8 Technologies That We Should Never, Ever Build

4. Virtual Prisons

When discussing the potentials of "mind upload" technology, people often focus on virtual holidays, or even virtual lives. People discuss the potential to upload our minds into computers, or even duplicate them and keep a backup of our very selves.

What people don't often discuss, is the potential this kind of technology has in the world of crime and punishment. Specifically, in the capabilities for time manipulation that this would offer us.

A virtual mind in a simulated world could be made to experience time in any way we like. We could make an hour pass in a minute, or stretch an hour out over 30 years. This would mean that, rather than taking up cell space and using up valuable resources in real-time, a criminal could serve a 100 year sentence in a day.

Not only would this be one hell of a deterrent, but we would be able to apply a rigorous course of rehabilitation in a matter of minutes. It would also be enough to crack anyone's mind.