I have a new piece up today at Slate about why some many engineers end up as terrorists.
The most astonishing thing I learned while doing this research was just how wrong my perception of terrorists and suicide bombers was. The idea that high level leaders in complex terrorist organizations are better educated doesn’t give me pause. But according to this article by Alan Kruger, a former Princeton economist now with the treasury, even suicide bombers in places like Gaza are likely to be wealthier and better educated than their peers.
Kruger says that crime makes a poor analogy for terrorism. A better comparison would be to voting. It’s the folks who are invested in ideas, politics and the future of the nation who bother to get out and vote, or who make the ultimate statement with their lives.
Ben,
You almost have hit the nail on the head but it is a glancing blow.
You mention that the devises used by the terrorists are rudimentry, this is the correct procedure ,or design method, that is used by any engineer. Engineers live by KISS, Keeping It Simple Stupid. If box cutters and flight school can demolish buildings why would you engineer anything more sophisticated.
The one area the researchers in your article did not address and this is where they missed the mark, was the morals and ethics of engineering. In the US of A, most if not all engineering students will sign the following:
To give the utmost of performance;
To participate in none but honest enterprise;
To live and work according to the laws of man and the highest standards of professional conduct;
To place service before profit, the honor and standing of the profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare above all other considerations.
In humility and with need for Divine Guidance, I make this pledge.
It would have done justice to the Engineering Profession to have brought up the point that the terroist had ignored the morals and ethics of the profession and thier religon.
thanks for a good article
Simplicity of weapons can be used successfully against naive, do-gooders (Americans)
This has been proved many times.
In other parts of the world, flying TV cameras, satellites, electronic detectors, listening devices, armed, secret patrols , the ability to understand the enemy’s language, his social behavior are all used BEFORE , B-E-F-O-R-E the enemy acts.
Know the enemy… Anticipate the enemy…Kill the brains…the enemy’s planners…never , NEVER reveal your operations. CIA, DEA, and the other 13 organizations take notice ! movies
It is indeed a good article but I would draw different concluisions ! Either those engineer are not bright or are so stupid that one ought to wonder how they get that title.
Indeed, a proper engineer would actualy look at the aim/target/goal and try to provide the easiest path of success. So far all of these guys have failed (thank god for that !)
For instance, there are many targets that one living in a cave in afghanistan could not even think off, an engineer western educated would be aware of these and could easily find out how to hit those. (power line with a chain saw)
In a way I am thankful that these engineer/terrorists are not so bright/ so low in the chain of command that they can’t influence anything. A moron handling a cutter or an engineer the result is the same a wasted asset.
Last that document that you are reffering to already exist, it is called the order of the engineer. It includes usually a solemn oath to bring no harm, food , and a ring all for $15 !