Know that there are five degrees of torture, videlicit, first, the torture of being threatened to be tortured; secondly, the torture of being conveyed to the place of torture; thirdly, the torture of being, and bound for torture; fourthly, the torture of being hoisted on the torturing rack; and fifthly, and lastly, the torture of squassation.
[It] has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control. One wonders why it is still practiced.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation; Episode #137 "Chain of Command, Part II" 1992. Picard has been captured and tortured for information by the Cardassians.
