I was forced to describe the situation that I was in to the medical services. Quite quickly I received a massive intervention, which I think looking back probably saved my life. I was thoroughly assessed, diagnosed with ASD, and had a massive support structure put in place to prevent me from ending up there again. A decade later I am now happily married and volunteering in my local community mental health charity, befriending people who have similarly limited contact since I have first hand experience of what a hell that is to experience. The worry is justified, but there are some people out there trying to help where we can.

@xzonia1

5 жыл бұрын

I'm glad to hear you received help, and that you are giving it to others now!

@mofomarnie

5 жыл бұрын

It's the same with people with mental health issues in general. I'm glad I have a cat who is someone to communicate with because I am incredibly isolated. Rarely going out, even to get food and opt for online deliveries where possible. I hate going out. But solitary confinement is different. There's literally no stimulation because they're confined to a tiny, bare room, not allowed books, things to keep them occupied and productive. That loss of productivity and having no purpose or stimulation is what triggers mental health issues in solitary. Your brain is so bored it will create hallucinations.

@TetraTerezi

5 жыл бұрын

I was in "in school suspension" for a while and i can relate to some of the feelings and idea here, so id be worried about kids in juvenile detention, or kids like me who were mishandled by adults.

@xzonia1

5 жыл бұрын

Hipster Faye - True! Children are often not treated well, and this is another area that needs to be addressed in society.

When I was younger, I broke my arm just above the elbow so badly that the bone almost broke through the skin, it was a 200% displacement apparently. I remember the car ride to the hospital, but I don't remember the pain, just me screaming. I remember going into shock and not knowing where I was or what was happening and I remember getting my first arm cast. I remember these things, and I remember specific times when I was in the hospital, but other than that I remember almost nothing. Almost. There is something that I do remember though, and that is the loneliness, the intense and crushing dull rasp at my brain. I sat in the same bed for literal months, with nothing to do but watch people go by and press the button beside my bed to call the nurse and ask for some more water. There was one time when my friends came to see me, and I remember not knowing how to even communicate with them anymore. They said things to me, and there were expressions happening, but I had no idea what to do. My best friends came to see me, and what they got was a husk. One night I woke up probably in the very early hours to see faces all crowded around me and I was so confused. One of them asked me if I wanted something, and I said that I wanted some juice because my throats was sore. I assumed that they were doing a medical checkup, but I found out later that I had woken them up multiple times because I was screaming in my sleep. I in no way am trying to equate what I experienced to being in solitary confinement, but so much of this video resonates with me every time I see it. I know what it's like even a bit to be deprived of people. There was one time where one of the nurse's sons came in and wheeled me around the hospital (I couldn't walk with my cast because it was too heavy) and we raided the pantry. I remember that so vividly, I remember being dully happy, but not really sure of what that emotion meant because it had become alien to me. And yet, my parents have no memory of this, even though they were supposedly with me in the hospital the whole time. I don't even remember them being there, but apparently they were, and they don't remember me leaving my bed except to use the bathroom. This memory of mine could be completely made up, an hallucination conjured up by my socially starved mind. It could be real. I have no idea if this saviour of my mental health at the time was and is a fantasy or not. I was 4 years old. If that's what happens to people when they are in a hospital, a place where there are people and there is constant noise and colours and stimulation, then I cannot imagine a worse thing that can be done to a person than solitary confinement. It is an horrific punishment that shouldn't be wished upon even the very worst of the world. Say what you like about Anders Brevick, I hate the man and his actions make me sick, but not even him should be subjected to a daily, never ending torture where his mind is forced to self-harm in an effort to stay sane.

@mizubiart6230

Жыл бұрын

No, don’t undermine your experiences. What you might be experiencing is a form of disassociation due to early childhood trauma. Often things like these can be damaging to your brain for a lifetime, since your brain was still developing. If you can, when you can, I suggest you seek psychotherapy to maybe sort out the consequences of this prolonged trauma on your mental health and brain wiring. There is no way to compare experiences, especially when you go through something like that so early on, it feels like it left a deep mark from what I’ve read here.

I have a friend who is serving 23 years. He once wrote me the most insane rambling letter I have received. Complete batshit off the wall stuff. The next time he called me I asked him about it and he had absolutely no memory of that letter. All he could say was that he was in the hole for awhile and quickly change the subject. I don't how long he was in solitary, but seeing what the experience did to my friend was terrifying.

Solitary confinement needs to be banned, because it's torture. Even if the criminal is the worst of the worst, putting them in solitary serves no-one.

@wschippr1

5 жыл бұрын

Lotoreo The worst part is we don't just do it to criminals, we do it to people are ill. We use social isolation as a means of control in psychiatric facilities.

@cas3811

5 жыл бұрын

Alex Noa Yes. My parents run a Level 5 Treatment Foster Home business where they remove people from those horrible hospitals. One lady had been in hospitals since the time she was 12. One of the hospitals she was in thought it might be a good idea to chain her to the bed during the night and to a restrained wheelchair during the day, for three years straight with almost no breaks. Her time spent with other people was extremely limited and when she did get to see other people, the interactions were often abusive and violent. Needless to say, this destroyed her mental health.

@vsiegel

5 жыл бұрын

Yes - even for the worst of the worst. I just thought about whether I would vote for putting Adolf Hitler into solitary confinement. I think I would not - and your point explains it to me: It just has no purpose - it has no useful effect. At all. Also, any human is a physical person, independent of what he did, independent of the state and configuration of his brain. And it is a punishment on the physical level. Of course there is the effect of revenge, which is often desired by the general public. Which could be a valid reason. But it still irritates me on the example of Hitler. I'm German.

@vsiegel

5 жыл бұрын

SteppenWolff100 Interesting - that makes sense. So it is a well defined method of torture, which can be systematically applied to reach a purpose - which is breaking opposition. Destroying the prisoner mentally certainly works, but I do not see at which point the prisoner is deemed fully destroyed. Attempted suicide would be a sensible definition. But often, there is a fixed time limit, so that's a non-issue. A relevant question it of course whether it is used only in this way. My intuition tells me that it is done too often, in part because the person deciding to do it does not fully understand that it is a method of torture that is well documented to work.

@vsiegel

5 жыл бұрын

SteppenWolff100 - Yes, it can be seen as simple remedy. The problem is that it is not a simple remedy. It does not become a simple remedy just because someone thinks it is. (If "simple remedy" means simple to apply, that's true. But I take it as "a remedy that is well understood, including it's applicability and effect"). Using it as a method to destroy a persons identity works in most cases, no problem. An example for the simple case going wrong: Say someone beats up every prisoner he can reach - but not guards. I would not be surprised if he ends up in solitary confinement. But that is just wrong - mental isolation is not required and not useful. Physical separation is required, and easy to do with some bars and airspace the width of one arm.

This was a really scary watch, especially because I recognize these experiences all too well from my times of depression-imposed isolation... No one should go through something like this.

I've heard it explained as that brain needs stimulation (new ideas, sensations, scenery, etc) to survive, and without that stimulation, it begins to make up ways of stimulating itself with hallucinations.

This was a hard watch olly. I really had no idea

@digitalbrentable

5 жыл бұрын

That wrongfully convicted black panther that was tortured in for over two decades...

@pikistikman

5 жыл бұрын

I've been put in solitary confinement many times as a civilian, but only for a couple of days at a time. I never once thought about what it could do to a person, even though we all know it's used as a "safe torture" technique in every prison.

@_ZiXin_

5 жыл бұрын

do you often think about that time and how did you feel psychologically all by yourself?

@pikistikman

5 жыл бұрын

I try as hard as possible not to think about it.

@_ZiXin_

5 жыл бұрын

pikistikman im so sorry man sending u a virtual hug

in Manitoba (canada) there was an investigation that showed there was excessive use of solitary confinement in YOUTH penitentiary. One (mentally disabled) boy was in solitary for 650 days. Couldn't find his age, but he couldn't have been older than 16 at the start.

My sister spent a good part of her 20s in the Connecticut prison system. She already had mental illness to begin with but solitary just made her delusions and violet behavior so much more instance like her illness has been condensed or sharpened to a point. Everything was louder, more drastic, more extreme. I dont think it helped her at all. It just made her worse. She never did recover. When i spent time in prison, my cell mate had just got out of solitary. She told me that she was put there for disagreeing with a CO. She was afraid of fire and the cell had a broken electric socket. When her request was ignored she asked to speak to a CO who ignored her when she asked to speak to his superior the guy called code. When i asked her why she didnt report him she told me the processes went like this. If you want to clam not guilty. A meting is called. That while you wait for your meeting youre spending more time in solitary waiting while they set a date for the hearing in two weeks. Then after the hearing you go back to solitary while they deliberate that also takes several days. Then if you are found guilty youre privileges are suspended where just doing regular solitary only gets one of your privileges taken. Privileges are the ability to make phone calls , commissary or beeing allowed to get out side of your cell during the 6 hours of brake in a day where you sit in a slightly bigger cell with your block mates. As a side note: i only ended up in jail Because i didnt have the money to post bail so i had to wait for my court date inside. The crime they where actually tring me for was trespassing. I was homless at the time and the nights where cold. In the end the charges where thrown out. So just remember in america beeing poor is an actual crime technicaly

I kind of wonder what is the most damaging part of the solitary confinement. The fact that it's solitary, or the fact that you basically have zero imput for your brain to digest and keep active. Therefore I think it might not be a good enough experiment to conclude from that we need a new theory of mind. If you for example are the last living person on earth, sure it wouldn't be pleasant, but you'd have all your freedom still intact and I think you'd fare quite differently from prolongued solitary confinement.

@strangeclaims

5 жыл бұрын

Marijn Zwitserloot Michael from Vsauce made an episode on _"Mindfield"_ (youtube series) that was about solitary confinement. It is the first episode and he thought that the problem was more because of inactivity, I think. You can watch it on youtube, if you want to.

@fee8422

5 жыл бұрын

yeah I've seen it I think

@flameking2178

5 жыл бұрын

It's definitely boredom. Place someone in a cell but give them access to the games, books, and movies and you would see a huge improvement. Though there is the argument that interacting with media made by humans is a form of human interaction, especially since characters represent parts of the human condition (like personality, struggles, beliefs)

@UserJWR

5 жыл бұрын

One thing that might support your theory is that lone survivors who got lost in the wild are not nearly as psychologically damaged as solitary survivors. I guess that's because they had stuff to do (i.e. survive) and their brains were still wildly active. In solitary you have literally nothing to do and I think that's the most devastating thing about it.

Since I learned about it in college, and you left the hanging question, I'd like to dig into why we punish people (even though I think you yourself already know these things). From what I've learned, and near as I can imagine myself, we punish people for one (or more) of four reasons: -Rehabilitation, as you mentioned, to make the person cause less harm -Retributivism, to 'make things right', exact justice, etc. -Deterrance, to dissuade those who have not yet caused harm from doing so -Incapacitation, because someone in jail is not able to harm society We have evidence that deterrance only barely works: just as much pickpocketing happens when the penalty is a day in jail as when the penalty is death, I believe Britain tried that and proved it unsuccessful. Not a bad idea on its own, but very ineffective. Incapacitation is effective towards its aims, though not a lot of people talk about how immensely costly it is to keep people in prison, and by itself of course does nothing to decrease harm when the convicted are no longer incapacitated. It seems like a solution, but not a great one. Retributivism doesn't actually care about anything that exists. It doesn't care about improving the world, merely paying lip service to the subjective experience of 'Justice'. I recall an experiment (though I don't have the time to dig it up) where people were inflicted some harm by someone else, and then their response was weighed. I think it used electric shocks, and duration/intensity of the shocks were the metrics. People always inflicted far more harm than what they actually experienced. I think retributivism comprises most of our legal considerations in court. Rehabilitation often needs to happen at the expense of the others, so you don't see it often, but it's the only one with promise. Retribution requires eventually allowing those that cause harm back into society (difficult to do as long as certain jobs/living situations exclude or track offenders), and it means doing things to help the offender, rather than harm them, and this is a pill many refuse to swallow. I don't know how effective change is going to happen. But I think changing one thing at a time isn't a bad approach. We really should force prisons and the legal system to consider why we're doing what we're doing, and if there's an alternative that's not so destructive. Getting rid of solitary confinement would be a huge step in that direction.

@grmpEqweer

5 жыл бұрын

I understand pickpockets used to work the crowds when they were hanging pickpockets... Which is an interesting historical demonstration, perhaps, of how little deterrence works when you've got so many other social factors encouraging the crime?

@johnhenrybussey

4 жыл бұрын

There is a parallel idea that the justice system in general is meant to break the cycle of vendetta (Romeo and Juliet style) so that communities don't fall into a cycle of violence. I think sometimes we scoff at the "retributive justice" category because it is plainly vindictive and not oriented towards a hypothetical better society. But if you view it through this different lens you might see it as a controlled way of addressing grievances that might turn into violence if unaddressed. Sort of a way of making sure the Corleones get their pound of flesh so to speak. Its an ugly justification which may or may not actually be empirically effective (has a rule of law justice system decreased violence motivated by vengence? I don't actually know). But I figured it was worth mentioning since you basically dismissed retributive justice out of hand, when it might have a brutal and unpleasant but still practical function.

@LowestofheDead

3 жыл бұрын

Just to let you know, you typed "Retribution" instead of "Rehabilitation" in the second-last paragraph.

@theboxygenie

2 жыл бұрын

@@johnhenrybussey This parallel idea---is it meant to serve justice so that the victims are able to address their grievances? Edit: Is there a name for this parallel idea?

The sound quality is really questionable in this video, but the visual editing is great... as is the overall exploration of the horrors of solitary confinement.

@hellen1635

5 жыл бұрын

XRXaholic Sound quality is bad because he had just started using a new studio to film in and hadn't gotten all of the kinks figured out yet. This one and the last one were filmed on the same day

@XRXaholic

5 жыл бұрын

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

@vilukisu

5 жыл бұрын

It's weird, but kinda fitting. It echoes as if from the walls of a cell. I assumed it actually was intentional

@XRXaholic

5 жыл бұрын

Good point.

@manita4815

5 жыл бұрын

It's not intentional but I quite like it

Dat American accent was savage. Great work as always Oly, you amaze me.

not gonna lie, i thought the mic quality was meant to add the the aesthetic discomfort of parts of the video.

People are starting to get a small taste of what it feels like to be devoid of physical human interaction for prolonged periods all around the world right now. Wonder what effect it will have on the world and its prison systems, if any.

@bigmanrui3503

2 жыл бұрын

I do wonder. Though we have access to things like social media which is in some way interaction, more than someone in solitary would get. But I don’t think it’s the same. People spend two weeks in isolation in hotels and I would love to see some study into how that affects those people

This feels a bit close to home at the moment, living in China with everything being quarantined off and having to quarantine myself as much as possible to stay safe. I keep ordering food I don't need because it will give me a reason to go outside and interact with the guards at the gate. Thank God I have my cat and can at least interact with people over the internet, so I'm not saying my experience right now is anything like solitary confinement, but it does give me some sense of how maddening that must be.

If it were merely other humans to which me must relate, the experiences of people lost in the wilderness for extended periods would be much more similar to those in solitary confinement. While traumatic, "desert island" type survivors are not nearly as depersonalized as those who survive solitary confinement. So it must be more than just other humans that is the deciding factor.

@stevepittman3770

5 жыл бұрын

You think it might have something to do with being forcibly physically limited to a very small space? I'm a little skeptical, and there really aren't nearly enough data points for that kind of isolation to compare it effectively to solitary confinement.

@charlesdeschampsdeboishebe9672

5 жыл бұрын

Steve Pittman I think being alone in any place as nondescript as a solitary confinement cell, no matter the size, would mess you up just as bad, though you're right there's (fortunately) not a lot of data to draw from

@XRXaholic

5 жыл бұрын

I don't think we have nearly enough data to compare the two (and being lost in the wilderness/on a desert island is hard to reproduce anyway), but I would venture that one crucial difference is that being lost in the wilderness implies a certain level of freedom and also occupies a lot of your time (and mental focus) with survival. You may be lonely, but you're also pretty busy trying to get food and stay protected from the elements. You may also begin to anthropomorphize nature (i.e. recreate animism) and therefore retain some level of "companionship". In a prison cell, you're isolated and fundamentally bored, with little to actually occupy your mind.

@soggybogwitch

5 жыл бұрын

Steve Pittman I think an important distinction between those two situations might be agency. If I'm lost in the wilderness for an extended period of time, I'm definitely going to experience pretty immense trauma from that isolation, but I at least still have some ability to change my situation. In contrast, if I'm forced into a tiny cell by myself not only am I separated from the rest of the population, but there's almost nothing I can really do to influence any outcome. I'm totally at the mercy of whomever put me there

@XRXaholic

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, agency is the word I was really looking for, instead of "freedom".

I've had to spend the better part of the last decade isolated because of my health problems. Though I've slowly inched myself to the point that I can barely attend college again, I spent years bedridden and since then, my social life more or less died. I came to almost hate the room I spent so much time in and even now, as I've moved from one isolated room to the other, I still feel like keeping track of the passage of time itself is hard. Now, I still had the blessing of a family around me (though I almost spoke briefly with them) and I also had the added benefit of good online friends as well as my own writing endeavors to release some of the feelings trapped within me. So, when I say this as someone who's spent so long in the half-measure version of this, I can only begin to imagine just how much worse true solitary confinement is. It is terrifying what people can do to each other when they put someone in an 'other' categorization. Acting so cruely to people and justifying it because they're criminals and justifying it because they made a mistake is reprehensible.

11:45 - Did you purposefully perform the CIA manual in an American accent, or does your internal reading of it simply evoke an American tone?

@rowanisntreal

3 жыл бұрын

i think she put on did an American accent

8:59 Solitary Confinement sounds like having a horror film permanently running in your head

They also use solitary confinement in schools (though obviously, we don't call it that). It's where you're left in a room on your own all day, apart from when you get lunch because you've been naughty. It's not quite as bad as in prisons, but you are being locked up alone in a room.

@FelonyArson

5 жыл бұрын

"Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” ― Michel Foucault

@NotesFromTheVoid

5 жыл бұрын

...I really need to read that book. I was going to buy it at waterstones but it wasn't in stock

@menthamelissa5094

5 жыл бұрын

'time out', as a form of punishment, because the kid doesn't or didn't comply with the demands of authority (the parental figure), is a form of solitary confinement, if you think about it.

@brisca1668

5 жыл бұрын

Wait, i honestly have to know: this still happens in the US? Over here in Austria we have stopped doing that like 30 years ago because its shitty and damaging.

@NotesFromTheVoid

5 жыл бұрын

I can't speak for the US but I'm British and it still happens here

I think the matter of solitary confinement is a fair bit more complex than just "humans need social interation". I'm speaking from my own experience with various forms of social isolation. I've been straight up locked in a room in a psych ward with no interaction and nothing to do, stuck on a psych ward with nothing to do but people to talk to if I so choose, voluntarily isolated at home where I basically just played games on my pc without talking to anyone ever (including online) (also in this situation I was in a country where I didn't speak the language so it wasn't that voluntary but I don't particularly like other people so I wasn't that bothered), and just in situations where I had people to talk to but didn't really want to for extended periods of time. The first two experiences were damaging, and in the same way. I don't believe the social isolation itself did the damage, instead it seemed to be the inability to do anything to meaningfully affect reality. When nothing you do has any meaning, you are left with nothing but your thoughts, which quickly spiral out of control. Human interaction definitely does play a part but it seems to be more that interaction provides far more possibilities than a book or a game could. If you had access to entertainment, you can keep yourself from the thought abyss, but only so long as you can stay entertained. If you had a book, it's a matter of waiting until you run out of things to do with the book. You also don't just go straight from finishing a book to the thought abyss, you finish it and then you start trying to work out what else you can do with it. You play around with it, try to read it again, try to think up some way to give it more meaning. You start to panic as you do more things with it before realising they only remind you that you have nothing and you can affect nothing. You may start to have these thoughts while reading the book, even, but the knowledge that you will soon reach a point where you have nothing is awful. This also separates the experience of isolation against your own will from voluntary self isolation. If you can choose to end the isolation at any time, there is nothing to fear. The thoughts never arise. I think it's also important to consider the question of what would be considered the bare minimum amount of social contact required to prevent psychological damage from solitary confinement. I haven't drawn any conclusions on what this would actually be, but I think the questions raises other more interesting questions and should be thought about for that reason. If you had a person who could not communicate would that be enough? What if they could only communicate some of the time? What if they were not able to communicate about any topic that you consider personally meaningful? Is physical presence important or could electronic interaction be an acceptable substitute?

I have just started the video and may not make it to the end because I have been put in solitary. One thing that I think is so important to discuss about solitary is the perversion of forced undeserved trust that is an element of being locked in a solitary cell, all alone, knowing that your only hope of physical survival is because of the whims of my captors, seemingly arbitrary decision if I will be fed at all. When in solitary, I was forced to a psychological place beyond faith or trust, that the people responsible for feeding me were actually not as cruel as they have proved themselves to be. How does this alone not emotionally destroy a human being's capacity to have healthy relationships after prolonged emotional or psychological torture?

I was in and out of “psych wards” through my youth, here in Canada we still practice solitary confinement, especially on youth, but under the radar. The room they would keep you in had padded walls and a single security camera, and you were put there for a full day or more for acting out in an “inappropriate manner”. Absolutely crippling to watch and live through

Oh wow. I've never been imprisoned, and I cannot imagine the brutal conditions these prisoners had to face, but this still hit home for me. I spent a year jobless, alone, and horribly depressed and impoverished in my 6x9 foot room. I wouldn't leave apartment for weeks on end sometimes and had virtually no human interaction for very uncomfortable stretches of time. Back then, I often felt like I saw shapes or shadows hiding in my peripheral vision, I couldn't eat, I was paranoid that something was always behind me, and my mind often went to disassociative and manic places casing me to pick up some bad habits to cope. I'm much better now thankfully! And yet I feel like my mind is much slower and just kinda "off" compared to what it used to be before this happened, especially when it comes to human interaction. And despite how it's been about a year since then, I still can't help but go back to that place regularly as if I'm still stuck there. Thank you so much for this video, I learned a lot!

I recognise a lot of these experiences in my last 8 years of living alone without being able to work, and the isolation of this pandemic has worsened some of these symptoms.

I never experienced Solitary Confinement, or prison for that matter, but I have experienced loneliness to the point I would only be able to see a single person, once every few years, I was stuck on the Job Seeker benefit in the middle of the waikato, door knocking on every business I could find, only to be shut down, mocked and harassed every time because I couldn't even make a CV, every time this happened I grew more withdrawn until the point I didn't see anyone at all for over a year. My own head became my biggest fear as it grew further out of control, spinning in spirals I couldn't understand. I felt it decay and fall apart, as all I was able to understand was how I lost apart of me, I still don't think I will ever be able to get back, I don't even know what that part of me was.

Black Trans Lesbian. Even without the bars, this has been decades of virtual solitary confinement.

I just want to say as a long time fan of the show, I really like the new direction you've taken it. I think the new format does an excellent job of conveying the point.

Solitary confiment's danger is not just the lack of social interaction but probably the greatest component is the lack of stimuli. And most of the experience you quoted seem to be more "damaged" (for lack of a better word) by the not having any other stimuli. So maybe that is the aspect we should fix on. Not society but being alienated from the world by being in an static world

@projectmalus

5 жыл бұрын

It's the lack of stimuli for a mind that is used to having stimuli provided for it. For a person used to living alone away from such spoonfed stimuli, solitary is just a continuation of normal. For most in our society, mental patterns formed by society make this lack of stimuli a punishment. That is why every prisoner has a television...it keeps them docile. Which is the greater prison, lock up or society?

@flameking2178

5 жыл бұрын

Project Malus Lock up. There is no environment other than prison where a person receives little to no stimuli. Even alone in nature there are things to do to survive which gives stimuli. You can argue that society gets people accustomed to specific stimuli(like television). But even if your born into a world of no stimuli it still causes mental and psychology damage.

@projectmalus

5 жыл бұрын

Flame King To put my point more clearly, it's not about receiving stimuli but about being able to create one's own stimuli or being able to entertain oneself. Perhaps a better word is purpose...if I'm able to sustain a sense of purpose on my own without needing input, then I'm able to entertain myself. If society is mostly made up of people who need to be told a purpose, then potentially society is a greater prison because it comprises more people. In any case, don't we spend a third of our lives asleep with little or no stimuli? Now transfer this image to a solitary cell where a person can escape into a rich dream world and be well entertained...unless the imagination has atrophied thru disuse.

@robeiva2788

5 жыл бұрын

When we talk about solitary confinement, we're not talking about being forced to put your phone down for a few hours and meditate. We're talking about days upon days without stimuli in a concrete box. It doesn't matter how good you are at entertaining yourself. Eventually, after days, or weeks or months, you will get bored. And after you get bored you will start to transcend boredom and that's when the real torture would begin. That said -- I wonder if the studies on solitary confinement have made a distinction between this "no stimuli" version of solitary confinement vs a version of solitary confinement where the prisoner has access to stimuli (eg, a fresh supply of books or TV)?

@DogginsFroggins

5 жыл бұрын

This is extremely naive. You need stimulation to survive, imagine the longest time you've had to be kept in relative silence, maybe detention? An hour or two tops surrounded by other people with an environment to scan, problems to mull over a lifes decisions and aspirations to look over. Imagine the last week was nothing, just you alone in a box, you don't sleep properly or dream regularly because you can't tell what time it is, you've had hundreds of hours to mull over every minutiae of your life, your philosophy and everyone you know or every form of entertainment in your head. This reeks of internet tough guy syndrome or teenage angst, this is documented and studied in the hundreds it is inevitable, comparing living alone to being forcefully contained against your will is laughable.

I thankfully never got put in solitary during my time in prison but my observations of other people getting put in the hole was that it had nothing to do with reform or reflection, it was purely about power and control. Nobody ever came out a better person for the experience, they either came out in a state that would see them back in isolation within days or they came out broken and compliant to the whims of the torturers (guards).

im a nursing student right now, taking a mental health class, and I'm worried. I'm worried that the stuff I'm learning is harmful. When a patient is going through an aggressive manic episode we are suppose to "keep them in a room by themselves with little stimuli to help them cool down."

I think I could do without the presence of others, but the writings and films and studies and *products* of others are something I need. I may have a mind palace and myselves with names and personalities to talk to who live in it, but I need external input like philosophytube videos to build and maintain said mind palace and my inner self. I think that was what I was missing when I was skeptical of needing other people to stay sane. Also, not just human people, but animals and even plants could be included too.

@rickymallard7837

3 жыл бұрын

I agree with that - I think that's why a lot of older people get cats and stuff, for a little bit of social interaction now and then. But yeah, solitary confinement without any of this stuff like the internet must be like hell

My grandfather used to lock me up in a cupboard (sometimes for hours sometimes for days) and I found a lot of similarity. Never thought of solitary confinement as being similar, I just thought of my experience as abuse, but really isn't it all abuse. I can vividly describe what that cupboard under the stairs felt like, the feel of the weird hairlike wallpaper, how many wooden board where on the floor. I'd do anything to get my mind of being there chew my nails of completely, scratch at my head and all over, would hurt myself just to feel something, press on my eyes repeatedly so I could see something other then darkness, the thirst I felt, how humiliated I felt because I had to go toilet and it was going to be in this cupboard with me. Your mind does things, says things, you can't control it. Even now I don't trust my own thought or memories, find myself questioning. To this day I am deadly afraid of confined spaces (especially if you can't get out), but interestingly enough only if I'm alone, I still don't like it with others but t's alright. (Example I can take a lift with a friend but if I'm alone I will take the stairs no matter how many levels).

Watching this in 2020 during self quarantine with no pets no husband and no family :(

@iorinohana

4 жыл бұрын

Hey, just wanted to day I am in the same situation, except that I finally got after two months two Gerbils as pets, who ignore me but at least are cute to watch. This is being hell, and every day I feel less confident to start at some point living normally again. I hope you are doing as good as possible in this situation.

@shmoola

3 жыл бұрын

Now watching this during the second wave quarantine. Things seems to be easier :/

@anomienormie8126

3 жыл бұрын

But hey, you have the internet.

This episode reminds me of the book: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman a lot! Wonderful episode as always Olly!

OLLY your voice acting in nats video blooooody hell

@jonasjohanson3111

5 жыл бұрын

Which one?

@MissBeautyE4

5 жыл бұрын

@@jonasjohanson3111 The incel one

@anleg98

5 жыл бұрын

every time i hear his voice now im reminded of the him in the video and its the weirdest arousal

So if the idealised self is formed by our interactions with others, that might be an interesting lens for viewing high rates of recidivism in prisons.

Yikes that's some echo

@GreaterSeraph

4 жыл бұрын

Oh shit, we have a Curio! ❤ Do you have a permit to carry those High Level Important Ideas ™?

In terms of content and general presentation I don't think you've ever made a video that struck me so hard. At first, I thought your choice to view the channel more as art was a little cheesy but after seeing the content I understand a lot better. Would one of the things solitary prisoners are deprived of be social confirmation of their reality? Because their are social misconceptions about things all the time(especially the Mandela effect) but they don't really bother us because we have people who reinforce those misconceptions. In prison they wouldn't have any social confirmation or refutation of their ideas about reality.

@somewony

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I'm kinda reminded of the story about seeing a unicorn from the "Should you watch the news?" episode.

@LoganMillett

5 жыл бұрын

somewony that honestly might have been what planted the idea in my head

revisiting this video now during corona isolation. Uff..

I sometimes wonder whether people with autism (like myself) are particularly well- or poorly-equipped to deal with solitary confinement. I mean, I tend not to seek much face to face interaction with people at the best of times. Has anyone done any scientific studies on this?

@bananatreelabs1137

2 жыл бұрын

If there is nothing for me to interact with, I would probably very quickly go mad. I do really well away from people for a long period of time, but I need stimulation still.

What you said about the modern strategy of torture being to psychologically turn the prisoner against themselves reminds me of what the Australian government is doing to captured refugees.

I honestly love how you connect philosophy with real life issues. When I read something like "consciousness is a social process that requires other people," it's hard for me to take seriously because it doesn't mean anything practical to me. This video and others like it (the one on Hegelian dialectics, and the one on the split mind) help me apply my love of philosophy to my desire to make the world better.

My god, I can't express how much this video was... needed for me, i guess or maybe just very relatable, but i say it's needed because I honestly have been losing my sense of logic, if that makes any sense. You see, I THINK this is what's happening to me, but I can only say I THINK so because I've lost my ability to say anything for sure I am homeschooled. Clearly, I'm capable of using the internet and playing undertale and downloading a picture of a fish lady from that game and making it my icon on youtube- i'm not in punishing confinement. I have some family members, a brother and two parents, living in the same house. I am not literally alone. But I am still... cycling through mind numbing uneventful days with no given purpose or goal in a small, very dark house. ( The house is always dark, the house is just not designed well and there are no windows downstairs that actually catch the sun, they're obstructed. It's like living in a cave ) I am experiencing these symptoms that i cannot otherwise describe before i saw this. I wasn't always homeschooled, only since 6 years ago (i've been out of school for a while, I dropped out of the online schooling because it was grueling- and impossible for someone with ADHD as well.) and I used to have a very defined personality and a healthy mindset and- well, I actually can't quite remember things clearly but I know for sure I wasn't THIS. This crippled, selective memory, can't tell dreams from reality, disassociating, non-entity with itching blood and constant buzzing of stress and panic and an aching, mind numbing desire to Make IT Stop, to the point where I've begun to lose track of what IT even is. I've self harmed, but not in typical ways. I bang my head on the walls at times, I've bitten myself hard enough to bleed. I almost deliberately attempt to disassociate just to live mentally outside of this hell hole of a perfectly clean, well decorated, suburban house. This insanity, all I can call it, seems to be coming from absolute thin air. Although I can't physically think of a method of explaining to my parents what's wrong, I've managed to convince them to take me to a doctor multiple times to their irritation, and the doctor recently says it might be a vitamin D deficiency, which is caused by my lack of sunlight, but that's just another contributing factor to dark, indoor isolation driving you insane. I do go out, always in groups with my parents and brother, but I can only describe it as being led on a leash, and always to the same places. Thrift stores, markets, clothing stores, dollar stores, back home. Only rarely do we do something specific, like visit a carnival or see a movie. When expected to do something on my own, I freeze up. I've become dependent on being lead around, on not having a say in where or when I go somewhere. On the internet, I seem fine. I'm an artist, I like cartoons and indie stuff. It's very easy to seem fine, other than the occasional irrational and disturbing outburst at 6 am (the nights are the hardest), but I can usually cover it up somehow. The problem is I can't easily help myself end this situation. The isolation and the odd relationship with the family that I do have with me has made it near impossible to think clearly or act directly enough to fix this problem quickly. I'm mostly slowly waiting to crawl out with the means I do have. I just know it, if only bitterly, helps to hear someone else describe exactly what i've been incapable of explaining for so long.

@Longcatcloud

5 жыл бұрын

Whoa. Okay so I don't have that experience, but I know people, even my roommate honestly, who don't leave the house other than for work or schooling, and they always have similar issues. I've never thought of it as the isolation causing the problem. In one person's case, they have had a terrible childhood trapped away from friends in a far out community. Most of their friends moved on or stopped visiting as life got more busy. And according to them, I am literally their only friend right now. And that's scary as hell. Their lifestyle of not bothering to go out and join clubs or hang out in places, and frankly their paranoia of having social media in general, leads to so much loneliness. I think that their problems may be a result of this life that they haven't continued doing. This is really quite a problem. Like, its not even too rare of an issue, its just that most people like this never reach out about it. And this kind of being trapped also makes people only see the world as what the internet shows, which is usually pretty awful. But it aint too bad out there, honestly its quite fun. Anyway I gotta go right away, but yeah Ill be thinking of this.

@sweaterpal94

Жыл бұрын

hope you're doing a lot better

GET A NEW MIC, OLLY!

@slaughterround643

5 жыл бұрын

He has one for the next video

@slaughterround643

5 жыл бұрын

^ He's right, you know.

@kkyyee

5 жыл бұрын

@@manso306 Yep. And look how the mic is actually pointing towards the wall(s)

@Goldenhawk0

5 жыл бұрын

Kye Riehl oh I got you

@upchuckles243

5 жыл бұрын

I kind of liked it.

I would have to argue that the issues with solitary confinement aren’t that there are no meaningful human interactions, but rather the lack of any interaction. Some people can live in homes alone for years without losing sanity so long as there is something for them to do like write a book or a painting etc.

One thing I'd love to hear parallel to this issue is the similarity of social alienation and solitary confinement. I work with a few local homeless people through a food not bombs chapter and the way they describe their experience is pretty similar to this. One of them said something along the lines of this, I don't remember the exact quote though but I'll try: "Imagine being in the world, looking around and seeing people but all of them look away. They see you, but they don't want you to know. It's like being alone in a room full of people all the time. It's like you lose the ability to have meaningful human interaction while getting more and more desperate for it. People hear you, but they pretend they don't and just walk away." Another thing to consider is that, and I know I'll be accused of stereotyping but I work very closely with these people and they will tell you this, there is a huge interplay of serious mental illness and drug use among homeless communities. That definitely exasperates the problem. I am schizophrenic myself and a former heroin addict so I can sympathize a little bit but this is something different.

Wow, Olly. The effort you’ve been putting in recently is definitely paying off. This was a very emotional, touching, terrifying, thought-provoking and inspiring episode. Thank you.

It is absolute torture. It changes people permanently, and not for the better. People in solitary literally intentionally clog their toilet so feces and water runs under the door, so the guards have to come in and beat them, while the cell gets cleaned up. To the inmate, this interaction, the feces, the beating, it is worth it......think about that.

Holy shit. Good American accent Love, a midwestern American

@japjab7473

5 жыл бұрын

Was looking for this comment so I don´t have to write it. :D Agree

@joestrik1911

5 жыл бұрын

Midwesterners unite!

The beauty of your character, sincerity, your accent, your knowledge and all of this presented in such a theatrical way easily makes this one of my favorite KZread channels of all time.

* i love that you stopped near the end to make it like a sit down conversation and am going to share this for sure! thank you for all the hard work...

Here is a visual of how this video effected me. I was walking in the open on a bright summer day when a shadow passed across my path, fleeting and dappled. I turned to note the source and found none, for I was walking in the open on a bright summer day and no tree stood nearby to cast a dappled shadow anywhere, fleeting or otherwise. Then in the open I stood and pondered the fleeting shadow, and in so doing noticed that the shadow lingered. I grew uneasy. And though the shadow never came again neither did it leave. The image remained on that bright sunny day in the open, hidden in plain sight, and the day grew dimmer without changing. I began to fear. And here I stood, tense and alone, and in the memory of that dappled shadow I recalled no leaf or branch but a sinister hint of a face, a score, a thousand faces. And, though I could not see, I knew that each face bore the anguish I had caused. I knew that I would never be free of that shadow, that darkness, that stain, for it was I that cast the shadow in the open on that bright summer day. Or ... was it ... that the shadow cast me? Oh crap, now I have to go to bed.

@neuemilch8318

2 жыл бұрын

Beautiful and absolutely haunting

This made me think of these lyrics "Oh, to be the single soul of an empire A willfully uncharted map To live and ask nothing of anyone And be content to get just that Should I await some revelation Some great blessing from above So every memory be quelled Of anyone I might have loved And every mile the stuff of legend Every thought be pivotal Every move within my soul Be jury, judge and criminal No, I want something returned to me" ~ If Found/Gravity, Lauren O'Connell

Fascinating video Ollie. I'm totally blown away by just how interesting, educational and professional this video is. You've outdone yourself.

Nice content as always, Olly! I remember, seeing this video, of a serie called "Rectify" - it's a serie about someone who didn't commited a crime, but was pushed to prison and stayed there for 20 years in solitary confinement.

> All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. Blaise Pascal

@alexbradshaw5466

2 жыл бұрын

Irony.

That ending dude ♡

Hi Olly! This was really really great. Just wanted to drop in and point out a note for the future - your videos are especially accessible to people who can't always watch, but can definitely always listen. Most of the videos don't require sight, and the parts which do (the mug section, for example) include descriptions of what's going on. This can be great both for accessibility to visually impaired people, and just anyone who tends to listen to the videos in another tab while they browse things. With all that said, the one exception in this video was the second content warning, about Anders Brevik, wherein the audio is completely gone until you jump into actually talking about him. Just wanted to point out for the future that providing this stuff is amazing and covering the full breadth of the video in audio as well, especially for content warnings, can be great!!

That was a great episode! Some really powerful stuff, especially your personal story. Thanks for sharing it with us! That couldn't have been easy.

I'd love to see more videos about philosophy of mind.

This there any study on the cognitive differences between being subjected to solitary confinement, and voluntary solitude? It's known that many humans actually enjoy solitude, even for rather long stretches of time. And while total human isolation is known to make people mentally unstable, there's no shortage of people who isolated themselves for rather long periods with no ill effects (sometimes there are actually positive effects). Is it that those who voluntarily isolate themselves have access to other forms of stimuli than human contact, like consuming or making art, or walking about in nature, or is it that isolation being voluntary makes it more bearable?

@zeb358

5 жыл бұрын

Jackson Duruy : Henry David Thoreau's book "Walden" comes to mind.

@vilukisu

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I would really like data about how different kinds of solitary confinement cells affect the prisoners, as well as the general treatment they receive while in. There are most definitely at least some varying factors between different prisons.

@jacksonduruy4303

5 жыл бұрын

Thoreau had visitors though, infrequent visitors, but people did come to Walden to see him. And I think he also kept correspondence with friends while there.

@flameking2178

5 жыл бұрын

There's no doubt that given stimuli greatly improves isolation (if people in solitary confinement had books movies and games you'd see a huge improvement).

@flameking2178

5 жыл бұрын

An interesting question is if consuming man made art is a form of human interaction? Would someone alone but receiving man made stimuli (Art music games movies) fare better than someone alone but receiving natural stimuli?(nature animals survival) Most likely yes.

These last few videos have seen such incredible content improvement, thank you so much for making this

That was a fantastic video. Excellently presented and well thought out. You just have a way with words in that respect. Very thought provoking. I found that end segment very emotional also

ALSO PLEASE UPDATE THE RECCOMENDED READING SECTION, OLLY!

@PhilosophyTube

5 жыл бұрын

Done! Sorry for the delay :)

Hey. This is relevant for me right now. I'm extremely lonely

@lexithecat2957

3 жыл бұрын

@Moe yeah I'm okay. Lockdown/quarantine blues last year. Thanks though

"if I"m on a deserted island alone, nobody can hurt me and I can't hurt anyone" counterpoint: 1: there's you 2: there's you ... now I made myself sad :'D

Fascinating - I am turning over in my mind the concept of how we know ourselves better in relationship to others. Nice job leading a conversation about what happens when we no longer have that reference point.

The American accent on the CIA thing tho....spot on :D

Ollie. I have exchanged letters with an old penpal of mine who was imprisoned in Shirley Mx in Massachusetts, a prison like walpole. I am a local in this area and both of these prisons are known to be the hardest, most brutal prisons in our area. My penpal was allowed to write letters and in them he stated he had been in solitary confinement for 13 months. If you'd be interested in learning more about his experience I can send you quotes or even put you in contact with him if you really wanted too. If you are interested in the field and learning first hand about the American Prison system you should look at websites like Writeaprisoner.com or others like it. I think you would really benefit from hearing from these people first hand especially with your knowledge and your growing amount of influence in the internet world of philosophy. Hope all is well. Thanks for being you.

This was an amazing video man I love the new camera set ups can’t wait to see an episode on phenomenology

great work!! your videos are addictive, so glad Philosophy Tube exists. Sometimes I think if I should make notes

huh never knew that "no man is an island" and "it tolls for thee" were form the same poem

Lot of people gaining empathy on this right now, heh.

Heartbreaking and informative. You are such an interesting and thoughtful thinker. Love your channel more and more everytime I visit.

Both my parents were incarcerated in suspicions of speaking against a dictator. (My mother was in solitary just because there were no other women in that said prison.) They had a friend who wasn't even in suspicion, whom the military kept in solitary to get him talking about the whereabouts of my parents and others of their friends. He didn't sing. Good news is that they live to this day to tell the tale. We once went to a memorial with a replica of a prison cell. I can't explain the somber look upon my father's face. I haven't seen it before and haven't seen it since. But it makes me somewhat relieved that my existence have been spared from such a harrowing experience.

I have experiences with seclusion, in my case, the (sometimes forcible) removal of disabled children from classrooms and sending them to a solitary place, in my case, locking us inside a padded closet about the size of a small American (nondisabled) bathroom cubicle for anywhere from a half to the full school day. I was only in there for an hour at most (it's hard to tell-- no clock), but I knew people who were there for full days. What I remember most was the feeling/belief that from the second I stepped into that room, I became no one. Being sent to a padded room was the epitome of being a crazy person. No one believes crazy people, even if they're telling the truth. I was less than a dog, because people care if you hurt dogs. No one would ever believe me again if anyone said I was being hurt, much less stop it. The first time they sent me to the padded room, I believed, I became inhuman in the eyes of every adult in the world, anyone who had access to my records, and anyone who saw the people who had my records react to me as inhuman and agreed or trusted them. My life was over. I wasn't human anymore. I'd been ejected from humanity. When I tell people about it, I anticipate them telling me I deserved it, or asking what I did (which translates to me as "Are you sure you didn't provoke this, though?"), and I structure my recounting around this ("I was thirteen and said-- not yelled, said-- that I didn't want to reorganize my binder. I did not /refuse/ to reorganize my binder, I just said I didn't want to, because I'd done the same thing last week, and I can't learn a new system of organization every week and follow them well. I made no violent statements or movements in my memory. I was frustrated, but not angry. The girl who got locked in for six periods? She was having panic attacks, sobbing pitifully, and saying she was sick. They decided to let her out after she vomited. She was twelve"). But our arguments should not be "We can prove that this person was not deserving of this treatment, and therefore, because it was unwarranted, it is abuse." It should be "This is abuse because it clearly causes severe harm to human beings, and we do not condone abuse in any circumstance. We can punish someone without resorting to abuse." Let me expand on why that is. I'm not saying that being tortured means you have an excuse to harm others. I'm not denying that it is very human to want those who have done horrible things to suffer. But when we decide that we are allowed to abuse humans if they've done something awful enough, we put the onus on the abused person to prove that they are good enough not be abused. You think it would be simple to prove. What does it tell you, though, that I didn't just write "I was thirteen, dumbass"? Surely that would been enough, right? You don't abuse children. Period. But I had to lay out an explanation of how I was nonviolent, and even on some levels, compliant (because I did comply! I did! I was organizing the stupid binder!), because one of the things abuse does is teach you that you are not good enough to expect not to be abused. And when we say, "but some people deserve it," we are reinforcing that lesson. And no, we can't just toughen up and assume you don't mean us, because that's not how brain damage works, and clearly, some of you do mean us. Someone thought we deserved that, or it wouldn't have happened, and people agreed, or when I reported this several times, told the principal, parents, psychologists, these experts would have stopped it. To an extent, thirteen year old Madi was right. People believed she deserved to just be locked up for periods of time, and people still believe that maybe it was justified. And I know it's hard to accept that these policies are so awful, because it means that we might be bad people for allowing them, but I also firmly believe that it's easier to condemn these policies and feel guilt than it is to experience seclusion and solitary confinement. Who knows, though? I could be crazy.

@literallygaston2489

4 жыл бұрын

God this makes me so mad, especially because having a room where I could be alone and calm myself down was something that I always wanted as a child but, not like this. Jesus Christ.

@lavenderhuman

2 жыл бұрын

I think nearly all disabled/mentally Ill people have this feeling of dehumanization at many points. When I was put in an inpatient program, I got lucky, I was staying at a place where the staff were pretty good and I didn’t experience abuse. *But even so*, I’ve felt very dehumanized by that experience, not because of any particular person but because I was “crazy” enough to be forced into these strangers’ care. I had to be monitored when I ate, when I slept, had to be patronized. The mere fact that I was barred from the rest of humanity in this way, makes me feel powerless. But the worst thing is that, I desperately crave to go back there sometimes. Because as humiliating as it is to be cut off from other people with a week long stay that confirms you as crazy, I don’t feel that I can handle a normal life. As dehumanizing as it is, I feel that I belong there. It’s easier to be cared for

HMMM, I wonder why youtube thinks this is relevant now and throws this video in my face almost on daily basis?

Haven't watched all of it yet, but I'm glad you released this 'quickly' instead of worrying over every audio clip.

Excellent video. And also I'm glad to know about Mike Rugnetta. I used to be a big fan of Idea Channel and I had no idea he was still on the business. Now I'm addicted to his website

So, I've heard that people not having plants around them can drive them crazy too. Do we know of any people who've been isolated but allowed plant life who didn't have as bad of a psychiatric break? Because being in a cement box is unhealthy, but perhaps solitary wouldn't be as detrimental (and more helpful) if they were allowed to raise plants? Help them grow shit and all. Just a thought I had. Thanks for making me think.

Always good content. I really feel like we should make solitary illegal. Everyone should like and share this. You deserve to be more popular.

I'm glad you went with the 2nd ending. The flow was so good!

This blew me away, seriously. Changed the way I view myself and my life. Thank you 💞

whos here after we r all together in quarantine

This was really interesting! And I doubt many people are surprised by the US being the leader on torture. However I felt that this video led on the question about connected consciousness, and it would have been a very interesting topic to hear more about! I don't believe in that theory myself, but when you talked about how we all see eachother in relation to others it felt like it could have been tied together with that.

Thanks for making this video! You made me think about prisoners and I usually haven't done that. I appreciate the alternate view. I love your work!

Wow Olly. while that was hard to watch I also feel you're really stepping up the quality of the vidios, keep rocking!