What's your stance on the death penalty?

[Thunderbeast]

15. I see my internal debate on this (and several other) issues in terms of brain biology.

Our brains have evolved over millions of years. Our primitive brain stem controls instincts necessary for survival. It developed at a time when we were small rodents. Those individuals that could defend their young and defend their territorial food sources survived. Part of that survival trait involved the defeat of others of our species that would do us harm.

As we evolved into humans, traits of socialization and cooperation became more valuable. Our brains evolved with a large prefrontal cortex to support these functions.

Human life today is largely defined by the conflicting "needs" of our hybrid brains. We eat, breathe, mate, and respond to threats based on the functions of our ancient mammalian brain. Modern political and commercial advertising messages are crafted to address the powerful emotions of fear and grievance that originate there. The prefrontal cortex manages higher functions, but must moderate the messages coming from our vestigial brain stem.

The urge to execute other humans is a defensive function. While our rational brain knows (through extensive research) that capital punishment does little as a deterrent against future crime, our brain core is crying out for revenge.

The risks of "getting it wrong" and executing an innocent person outweigh any vengeful satisfaction I get from the state killing in the name of justice.