OVERATTENTION TO TERRORISM: CAUSES AND RISKS

Killings by terrorism arouse much more attention and emotions than, for instance, the much larger numbers of people killed by car drivers, bacteria and viruses. A combination of causes may be at work here.

ABSTRACTION

Not many feel affected by abstractions. Therefore, large numbers of traffic incidents don’t evoke emotions like single incidents do.

MEDIA

Because traffic accidents happen so often, the media reduced paying attention to those daily killings on the road. They don’t see such killings as news anymore.

REMOTENESS

Most of the 1.2 million traffic deaths happen in the Third World, whereas western media focus on what happens in the west and reach audiences in the Third World.  Third World media reach much less western audiences and perhaps even focus less on traffic deaths.

PURPOSE

It seems that the intentional killing by terrorists evokes widespread attention and emotion. Car drivers don’t kill on purpose and therefore evoke less attention and emotion. But criminals also kill on purpose and yet evoke less attention and emotion than terrorists do. Terrorists differ from car drivers and criminals in that they kill to install fear and uproot the societal system, the social balance, the status quo.

US-THEM 1

Especially Muslim terrorists are seen as foreigners attacking westerners, as ‘them’ attacking ‘us’, in order to install fear from the outside and uproot the societal system, the social balance, the status quo. Most killing by car drivers and criminals do not come from the outside.

US-THEM 2

But also within the west there are us-them divides that do not lead to extreme attention and emotions drawn by terrorists. One of the biggest gaps in the Amsterdam society is between bikers and car drivers. Bikers behave in anarchistic ways and cars kill bikers. They have a clear-cut us-them divide. In fact, many at both sides fear or hate the other side.

Neveertheless, hardly any traffic accident raises much attention and emotion by the media and the local government. But the general public are very much aware and concerned about the ongoing killing on the roads. This us-them divide between the general public on the one hand and media and government on the other is yet another one in the Netherlands that does not raise fierce attention and emotion. Therefore, us-them divides in themselves do not seem to be a convincing explanation of the widerspread and fierce attention paid to terrorists.

GOVERNMENTS

Some governments welcome external enemies in order to rally the population and keep their attention away from internal troubles. Terrorists provide excellent opportunities to rally the people. Some governments have perhaps even facilitated such opportunites. Research has uncovered examples of such manipulations.

SECRET SERVICES

Secret services welcome any fear for external enemies, hoping more breaches of privacy protection will legalized or secretly introduced. Reasons for mobilizing the population against an external enemy are highly welcomed and perhaps even created by the some secret services. Research has uncovered examples of such manipulations.

ARMIES

Army leaders welcome fear for external enemies, hoping next military action will be started. Reasons for mobilizing the population against an external enemy are highly welcomed and perhaps even created by the somke army leaders. Research has uncovered examples of such manipulations.

ARMS

Arms producers welcome any fear for external enemies, hoping next war will come. Reasons for mobilizing the population against an external enemy are highly welcomed and perhaps even created by some arms producers. Research has uncovered examples of such manipulations.

SUMMARY OF EXPLANATIONS

As governments, secret services, army leaders and arms producers may see chances to benefit from Muslim terrorist attacks, they may tend facilitate widespread attention and emotions. Moreover, such attacks are easier to absorb by the public than abstract numbers and are therefore attractive for media that seek audiences. Western populations are even less interested in abstract numbers of road accidents in non-western societies. Many people get more aroused by intentional killing than by unintentional killing, while disregarding the numbers of casualties in themselves. The primary us-them instinct is especially strong when it comes to terrorists with a foreign background.

POLICY

As common citizens we may notice that our insticts, media and governments create in us attention and emotions not corresponding to the distribution of real dangers, such as expressed in numbers of casualties. We may urge governments to apply resources according to the real distribution of such dangers.