Uncia on 1/6/2007 at 12:57
Thing is, none of them mean anything unless you can provide a strong, logical correlation between the two. In the US the crime rates and crime-related activity among black people is often significantly higher than among white people. Just looking at the numbers one can go "ah, well, that means that black people are genetically more prone to stealing than white people!". Which is nonsense, because they actually just indicate that black people on average have a lower social standing than white people.
The same thing here. "Universities are terrorist breeding grounds!" is not a logical conclusion. There's no reason for them to be any more likely to be such than high schools, bars, coffee shops and office buildings (just think, all those people in certain places, and mixing with certain people, on a regular basis!). What one could surmise is that your average Western terrorist is of a certain social class and education; that would make sense. The other way around though? Not really.
D'Juhn Keep on 1/6/2007 at 13:32
Quote Posted by Uncia
The same thing here. "Universities are terrorist breeding grounds!" is
not a logical conclusion. There's no reason for them to be any more likely to be such than high schools, bars, coffee shops and office buildings
Is this true though? Think about how many anti-war demos are organised in universities compared to not. The fact is, students don't work as much as someone in a full time job, there are many opportunities for organising and hosting extra-curricular events/societies and so on. Especially qwith the ethos of universities, where a lot of funding and support is given to societies.
I'm finding it difficult to express it but I can certainly see how it's easier to get people into doing things - Raise and Give, IntraMural Games, Islamic Studies -
any kind of uni society - in universities than outside. And if there are anti-western guys in charge of the local islamic society in the uni, then it'd be an effective way of spreading their views.
THAT SAID, to expand my parenthesis, I do see where your comparison of "university/right handed" is coming from, I just think it's a bit too facile.
Chimpy Chompy on 1/6/2007 at 13:52
Well I'm thinking this way
1: most people aren't students
2: say, for the purpose of this discussion, 60% of terrorists are students
(number unknown but as I understand Uncia would be making the same argument if that was the case)
Isn't it useful to have some factor helping to narrow down the search? Also, while it would be wrong to suggest terrorism can only happen because of universities, as suggested above they might be providing a somewhat condusive atmosphere to sharing of radical thought and plotting in groups that, say, a 9-5 job in sales doesn't.
Uncia on 1/6/2007 at 14:59
Let's just say that I'm skeptical that in an environment like that the first hints of it going on would be a statistic. Even among "adults" such things tend to get discovered because people fuck up; and yet these student terrorists manage to keep everything under wraps (and none of the people they try but fail to recruit ever bring it up with others) and their activities are only discovered through supposed statistical anomalies?
I'm not saying it couldn't happen. I am however saying that the reasoning behind it doesn't sound very likely. Certainly not likely enough to start treating students as potencial criminals even more than they already do.
TafferLing on 1/6/2007 at 21:56
Quote Posted by Uncia
Let's just say that I'm skeptical that in an environment like that the first hints of it going on would be a statistic. Even among "adults" such things tend to get discovered because people fuck up; and yet these student terrorists manage to keep everything under wraps (and none of the people they try but fail to recruit ever bring it up with others) and their activities are only discovered through supposed statistical anomalies?
I'm not saying it couldn't happen. I am however saying that the reasoning behind it doesn't sound very likely. Certainly not likely enough to start treating students as potencial criminals even more than they already do.
"Would you join a group in which errr, we make bombs 'n stuff, you know? The usual things!"
"Of course not, but I won't tell it to the police because you're my uni buddies!" *hugs*:D
