In the news today

[Animeniax]

Would you like to extend that line of thinking into science, and say that phenomena should be deemed true and existent until disproved?

Guilty until proven innocent increases the likelihood that crooks are caught, but at the price that a significant number of innocent people will also be wronged and needlessly suffer.

I could hit my head on some wall on the way home and blame some poor guy nearby for attacking me. Under "guilty until proven innocent", if he can't prove he didn't hit me, he'd be in for some trouble.

Sure why not extend it into every other non-related topic as well.

[Buffalobiian]

Sure why not extend it into every other non-related topic as well.

Like what?

"Guilty until proven innocent" is simply the thought of "Something (accusation) is right until proven wrong" put into a legal context. It is much harder to prove definitively that something is definitely incorrect in general, as opposed to prove with near certainty that something is likely to exist.

Not to mention the practicalities in a real life setting. Police go around making accusations while lawyers and the defendant have to scour around for evidence proving their innocence?

The idea is stupid to begin with.

[The Heretic Azazel]

Don't pay him any mind, he'd rather everyone driving a nice car in a bad neighborhood get raped with a police baton. Just as a precaution.

I hope my generation dies out before all our rights are taken.

[Animeniax]

Nice cars in poor neighborhoods and poor cars in nice neighborhoods will get pulled over for sure when I'm in my police cruiser. Nothing like a nice "howdy do" to discourage people from whatever illegal/immoral business they have planned on the other side of the tracks. People may complain about it and get all politically correct about it, but profiling works.

I hope this world hasn't fallen into complete anarchy until my generation has past.

[rockmanj]

People may complain about it and get all politically correct about it, but profiling works.

I hope this world hasn't fallen into complete anarchy until my generation has past.

It has advantages and disadvantages, and its hard to agree with the fact that using heuristics is a natural and often useful tool for humans. That being said, is it worth it to the harassed to have a measure of safety in exchange for a wrong accusation? Case in point: Last week, A restaurant owner in my neighborhood (who is from India) called in a robbery to the police. When the police arrived, they arrested him! And they detained him until he could pay bail. I have also been stopped twice and asked for I.D. while walking home from work ( I live and work in this same neighborhood).

I know that sometimes, people that look like him or me commit crimes, but then again, a lot of different types of people do bad things, and honestly both of those cases seem like incompetence on the police's part. Maybe our police should be better selected or something, because random profiling seems a lot like rolling the dice.

[Animeniax]

It has advantages and disadvantages, and its hard to disagree with the fact that using heuristics is a natural and often useful tool for humans. That being said, is it worth it to the harassed to have a measure of safety in exchange for a wrong accusation? Case in point: Last week, A restaurant owner in my neighborhood (who is from India) called in a robbery to the police. When the police arrived, they arrested him! And they detained him until he could pay bail. I have also been stopped twice and asked for I.D. while walking home from work ( I live and work in this same neighborhood).

I know that sometimes, people that look like him or me commit crimes, but then again, a lot of different types of people do bad things, and honestly both of those cases seem like incompetence on the police's part. Maybe our police should be better selected or something, because random profiling seems a lot like rolling the dice.

Well you are in Korea and those people are nuts so what do you expect?





Just kidding, I know you're probably talking about your old neighborhood in Chicago. I corrected your statement to say "hard to disagree with heuristics as a natural and useful tool for humans," as I imagine that's what you meant to say.

Profiling is like any sort of discrimination: sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong. Look at it like you're at the grocery store buying fruit. You make your selection based on the color of the fruit, the texture, firmness, and other traits. Sometimes you select the ripest most delicious fruit, other times the insides are rotted and flavorless. Can't win 'em all, but you have to make a selection or buy them all.