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> We don't actually care which one you pick, because a confession is still a confession

Yes, but as you note, the point is to make it sound like barely a confession, the minimum possible confession. This makes it just as attractive to the innocent as for the guilty. It's offering a minimally painful way out of a deeply stressful situation.

And as you say, the punchline is that not confessing would lead to minimal or no pain, and every level of confession will equally turn out much worse. An innocent person is just trying to escape from that room, and is being conned into agreeing to a long prison sentence in order to do it.



Totally. I remembered the phrase I should have used: a false dichotomy (https://xkcd.com/2592/)

If you were going to buy a car today sir, would your budget be above or below $40k?


"$40k is way too much on the low side. Sorry, I'm looking for something a lot higher end." And walk off never to come back. ;)




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