42: The Answer to Almost Everything — Season 1, Episode 92: Does Punishment Work?

Episode synopsis

When we harm someone, we may be punished, the point of which is to be made aware of the harm we have done to others. So goes the theory. But researchers warn against the harmful effect of punishment, which they believe can lead to more crime. Could prison and fines have the opposite effect to the one intended?

About 42: The Answer to Almost Everything

What would we be without mucus? Can we live on water? How much does life weigh? Finding out the answers is the aim of ARTE's new science show. In a nod to Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", where the figure 42 is the ultimate answer to all questions, 42 tries to provide the answers.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Can we dig our way through the Earth?
• E2Could We Live on the Moon?
• E3Should we use lotteries instead of elections?
• E4How Much Does Life Weigh?
• E5Will we move onto the water?
• E6Can Algorithms Make Us Healthy?
• E7What if there were no mucus?
• E8How do we solve the nuclear waste puzzle?
• E9What if Fear Didn't Exist?
• E10What if the ice disappeared?
• E11Do We All hear the Same Thing?
• E12Are we too pessimistic?