Use of freeze punishment in sci-fi?

[Dahak]

I just watched a movie, in which they freezed their criminals as punishment. This seems to be a quite widespread concept in sci-fi in general.
But I never understood why this is supposed to be a punishment at all. Spending several years frozen, and you don't experience any time flow while frozen, is it a punishment at all?
In normal prisons, you have time to think about your crime, time even to be re-socialised. Death-penalty is also quite ultimate.
But freezing? After your time is up, you are unfrozen, and can go about your life, after a phase of cultural adjustment to a new time. Would you have learned anything from it? Would you feel it as punishment?
Sensory deprivation, or the telepathic approach of B5 seemed like interesting sci-fi methods of punishment...

[Admiral Valdemar]

I assume you're not talking about Demolition Man, though if you were, they actually do experience the time passing by even when frozen (also how Stallone's character learnt knitting).

I would think, if anything, losing everyone you know and love and waking up in an entirely new era, if at all, would be harsh enough for many.

[Shroom Man 777]

Not for Futurama's Fry, apparently. Besides, would a murder death killer like Dennis Rodman (that was him in Demo man, right?) care if his family's all dead and that people use rayguns instead of rocks?

I thought they just installed a "knitting program" or mental implant or whatsits in Stallone after they defrosted him?

Anyway, no, I don't think it's a good punishment for Joe Schmoe criminal. And it won't do jack shit for murder death killers. The only concievable reason for freezing scum would be if they (the guys who own the refridgerators) wanted a future source for slave labor or something.

[Molyneux]

Not for Futurama's Fry, apparently. Besides, would a murder death killer like Dennis Rodman (that was him in Demo man, right?) care if his family's all dead and that people use rayguns instead of rocks?

I thought they just installed a "knitting program" or mental implant or whatsits in Stallone after they defrosted him?

Anyway, no, I don't think it's a good punishment for Joe Schmoe criminal. And it won't do jack shit for murder death killers. The only concievable reason for freezing scum would be if they (the guys who own the refridgerators) wanted a future source for slave labor or something.

Dennis Rodman?
Dennis fucking Rodman?!

That was Wesley Snipes. Rodman can't act worth a damn.

Also, apparently during suspended animation they were subjected to hypnotic therapy or something, it's supposed to rehabilitate them.

[Shroom Man 777]

How does THAT work? I thought that only happened when they were defrosted (or else the killers Wesley Snipes defrosted would've been knitting rugs instead of murder death killing). Besides, how can you hypnotize them if their brains are frozen?

[Mobius]

IIRC, at one moment, they access the Phoenix's treatment program and we learn that it was to make him a killing machine know the password of the handcuff and not to kill Cocteau (that's why he ask one of this pal to kill Cocteau, he couln't do it himself).

[Shroom Man 777]

I know. But I thought the treatment program was applied only after the criminal was defrosted (how do you hypnotize a popsicle?).

[Xon]

But I never understood why this is supposed to be a punishment at all. Spending several years frozen, and you don't experience any time flow while frozen, is it a punishment at all?

I think it is more about removing the criminals from society in a way practically guaranties that they can not contact the outside world and in a humane way. This also allows any victims to have a recovery time were the criminals can not touch them. It also means preferential treatment is impossible.

But the biggest part is a safe and easy way to simply lockup trouble makers with no sideffects. This alone can stop many anti-social problems.

[Mobius]

Didn't they get trodes on the head before going into the freezer?

[Shroom Man 777]

What?


It would be cool to freeze all the criminals and just store the ice cubes on the Moon or something. HEY! That's a pretty cool idea!

[brianeyci]

How does THAT work? I thought that only happened when they were defrosted (or else the killers Wesley Snipes defrosted would've been knitting rugs instead of murder death killing). Besides, how can you hypnotize them if their brains are frozen?

What's your point, how does freezing someone work anyway given water expands and destroys cell walls (the fundamental problem with cryogenics)?

They get "frozen" then they are "programmed while frozen" , it's just the way it works.

Brian

[Shroom Man 777]

They could've had their bloodstream pumped full of that crap that allows toads to survive after getting chucked in a freezer.

[DPDarkPrimus]

It's the future, so they've eliminated capital punishment. So they just need a way to keep the really bad criminals out of society permanently.

[Dennis Toy]

How does THAT work? I thought that only happened when they were defrosted (or else the killers Wesley Snipes defrosted would've been knitting rugs instead of murder death killing). Besides, how can you hypnotize them if their brains are frozen?

in the movie, it was explained that they were re-habilitated througt "Synaptic Suggestion". I assume its like giving small electro-shocks to the brain, this causes the firing patterns of the brain to be altered. Huxley in the dinner table scene at taco bell said she thought the prisoners were unconscious at the time when spartan told them he was aware while in cryo-stasis. So this means that the prisoners are rehabed while unconscious.

[Shroom Man 777]

Ah. As for the future method of capital punishment, I think that freezing would be a lovely idea. And if some time later, they found out they got the wrong guy, they could easily defrost him! Excellent!

[Tsyroc]

Dennis Rodman?
Dennis fucking Rodman?!

That was Wesley Snipes. Rodman can't act worth a damn.

That's actually pretty funny because Rodman started bleaching his hair because he liked Wesley Snipes' character in Demolition Man

[RogueIce]

If they're aware like Sly Stallone said he was in Demolition Man, wouldn't that make a "life sentence" to cryp-stasis even worse than the death penalty or, hell, a regular life sentence in jail? To be aware but unable to do anything for all those years, only able to stare at that gray tube or whatever they stuck you in?

While some may not care about loved ones passing, for Stallone's character that would doubtless be a big thing for him and just make it worse.

Frankly, I think that would be a very, very severe punishment to give out.

And since it's sci-fi, I'll just go on the assumption that Stallone was aware like he said he was and ignore the science of whether that could really happen or not.