# How long would it take for a ruthless torturer to break you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519 "2011-12-08T16:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/21 "2011-12-08T18:34:50Z")
Name other victims and I can go? **Skald, Oak, Colibri, Asimovian, carnivorousplant, Little Nemo** … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/22 "2011-12-08T18:50:11Z")
I would like to believe that I wouldn’t break. If ever in the situation, I don’t know. I will say this - if the request is public renounce a strongly held belief or suffer, I’d renounce the belief. The problem comes in with condemning others. That would be where my will would be tested. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/23 "2011-12-08T18:53:18Z")
This thread is one of your more ridiculous hypotheticals, **Skald.** Nobody can _ever_ know what they would do in this situation unless they’ve actually been through it. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/24 "2011-12-08T18:55:38Z")
I don’t think you had a measurement short enough for how long it would take. I can’t imagine a situation when anyone would need to torture me. Can I still get some of that coconut cake? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/25 "2011-12-08T18:59:00Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > This thread is one of your more ridiculous hypotheticals, **Skald.** Nobody can _ever_ know what they would do in this situation unless they’ve actually been through it. Really. It’s such a pity that my hordes of flying monkeys broke into your house, chained you to a chair, propped your eyes open with toothpicks, and forced you to read the thread. I can quite understand that you felt the need to be personally insulting in return. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t think you had a measurement short enough for how long it would take. I can’t imagine a situation when anyone would need to torture me. > > Can I still get some of that coconut cake? You’re on the short list, so of course. I think torturers frequently need no reason, though. Just an opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/26 "2011-12-08T18:59:56Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > This thread is one of your more ridiculous hypotheticals, **Skald.** Nobody can _ever_ know what they would do in this situation unless they’ve actually been through it. Really. I don’t know. I’m learning a bit about how realistically the board members view themselves. Ask this over at some other boards I’m a member of, and it would be instant tough guy acts, largely based on how well they held out in a video game… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/27 "2011-12-08T19:02:07Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > I don’t know. I’m learning a bit about how realistically the board members view themselves. > > Ask this over at some other boards I’m a member of, and it would be instant tough guy acts, largely based on how well they held out in a video game… I’m about to expose my – well, I guess geekiness isn’t the right term – my disconnect from much of pop culture. Are there really video games in which the player character (is that the right term) gets tortured? ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/28 "2011-12-08T19:05:49Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I will probably be babbling well before he gets his ghastly apparatus out. > I am a coward. Pretty much my thoughts. “It’s okay, enough said. You had me at ‘Hello, victim!’” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/29 "2011-12-08T19:38:41Z")
I’m a coward, but my dilemma is that I don’t trust the torturer. There’s no reason to believe that after giving the torturer what they want, you get the most desirable of the following three outcomes: A. You are released without harm B. You are swiftly killed C. You are tortured mercilessly in a manner that prolongs your suffering, ultimately leading to your death So I would try to pretend I don’t know anything, don’t have friends or loved ones and try to convince them I am not the right person. If that results in C, then I will try to kill myself by swallowing my tongue or hanging myself with my restraints. Even cowards can do the math: 1 death is fewer than many deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/30 "2011-12-08T19:50:59Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > I’m a coward, but my dilemma is that I don’t trust the torturer. > > There’s no reason to believe that after giving the torturer what they want, you get the most desirable of the following three outcomes: > > A. You are released without harm > B. You are swiftly killed > C. You are tortured mercilessly in a manner that prolongs your suffering, ultimately leading to your death > > So I would try to pretend I don’t know anything, don’t have friends or loved ones and try to convince them I am not the right person. > > If that results in C, then I will try to kill myself by swallowing my tongue or hanging myself with my restraints. Even cowards can do the math: 1 death is fewer than many deaths. I understand your reasoning here, but this isn’t a puzzle thread. The question isn’t “If you were in the hands of a ruthless enemy who intended to torture you, what would be the best strategy to deal with the situation at minimum cost to yourself and minimum hard to others?” I was asking people to appraise their own character, strength, and courage, not to intellectualize the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/31 "2011-12-08T20:01:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m about to expose my – well, I guess geekiness isn’t the right term – my disconnect from much of pop culture. > > Are there really video games in which the player character (is that the right term) gets tortured? At least a few. There’s a bit in every _Metal Gear Solid_ game where our hero is tortured. Usually, you can manfuly resist by pressing a button very rapidly, or [submit like a dirty coward](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4WHoP8cr30) by pressing another button, just like in real life. If you don’t submit and can’t press the button fast enough, the shocks kill you (The actual torture starts about 4:30 in this clip) Be warned, though, as bad guys in real life usually aren’t polite enough to remind you that you haven’t saved recently . . . – For the record, the cannon ending is that you don’t break. The ‘bad’ ending (where you leave stagger off with your male life partner, who you are ABSOLUTELY NOT IN LOVE WITH, REALLY!, matches the story better. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/32 "2011-12-08T20:11:49Z")
Dammit, missed the edit window. [Solid Snake resist torture, with less boring voice acting.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXuBckzdNYM&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL22787B4DE0D871E5) (torture starts about five min in this one) – “Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAKE!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/33 "2011-12-08T20:35:41Z")
There’s a bit where Squall gets tortured in FF 8, too, and you’re supposed to give in to the torture (that’s the “right” thing to do, as it spares others.) Honestly, I don’t believe anyone can hold out against prolonged torture. Everyone has a breaking point, and it’s probably sooner than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/34 "2011-12-08T20:50:43Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > There’s a bit where Squall gets tortured in FF 8, too, and you’re supposed to give in to the torture (that’s the “right” thing to do, as it spares others.) I’m going to assume FF is Final Fantasy and not Fantastic Four. 😉 And that exhausts my comprehension of what you’re talking about. Honestly, I just don’t get video games. I’ve played a few (always briefly) and each time I am bored. I just don’t get what y’all see in them. > [@](#): > > Honestly, I don’t believe anyone can hold out against prolonged torture. Everyone has a breaking point, and it’s probably sooner than you think. Mika, you know I adore you as much as my shriveled black heart allows, but I have to refute you, at least in part. Allow me to mention [Jaap Penraat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Penraat). > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Penraat was born in [Amsterdam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam), [Netherlands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands). As a child, he helped Jewish neighbors by switching lights for them on _[Shabbat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat)_, which they were forbidden to do. When the [Nazis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazis) occupied The Netherlands and began acting against the Jews, Penraat was an [interior designer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior_designer), [architect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architect) and [sculptor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculptor) of tiles and statues. He started his resistance activities by forging identity papers for Jews, but was discovered and jailed for several months. Later he made over 20 trips smuggling a total of 406 Jewish people to safety from The Netherlands to Spain via France by using his forgery skills to convince the Nazis they were slave laborers for the [Atlantic Wall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Wall), on [France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France)’s Atlantic coast. He lost only one man, who was hit by a train. Penraat was tortured by the Nazis but revealed nothing about his operations. After his release, he continued his activities until 1944, when it became too risky to continue, and he spent the rest of the war hiding in a village, living on [sugar beets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet).[[1]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Penraat#cite_note-nyt-0) Having said that, I’d agree with you if you’d written “I believe almost no one can hold out…” etc. Penraat was extraordinary in the same sense that, oh, [Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kipkoech_Cheruiyot) The average person cannot replicate his feat, no matter how much will they have or believe they have; their physical and limitations prevent it. Those who think otherwise are generally kidding themselves no less than people who think that, if they just worked hard enough, they could match Cheruiyot’s time in the Boston Marathon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/35 "2011-12-08T20:57:14Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > I will say this - if the request is public renounce a strongly held belief or suffer, I’d renounce the belief. The problem comes in with condemning others. That would be where my will would be tested. That was my rationale-a statement given under extreme duress has no force and thus no ultimate import-but if it involves endangering my nieces say, I _think_ I’d be able to last a long time (I’d just hold on fiercely to their images in my mind) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/36 "2011-12-08T20:57:27Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m going to assume FF is Final Fantasy and not Fantastic Four. 😉 And that exhausts my comprehension of what you’re talking about. > > Honestly, I just don’t get video games. I’ve played a few (always briefly) and each time I am bored. I just don’t get what y’all see in them. > > Mika, you know I adore you as much as my shriveled black heart allows, but I have to refute you, at least in part. Allow me to mention [Jaap Penraat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Penraat). > > Having said that, I’d agree with you if you’d written “I believe almost no one can hold out…” etc. Penraat was extraordinary in the same sense that, oh, [Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kipkoech_Cheruiyot) The average person cannot replicate his feat, no matter how much will they have or believe they have; their physical and limitations prevent it. Those who think otherwise are generally kidding themselves no less than people who think that, if they just worked hard enough, they could match Cheruiyot’s time in the Boston Marathon. Ok, like every other human endeavor, I will accept that there are outliers. But most of us are just people, and it’s as much mental as physical. If you know there is no help and no support from anyone and you will not be rescued (generic you) I think most humans will succumb fairly easily. And yes, Final Fantasy. As to video games, if you start a thread, sure I’ll tell you what I like about them - not in this one though. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/37 "2011-12-08T20:58:20Z")
Oh please! Anything but the [comfy chair!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY) My buddy Phred Phelps and I were talking about the evils of banana waffles just last night! ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/38 "2011-12-08T20:58:46Z")
I don’t think I’d hold out very long at all if it was just about me. But if it was “We torture you or we kill your dog, your boyfriend, and everyone you ever cared about, ever,” then I might try to hold out longer just to protect my loved ones. I’ll fight to the death for someone else, but for myself, meh. I’ll roll right over and give up whatever you want if you’ll just stop torturing me. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/39 "2011-12-08T21:01:35Z")
I’m probably being optimistic here but I’d like to think I could hold out for a few sessions. I don’t know if I’d be able to hold out forever, but I’d like to know how long I could last from a sick and twisted scientific curiosity position. I’ve often actually wondered how long I could be tortured without giving in. Also, I am a teensy bit of a masochist so maybe I’d be like Arthur Denton in Little Shop of Horrors, hehehe. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519/40 "2011-12-08T21:17:49Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > After reading **Scylla** ’s waterboarding thread, I think that under waterboarding I’d crack in about 30 seconds flat. From my understanding that’s pretty much how it normally works. Of course, the odds are good that whatever the torturer gets will be complete lies; whatever I think will make him stop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-ruthless-torturer-to-break-you/605519.md?page=3)