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>Whatever the case may be, of the group of students that were subjected to these abusive experiments only one became a terrorist Source? What is the incidence

by lvass 3y ago

>Whatever the case may be, of the group of students that were subjected to these abusive experiments only one became a terrorist Source? What is the incidence of terrorism in that group and in the general population?

arp242 3y ago
I don't have any data or sources on this; if my memory is correct the participants were actually anonymous and the only reason we know Ted Kaczynski participated is because of his brother, so we don't even know who the other people were. However, I expect if another one had also become a terrorist, we would have heard about it. There were just a handful of participants (1 or 2 dozen or thereabouts), so it's not really enough for a "proper study" anyway. Also: many people (myself included) were extensively and viciously bullied in their childhood and/or teen years. Many suffer profoundly negative effects from this, sometimes for decades or even their entire lives, but most are not terrorists. And even if it did turn out that the incidence of terrorists was higher: that still doesn't absolve them or their own responsibility in committing violent acts against random people (i.e. terrorism).
- catiopatio 3y ago
  Are you claiming that childhood bullying is equivalent to a program run by the CIA exploring the use of psychological torture and mind-altering substances?
  - l33t233372 3y ago
    To wit, the study was run my Harvard psychologists, not CIA.
  - arp242 3y ago
    It was not run by the CIA, as I have mentioned, and it certainly didn't involve mind-altering substances. The specific experiments he participated in involved abusive interrogation sessions to measure stress responses, which is roughly analogous to bullying, yes.
ginko 3y ago
Well, whatever the size of the group is (let's call it X) it's at least 1 out of X. Which is almost certainly more than the general population.
- amelius 3y ago
  And the p-value?
- pdabbadabba 3y ago
  By that logic, we might as well just blame it on his beard.

by lvass 3y ago

arp242 3y ago

I don't have any data or sources on this; if my memory is correct the participants were actually anonymous and the only reason we know Ted Kaczynski participated is because of his brother, so we don't even know who the other people were. However, I expect if another one had also become a terrorist, we would have heard about it. There were just a handful of participants (1 or 2 dozen or thereabouts), so it's not really enough for a "proper study" anyway. Also: many people (myself included) were extensively and viciously bullied in their childhood and/or teen years. Many suffer profoundly negative effects from this, sometimes for decades or even their entire lives, but most are not terrorists. And even if it did turn out that the incidence of terrorists was higher: that still doesn't absolve them or their own responsibility in committing violent acts against random people (i.e. terrorism).

catiopatio 3y ago
Are you claiming that childhood bullying is equivalent to a program run by the CIA exploring the use of psychological torture and mind-altering substances?
- l33t233372 3y ago
  To wit, the study was run my Harvard psychologists, not CIA.
- arp242 3y ago
  It was not run by the CIA, as I have mentioned, and it certainly didn't involve mind-altering substances. The specific experiments he participated in involved abusive interrogation sessions to measure stress responses, which is roughly analogous to bullying, yes.

ginko 3y ago

Well, whatever the size of the group is (let's call it X) it's at least 1 out of X. Which is almost certainly more than the general population.

amelius 3y ago
And the p-value?
pdabbadabba 3y ago
By that logic, we might as well just blame it on his beard.