Engineers of Jihad

[Surferbeetle]

The original paper from the Oxford Sociology Department, Paper Number 2007-10 , by Diego Gambetta and Steffon Hertog, Engineers of Jihad

David,

Thanks for the link, while it's certainly something to consider, my biased take on things would be to try and run the ratio of troublemakers to those who have who have been of help to society.

The Oxford study identified 78 individuals who studied 'engineering' (their definition is a bit loose) out of a group of 178 members of 'violent islamist groups' whose educational efforts (completed or not) could be identified. US Department of Labor says that in 2006 there were 1.5 million employed engineers in the US alone. In the UK 800,000 individuals are counted as employed engineers. I would further add that the drop out rates in engineering school are not pretty...

As I ponder the merits of this particular study I will continue to enjoy my chilled beverage made with clean water fresh from my electrically powered refrigerator while sheltered inside my structurally sound residence while....



Best,

Steve

[davidbfpo]

Assembling a profile continues to elude academics and practioners. There are some useful hints scattered around in the literature, which is what I would class the 'engineers' articles.

What I did find interesting was the description of a prolonged German data mining investigation to identify potential terrorists - which failed. A marked contrast to hunting down the Baader-Meinhof gang in Hamburg in the 1970's, when a data search identified utilities being paid for in cash and swiftly then their hideout(s).

After London and Glasgow attacks by in the 'Doctors Plot' any profile had to consider medical doctors.

davidbfpo

[William F. Owen]

• Assembling a profile continues to elude academics and practioners.
• After London and Glasgow attacks by in the 'Doctors Plot' any profile had to consider medical doctors.

The assumption that you can assemble a profile would have to reside in the idea that profiles were indicative or political/religious beliefs. How do you find out if someone is a secret communist? Profiles are more a search tool, than indicative of any form of prediction. Profiles cannot tell you who is a terrorist and who is not. Profiles just fine tune the search.

To quote a training manual I saw once, "A profile without a subject is like key without a door."

[slapout9]

How do you find out if someone is a secret communist? Profiles are more a search tool, than indicative of any form of prediction. Profiles cannot tell you who is a terrorist and who is not. Profiles just fine tune the search.

To quote a training manual I saw once, "A profile without a subject is like key without a door."

That is exactly what they are, a search tool. It was designed to be used after a crime(s)to find the person who did it when you had little or nothing else to go on but the suspects behavior.

[davidbfpo]

A new UK report on this vexed issue, with a Middle East focus. It starts with:

The world continues to be blighted by extremist ideologies. It is commonly argued that one possible solution is more educational opportunity. But the picture may be more complicated. A large number of violent extremists are graduates.

A disproportionate number hold degrees in engineering and other technical subjects. Martin Rose, a Visiting Fellow at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, and British Council consultant on the Middle East has written a new working paper examining existing research on the issue in the region. Intended to provoke discussion, the paper suggests there may be links between the teaching of certain subjects and the closed mind-set of extremists who study them. The paper arguably demonstrates that changing the way some subjects are taught and encouraging questioning and alternative viewpoints, along with better education in the humanities and social sciences, could help immunise minds against extremism. If this argument is true it may have some implications for education policy.

Link:https://www.britishcouncil.org/organ...-and-extremism

[Bill Moore]

I had to laugh at this one, now the problem is no longer poverty and lack of education as our State Department narrative likes to promote, but the way science and technology is taught in our schools. If that is true, then we apparently have huge radical hotbeds at Google, Microsoft, 3M, Apple, etc.

The issue isn't poor governance, it isn't poverty, it isn't the way science and technology is taught, it is ideology and ones' psychological make up. Apparently that is too uncomfortable for us to accept?

[davidbfpo]

Thread re-opened after this article from March 2016 popped up. It reflects the academic research and furore over the theme:http://www.chronicle.com/article/Does-Engineering-Education/235800?

A good read and I did not check the comments.