re: #196 HappyWarrior

Yeah I think that’s why beheading fell out of fashion too. Thing of course what blood thirsty hacks like Erickson won’t ever want to admit is nearly every form of modern public execution starts off “humanely.” The guillotine was considered humane and believe it or not so was the electric chair and gas chamber. Honestly, just do away with the death penalty. Executing the perp doesn’t bring back the victims. It’s not justice.

The guillotine was designed because it was considered quicker and more humane than the previous form of state execution, which was beheading. Sure, a beheading could be quick too, provided the headsman was skilled, the blade was sharp enough to go through with a single whack, and the soon to be much shorter person kept perfectly still. But such things were the exception rather than the rule, leading to many an execution turning into horrendous affairs where the headsman basically hacked the poor bastard to death.