The Better Angels of Our Nature

HOW LIKELY are we to be involved in a terrorist attack? In The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Canadian- born American cognitive scientist, psychologist, linguist and popular science writer Steven Pinker shows just how misinformed we are about terrorism.

Trying to avoid terrorism, Pinker says, can be more deadly than facing the possibility of terrorism. “You are more likely to die in a car accident driving within 12 miles than flying from New York to Los Angeles,” says Pinker. “More people die after being struck by lightning, being stung by a bee or having a fatal reaction to a peanut butter allergy than die in terrorist attacks.” So why are we so afraid of terrorism? Part of our fear comes from all those instant replays in the media.

Bombarding people with images of terrorism makes it feel ever-present.

We’re equally uninformed about who becomes a terrorist. Most of us associate terrorism with religious extremism.

“Certainly an ideology of an after- life helps,” says Pinker. “Modern suicide bombing was perfected by the Tamil Tigers. They grew up in Hinduism, but the group’s ideology was secular, a ‘ghoulash’ of nationalism, romantic militarism, Marxism/ Leninism and anti-imperialism.” An after-life with or without all the virgins we’re hearing about “seldom figures prominently,” says Pinker. The perception of a great after- life could tip the scales for someone becoming a terrorist, but it can’t be the only psychological reason.

“Anthropologists found that far from being impoverished, ignorant, nihilistic or mentally ill, suicide bombers are often educated, middle class, morally engaged and free of obvious psychopathology,” Pinker writes.

One anthropologist found that the motivation often lies in something called “nepotistic altruism”.

Tamil Tigers picked their suicide bombers and then threatened to kill their families if they didn’t complete their mission. Hamas and Palestinian terrorist groups offered generous monthly stipends, lump sum payments and prestige in the community for becoming a suicide bomber.

Pinker says, “In the West Bank and Gaza, many men have trouble finding wives partly because of the polygamous society and partly because families often seek husbands for women outside of Palestine in places like Israel where they can find more prosperous Arabs.

Many families can’t pay a bride price, and men don’t have much to choose from besides parallel cousins.” Anthropologists say that 99 percent of Palestinian suicide terrorists are male, 86 percent are unmarried and 81 percent have at least six siblings.

Blowing oneself up can earn enough money to help brothers to get wives. Then there is what Pinker calls “the opportunity to join a happy band of brothers…Terrorist cells often begin as gangs of underemployed, single young men who come together in cafes, dorms, soccer clubs, barbershops or Internet chat rooms and suddenly find meaning in their lives to the new platoon.” These young men are often not really thinking about their actions.

They’re pulled into the thinking of a group.

“Young men in all societies do foolish things to prove their courage and commitment — especially in groups where individuals may do something they know is foolish because everyone else in the group thinks it is cool,” says Pinker.

Undoubtedly, commitment to the group is intensified by religion.

“It’s the feeling of immersing oneself in a calling, a vision, a purpose that is not necessarily understood by all.” And some terorrists are motivated by revenge.

They are mostly motivated by what Pinker calls “a thrilling call to action.” The simple fact is that terrorism – like all violence and crime – is a complex issue that needs to be understood and addressed on a meaningful level.