Friday, February 22, 2013

Bizarre housework

In the absence of witnesses and reliable forensics, it seems the case against Oscar Pistorius hangs rather heavily on whether he's the nice guy of his public persona or whether he has a dark side: impulsive, aggressive, confrontational, violent.

If the former, the defence could try to put psychological data before the court. I'm not sure whether psychometric tests can be reliably gamed (I imagine that with some coaching, practice and inbuilt-empathy you could simulate most personality-types on a pencil-and-paper test).

MRI scans and genetic profiling, if we understood what we were seeing, seem far more robust.

What if Oscar isn't such a pussycat, and the prosecution arrive with the data.

Defence lawyer: "It was his brain/genes which made my client do it. He had no choice!"

I can't wait ...

Q. Why is the author hoovering the duvet?

A. The moulting cat has slept before.