I was hoping some of learned folks might share some thoughts on Social Contagion. I've been listening to Daniel Goleman's book Social Intelligence on the drive and he's pitched some pretty interesting ideas that I think are relevant to the way terrorism is used - particularly in the way it has been used in Baghdad.

When the violence seems to defy all reason and logic, when its physics resemble that of a large scale wild fire, how do you contain and manage it. Goleman makes a good case for the theory, and is able to bring in some hard science in the relatively new ways scientists are experimenting on brain cells. I just wanted to see if any of us had considered this theory and what their thoughts are.

Regards, Rob