French game show

Heard on NPR last night there was a French game show on which the contestants dealt electric shocks to a man strapped to the chair, and during the course of the game the players, egged on by the crowd, took great pleasure in giving more frequent and intense shocks.

Turns out that the man in the chair was just an actor, and was never really in any danger, nor received any pain. However, the reporter mentioned that the players, who delivered the "shocks" may have undergone stress, driven by guilt, over what they had thought they had done. This report insinuated that the game may not have been "fair" to the players.

I say that's a load of crap - I hope they feel bad. If they didn't feel bad, now THAT would worry me. These players knowingly gave pain to another human being. Just because they didn't actually give any pain does not let them off the hook. They CHOSE to inflict pain, that's what they thought they were doing, therefore that was the choice they were making. Any sort of negative emotional reaction they had after that incident isn't good enough - they should have had a negative emotional reaction BEFORE going on the show - then they would have suffered no pain whatsoever.

VG