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Why Do So Many Terrorists Have Engineering Degrees
Socguy noted that Slate is apparently a little desperate for some traffic as they are writing about"Why so many of the terrorists have engineering degrees, and they come to the conclusion that engineers and engineering students are much more likely to hold strong conservative and religious views than a general cross section of the public. Further, engineers tend to hold a particular mind-set that disdains ambiguity and compromise. Terrorist organizations have long recognized that engineering departments are fertile ground for recruitment and have concentrated their efforts there. A 2005 report from British intelligence noted that Islamic extremists were frequenting college campuses, looking for 'inquisitive' students who might be susceptible to their message. In particular, the report noted, they targeted engineers."
You forgot:
Awkward around girls - check
Not only that, but if you're looking for someone who's also frustrated and ready to blow up the world, you could do a lot worse than to find an engineer.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
My question: Why do so many people with liberal arts degrees write articles about this?
This is a good point. The promise of 72 Virgins is probably much more enticing to geek engineers.
^This^
What the hell kind of skills is a Liberal Arts student going to provide them with? But I'm not surprised that the ignorant Liberal Arts majors who wrote this article didn't realize that they're useless to the rest of society. Even the terrorists don't want them.
but man, they look really nice when they don't work. I mean, could an engineer really make the colors go together like that? And seriously, who uses red and green wires? Is it Christmas? A nice set of matching mauve is sooo much better at offsetting the grey c4.
They're all maniacal engineers. *rimshot*
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
The problem is that if you had two such engineers, they're compete to see who could get his 72 virgins stacked to make the strongest bridge.
Well, what else is he going to do with all those perfect scale replicas of cows? The trebuchet seems like the obvious choice to me.
So a muslim fundamentalist is really an atheist nihilist?
Are you a anonymously posting-modernist philosopher?
Or maybe it's that the liberal arts majors are already getting plenty of action, while for the average engineering student, the prospect of 72 virgins is pretty compelling?
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Blame the widespread acceptance of altruism, by far the unquestionable default morality of the world, which promotes a "greater good" or "brother's keeper" value that supersedes one's own life and personal value system.
Ayn Rand, you're alive and posting on slashdot!
World peace by getting all the mal-adjusted geeks money and girlfriends? That's the stupides....Actually wait, I kinda like that.
What is the sound of an annonymously posting-modernist philosopher posting?
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
It's just that those terrorists without engineering degrees won't even make the news due to ineptitude.
Given the (thankful) ineptitude of some of those who do make the news I wonder if they would not have been more effective as terrorists if they had stuck to being engineers and built a few bridges or buildings.
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
They just really like trains over there!