[ExI] A Small Request [was Re: Impressive book: Farewell toAlms]

[hkhenson]

At 07:58 PM 2/7/2008, spike wrote:

snip

>The whole notion of holding people in an asylum against their will on the
>testimony of any quack psychiatrist has always made me squirm.  How can you
>be sure?  There are plenty of people willing to label any libertarian as
>crazy.  There are even more who consider an atheist as a raving looney.
>Signed up for cryonics?  Believe in a coming singularity?  Think that
>mankind can create a bright future through technology?  That we will
>eventually overcome disease and possibly even death?  How do you feel about
>being locked in an asylum for these beliefs?

spike, do you actually know of any situations like this?

>So how do we determine if a person can be held against their will?  I would
>recommend doing so only if they commit an actual crime.  That's what the
>courts did.  The fact that a lot of people left those institutions who would
>have been better off staying is beside the point.  There is no way to know
>for sure which are dangerous crazy and which just have crazy ideas.

I don't think you would have any problem sorting them out.

Keith