Yeah, there can certainly be bad or inept profiling.
> Who would be subjected to the observation necessary for a sufficient
> profile, and how? More importantly, what would be done with someone
> who "fit the profile"? Which of their human rights and civil
> liberties would be curtailed, and by whose authorization? How would
> any of this differ from "Minority Report," other than its lack of
> precision?
I am sure psychologists have a lot to say about the sorts of behaviors that can be identified that are consistent with the type of psychotic break which leads one to mass murder and suicide.
Imprisoning people based on the predictions of psychics would certainly be an indefensible position. Lucky for me I didn't propose it. ;-)
Most of us are exposed to other people during the course of our social interactions - school and work are most prominent - and many of us our already under "observation" to some degree, so some training in how to detect the warning signs so someone can receive some treatment certainly sounds reasonable to me.
Yeah, I suppose at some point you may have a situation that someone who needs help may refuse it - but then the courts already have ways for dealing with that situation.
While the mass media milks the gun control circus for all it is worth I wonder if any teachers and students noticed something before the massacre but didn't know how to get him some help - or tried to get him some help and the system had a shitty infrastructure for dealing with him.
"Profiling" has a bad rap because it conjures images of racist cops harassing anyone black. But profiling for *behavior* can be a good thing. My college profiled students who they thought at academic risk. Employers profile workers who aren't performing. Either of those institutions could be enabled to profile people for the type of mental illness which leads to mass murder.
Matt
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