Comments on: Why do so many terrorists have engineering degrees? https://www.isegoria.net/2010/01/why-do-so-many-terrorists-have-engineering-degrees/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:25:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Robert C https://www.isegoria.net/2010/01/why-do-so-many-terrorists-have-engineering-degrees/comment-page-1/#comment-1111352 Robert C Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:18:19 +0000 http://isegoria.net/isegoria/?p=4639#comment-1111352 I’ve always looked at political revolution as a result of economic frustration. I believe it was Marx who first came up with this theory. This was later re-affirmed by the frustration–aggression–displacement theory put forward by John Dollard, Neal E. Miller et al. in 1939. And further by Merton in 1968 with Strain theory. Looked at all together, the message of these sociological-criminological studies seems to indicate that we in the good ol’ United States are in for some rough weather in terms of crime and sociological disorder, as long as the economic disparities continue to grow in this country. And your observations suggest that it’s as likely, if not more than likely to come from that traditionally conservative sector that has always espoused God and Country. My take is that this why you have the growing influence of the Tea Party movement. But that’s just one expression. But as the Chinese farmer once said: “We’ll see…”

]]> By: Bob Sykes https://www.isegoria.net/2010/01/why-do-so-many-terrorists-have-engineering-degrees/comment-page-1/#comment-1082486 Bob Sykes Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:15:24 +0000 http://isegoria.net/isegoria/?p=4639#comment-1082486 I taught civil engineering for 37 years. Gambetta and Hertog overlooked another personality trait of engineers, that they are largely uninterested in people per se. They like things. In some individuals this becomes sociopathy.

I don’t doubt that engineering faculty are more religious than others, but I didn’t see much religious feeling among my colleagues. Truly religious engineering faculty are quite rare. Also, studies of American engineering faculty have shown that the people in most disciplines do not differ greatly from the general population in their politics. Mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering faculty are usually liberal. Civil and agricultural engineers, however, tend to be conservative. In the 1964 election, only civil and agricultural engineering faculty gave Goldwater a majority. All the other disciplines voted majority for Johnson.

On the other hand, the terrorists are all Moslems, and Islam is an ideology of extreme intolerance, extreme aggression and extreme violence, all encouraged by the example of Mohammed and the Koran.

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