Quote:Sounds familiar, except the shackles part. That part would have been excruciating. I can take a huge amount of short term discomfort and acute pain, but the chronic chaffing of anything would drive me crazy. I don't even wear a watch. As a part of my training, I have learned to hold my breath for about 3 minutes, which is near the point where you begin to black out due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Cold water actually improves my capacity due to bradycardia.With all due respect to your horrifying experiences in grade school and working long hours, I don't think you've actually ever had to endure anything like the kind of duress that a hostile environment entails. Anyone can stay up for 96 hours a handful of times in their lives, although why is beyond me; anyone would be intellectually useless after 48, unless they were popping methamphetamines like candy corn. People can be left alone, they can assume uncomfortable positions, they can hold their breath for a minute or two (professionals can do four or five). They can be hit hard, or electrocuted, or whatever else. But in all those situations, if they are in control, it changes everything. Fear is a fundamental part of torture, and nobody, no matter how strong-willed, is going to react the same way. They are simply not comparable situations, not at all. (Also: see the "intent" part of the UN definition. Voluntary duress is not torture.)
Besides, holding one's breath makes waterboarding worse, not better. It's insidious that way, but if you hold your breath for three minutes, then you'll freak out after, at most, three minutes. The torturers are patient. They'll wait. Five minutes, ten minutes, they have you for as long as they need you. You're certainly not going to be able to hold your breath for as long as necessary, over and over, indefinitely. And when you do gasp for air, you'll already be panicking, which is the intended result in any case.
-Jester