In an environment where we are shocked by revelations of torture on a daily basis I thought it would be worthwhile to muse on behavior control methods closer to home: my grandson has been staying with us for the past two weeks and I have to say that the effectiveness of bribery in behavior control should not be underestimated. I don't mean "if you don't eat that vegetable you can't look up Pokemon cards on the computer" kind of threat/reward, I mean out and out bribery by being nice! This includes sugar cones with three different flavors of ice cream AND sprinkles, never being forced to bathe and never demanding that specific bedtime hour be observed. This overwhelming "niceness" pays off. My grandson has limited his sassy responses and slams his bedroom door only in the throes of exasperation or pain. And he has never missed a swimming lesson.
So why can't our "interrogators" at Gitmo have the imagination to use this counter-intuitive method of obtaining information from terror suspects? They might find that it works better than torture and also makes them feel better about themselves. So the next time they're thinking about waterboarding someone why don't they bring him a nice Mai Tai in the middle of the afternoon with some chips and guacamole? Sometimes the easiest way is the best!
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3 comments:
The problem here is, the people at Guantanamo don't have any useful information... and ironically it's because other people we're bribed to turn them in!
Bribery works though. Our friend from Lakewood Parkway got his Volvo in high school for getting good grades. Poopsie and I bribe Koko with candy to get him to hug my father.
In fact, it can be hard to tell the difference between "bribery" and "payment." I suppose one could argue that people are bribed to go to work every day.
Nice post... sounds wise to me.
At Gitmo, my understanding is that for the most part we actually do treat them pretty well and try to make friends first; torture only comes when they don't cooperate. I believe we're also trying pre-emptive bribery in the form of $10 billion annual aid to Pakistan, but I don't think it's working...
The only problem with this is that presumably your grandson, children, etc. trust you and are too innocent to question your motivations, so bribing them is different from bribing enemies. You maybe giving the Mai Tai and chips up for free.
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