(urth) Torturers?

[Jack Smith]

Yeah.  Torture is a good way to gain confessions, but not necessarily a way
of getting the truth.  If you waterboard me, I'll confess to the Lincoln
assassination to make you stop.

However, the guild is called the "Order of the Seekers for Truth and
Penitence."  Does this imply that once torture was used to try to get the
truth out of suspects?



On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 7:57 PM, Dave Lebling <dlebling at hyraxes.com> wrote:

> It is specifically stated that torture in the Commonwealth is a punishment,
> not a means of obtaining truth. The Guild performs exactly the tortures
> ordered, and the torturers are taught to completely ignore anything their
> victims say. Severian is chided for listening to a victim at one point
> during his apprenticeship.
>
> Torturers in our time may ostensibly be in search of truth, but the Guild
> is inflicting judicial punishment.
>
> -- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha
>
> brunians at brunians.org wrote:
>
>> A torturer insists upon being told the truth, and has various means to
>> ensure that he is being told the truth.
>>
>> These seem to me to be useful qualifications for a successful monarch.
>>
>>
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-- 
Best wishes,
Jack
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