Why do we respond so viscerally to a terror attack that kills say ... 20 but not to 30,000 killed by cars p/yr. Is it the attack itself?

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 19 May 2016 20:34:34 -0400

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made May 19 at 2016 8:44 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 19 May 2016 20:44:06 -0400

"The death of one man is a Tragedy, The death of Million's is a Statistic" Joseph Stalin.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made May 19 at 2016 8:48 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Thu, 19 May 2016 20:48:08 -0400

Numbness.

The human capacity to get used to anything is scary. We are the most adaptive creature to ever live on planet Earth. So much so that we have adapted to ideas like Preventable Heart Disease, Car Accidents, and Cancer being commonplace... yet "statistically irrelevant" events are what make us angry, because we are so Arrogant that we believe we can control those...

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2016 9:01 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:01:48 -0400

One is intentional and pretty much out of our control. The other is not one incident but probably over 10,000 incidents.

Response by SFC Pete Kain made May 19 at 2016 9:03 PM

SFC Pete Kain — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:03:44 -0400

One is an accident, the other is an attack. Can't believe you had to ask.

Response by Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM made May 19 at 2016 9:07 PM

Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:07:32 -0400

Because our brains are not designed to absorb that much trauma.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2016 9:20 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:20:37 -0400

An attack is planned. Driving deaths are in large part due to choices. Do not text and drive, do not drink and drive, do not speed, do not drive at night when the bars close, keep your distance from cars weaving in traffic, etc. Sure you can be killed by a drunk driver, but there are choices that you make that can reduce your risk.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made May 19 at 2016 9:25 PM

Capt Seid Waddell — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:25:28 -0400

It is the difference between accidents and intentional murder.

Response by Cpl Mark A. Morris made May 19 at 2016 9:29 PM

Cpl Mark A. Morris — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:29:24 -0400

MSG.,
I found myself not viscerally effected, but saddened for what I suspect were folks not looking for a conflict.
This country and Europe brings in a problem. It's only a matter if time before they play their role again in growing government. It's a sick joke and the laugh will be on us for believing we can get along somehow.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2016 10:07 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 19 May 2016 22:07:32 -0400

If a mans enemy has publicly threatened to wipe Israel of the map and wants to kill all the infidels. Traffic accidents that kill are not intentional, thus the name accident. Try to imagine every motorist in the states driving at 90 mph. That would be lunacy.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made May 19 at 2016 10:22 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Thu, 19 May 2016 22:22:30 -0400

That's a helluva good question and I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions in response. I suspect that the mental defenses that we've constructed to protect ourselves from the carnage on the highways simply don't apply to deaths inflicted by terrorists.

The National Safety Council tried for years to use the carnage on the highways to scare us into being better drivers. Sadly, it never worked. Every holiday they would predict that X number of people would perish in traffic accidents and they were amazingly accurate. Ultimately, they discovered (with the help of Dr. Harold Mendlesohn that when faced with the prediction, people simply dismissed the danger by assuming that it would be X number of "other people", not them. Ultimately, everyone was convinced that they were a better driver than everyone else on the road and their skill would save them. There is no reason to believe that attitude has changed.

Death by terrorism is different. We don't have special skills to protect us. We are simply random targets and that randomness is frightening.

As I said, this is just a guess based on some actual knowledge that I possess, but it is admittedly incomplete.

Response by PO3 Michael James made May 19 at 2016 10:43 PM

PO3 Michael James — Thu, 19 May 2016 22:43:14 -0400

MSG Davis, Sir; probably for the same reasons we neglect our Veterans, but cater to our felons..

Response by SSG William Jones made May 19 at 2016 11:51 PM

SSG William Jones — Thu, 19 May 2016 23:51:09 -0400

I'm thinking that (at least in part) because the former is driven by malice and greed while the latter is not. There are other factors of course, but the aforementioned would figure prominently in the equation.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made May 20 at 2016 1:19 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 20 May 2016 01:19:41 -0400

Because the Nation sometimes responds to intentional killing, not human stupidity, or acts of God. Gets trickier as you go up the ladder.

Response by SSgt David Tedrow made May 20 at 2016 3:43 AM

SSgt David Tedrow — Fri, 20 May 2016 03:43:35 -0400

Possibly because terrorism is a violent and war like intrusion into peoples lives whereas driving deaths are a preventable action that most people don't want to confront since we all drive and could potentially kill someone while doing so. Just my humble view.

Response by SSG Vik Polivka made May 20 at 2016 6:34 AM

SSG Vik Polivka — Fri, 20 May 2016 06:34:53 -0400

I think it's because people don't want background checks, and restrictions on cars.

Response by Col Rebecca Lorraine made May 20 at 2016 6:57 AM

Col Rebecca Lorraine — Fri, 20 May 2016 06:57:11 -0400

Do you suspect that an accident is not an incident? We have accidents and the car or cars involved didn't intentionally attack us. A purposeful attack to create terror is a measured incident. 30,000 didn't die all at once, but over a year and in different locations. A terrorist attack is not an accident. Huge difference. A plane that goes down because it was directed into a tower killing 1000s is significant. It happened spectacularly and the images are burned into the memory. Sadly, car accidents happen because people text, drive too fast, dui, and for the most part they aren't planned. I don't believe this is a valid comparison, the main difference being causation. We can prevent terror. We can decrease car accidents.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2016 11:56 AM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 May 2016 11:56:51 -0400

Because the car accident that might kill you "seems" random...therefore, we "believe" in a combination of fate/control that will protect us. With a terrorist, the killing is intentional, targeted, and generally aimed at "all" of us...so less fate/control. The other "dark" interpretation? No one gets much attention for dying at 70 mph while texting...at least not like being cut down by a terrorist.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made May 20 at 2016 1:35 PM

LTC Paul Labrador — Fri, 20 May 2016 13:35:48 -0400

One death is a tragedy. A thousand is a statistic.

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made May 21 at 2016 8:57 PM

CPT Joseph K Murdock — Sat, 21 May 2016 20:57:13 -0400

It's unplanned vs. planned deaths which contrasts the events.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made May 23 at 2016 11:02 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Mon, 23 May 2016 11:02:15 -0400

I would say it is the attack itself because it disrupts our sense of safety. Yes car accidents may be a leader in deaths, but we always hear that tidbit of information that convinces us we'll be safe. He was drinking, so I'll be safe as long as I don't drink. He was texting, so I'll be safe as long as I don't text. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt, so I'll be safe as long as I wear my seatbelt etc etc. Terror attacks on the other hand are not a part of daily life, at least in the US. We can write off a malfunction when an airplane goes down because things break eventually. We can't write off a hijacking because we don't know the other people we're on a flight with. We don't know if one of these people might have an ill intent, so it makes up paranoid. Our sense of safety is disrupted. When public events are disrupted by backpack bombs, it makes us hesitant to go out to public events. We might even distance ourselves from anyone carrying backpacks or any kind of baggage for fear of something unknown. It is not the death toll that makes terror attacks so profound. It's the sense of fear and the break in normalcy that really hits us.

Response by Capt Jason S. made May 30 at 2016 10:29 AM

Capt Jason S. — Mon, 30 May 2016 10:29:23 -0400

It is an irrational emotional response to a national and very personal attack. Car accidents are not as personal to everyone at the same time and not as intentional. Even though we could probably have saved many more lives by investing in car safety, drivers education classes and repairing our national infrastructure.
Spending money on vets is not exciting to people. Spending money on weapons and getting the bad guys is extremely flashy and exciting. Very emotional and politicians like that especially when they can say they were part of it that ultimately got the bad guys. Of course bad guys can be a relative term considering on your history and perception. Most of the terrorist have little to no education and have been indoctrinated since birth to believe that everyone but them are evil. Most can only read a little except the leaders, who tell the masses what to believe. With little or no hope of ever having anything but what is given them by their leaders. What choice do they really have?
Seeing the desolate environment in Afghanistan. I can see why some might think we are evil for not sharing our tremendous wealth, when they have almost nothing and almost all Holy Scriptures teach to give to the poor. What is given rarely make it to the ones in greatest need but is taken by the leadership and they tell their followers how horrible Westerners are with our sinful perverse ways.
Then we don’t take the time to understand what drives their thoughts but just bomb them and blame them for what their leadership forces or tells them to do. Same thing happens throughout history. People suffer while the leadership and rich gain from it, with the least damage. Unless they get very unlucky.

Same thing happened in the American Colonies which is why we have The U.S.A. instead of a British colony today.