The science behind Isis savagery

[flamingdem]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11041338/The-science-behind-Isis-savagery.html

Carrying out beheadings and other extreme acts is unthinkable for most people, but the right cocktail of factors can make anyone an extremist, says neuroscientist Prof Ian Robertson


As Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria butcher thousands of “infidels” and carry off their women and children into slavery, many in the West are inclined to see this as an unique outcrop of Islamic fundamentalism. Yet after overrunning a Bosnian town on 11th July 1995, Bosnian Serb – ostensibly Christian – forces, cold-bloodedly massacred 8,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica. Hutu genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda, Khmer Rouge mass-murder of Cambodian city-dwellers, Nazi genocide of Jews, Gypsies and the disabled…. the list of savagery is as long as it is profoundly depressing.

What, then are the origins of savagery, if they cannot be ascribed to a single religion or ideology?

1 - Savagery begets savagery

The first part of an answer may be horribly simple: savagery begets savagery. Callousness, aggression and lack of empathy are common responses by people who have been harshly treated themselves. In the Nazi concentration camps, for instance, many of the cruellest guards were themselves prisoners – the notorious “kapos”. Sexually abused children – particularly males – are more likely to go on to become sexual abusers themselves as adults, although the majority do not. Victims, in other words, often respond to trauma by themselves becoming victimisers.

2 - Submersion in the Group

[flamingdem]

1. A few of the comments are worth reading

* note - I think it's important to look at the economic factors mentioned - after indoctrination there are no jobs - in countries like Britain there is not enough employment even if the muslim indoctrinate has skills - so we have a large group without job options

This is a very impressive article written by Profession Ian Robertson. But, two
element s and important factors missing are indoctrination and ideology. Indoctrination is the one that starts from youth. Some of these young Jihadists are graduates of madrassas: Islamic seminaries funded by rich Gulf oil states.

These madrassas teach nothing but dogmas and doctrines of militant religionism,
regarding those who do not subscribe to their version of fanaticism and extremism
are infidels that deserve "ostracism", persecution or "condemnation". And, upon
graduation, these former students learn no useful skills for gainful employment
to function in a civilized society.

This is why enrollment in Jihadism as Mujihadeens (Islamic highters) becomes
a means of livelihood as these sectarian mercenaries are paid from revenues
funneled by some of the same Gulf Oil States, which President Obama is courting
to combat the IS challenge. Some of the same Muslim nations are, also requesting
American help and humanitarian intervention.

It's the same indoctrination that promised these fighters sex with 72 virgins
in after-life, especially if they die in Jihad. They believe it: Young men sacrificing
their lives for these idealistic doctrines. It was indoctrination that fueled racism,
apartheid and other ethnocentrist beliefs and anomalies.

Of course, these insane group ideas bordering on paranoid human instincts
can be fueled by paranoid ideology peddled to adults, leading to pogroms,
genocide and other horrors humankind has seen in recent times like those
examples cited in Prof. Robertson's article. It's a huge challenge. Education,
diplomacy and civilization can curb these barbaric acts. But, they are unlikely
to stop them.
Igonikon Jack, USA