stimulus response & the fallacy of if this then this & terrorism

 if-this-then-that-trigger-action

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Post hoc ergo propter hoc

(Latin) “after this, therefore because of this” is a logical fallacy that states “Since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X.”

The fallacy lies in coming to a conclusion based solely on the order of events, rather than taking into account other factors that might rule out the connection.

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“I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance.

People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.”

—-

Dalai Lama

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Human behavior, natural inclinations and how bad leaders manipulate what many people naturally feel.

I thought about this because every time some terrorist does something, particularly if they are Muslim, it stimulus-response-circumstance-conflict-eventstimulates a response. That is the basic stimulus response reaction we all have.

The basic response we have is actually twofold … there is the Reptilian knee jerk response and then there is the more thoughtful responsible response.

By the way, both are viable thoughts <which everyone should think about before they call someone’s response silly, naive or stupid>.

One is basic reflexive survival instinct. One is filtered through reasoned response. And, as with almost anything in Life, truth in the proper response resides in the balance. But while balance is the desired objective for most of us  that doesn’t mean if someone shouts something out in the aftermath of some conflict or event that appeals to our Reptilian instincts we will not pay attention.

In fact, whether someone admits it or not, that initial knee jerk reaction sounds legitimate and worthy of consideration because it appeals to our “flee or fight” instincts.

Now. Far too often everyday people, in today’s world, suggest the Reptilian response is the ‘common sense’ response. And, as so often true, there is a big grain of truth within that thought. The trouble is that while stimulus response is a linear truth <in a brain way> … in the real world cause and effect is not always linear … and, yet, is still true.

A terrorist act is not a larger reflection of danger to overall safety & security <we are more likely to be killed by a fellow citizen than a Muslim or a refugee or an immigrant>.if-this-then-that-graph

A terrorist act is not a larger reflection of some majority ideological danger <this is a small small minority acting upon a sliver of a truth>.

A terrorist act is actually a reflection of how a significant small minority can impact a significant large majority of an opposite view <this is also called the minority majority paradox>.

And, yet, asshats like Trump actually respond to the events, and our Reptilian brain, almost in sinc with the Islamist terrorist fanatics themselves.

They feed off each other in a Reptilian way.

Their knee jerk responses focus on vindicating the initial Reptilian brain reflexive response. And, unfortunately, it does vindicate what many, maybe most, people feel initially.

That is how our brain works and that is what these assholes play to.

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After the Bataclan atrocity his captors would be scanning social media and celebrating: “‘We are winning’, they’d say. They will be heartened by every sign of overreaction, of division, of fear, of racism, of xenophobia; they will be drawn to any examples of ugliness on social media.”

Words from Nicolas Hénin, a Frenchman who survived being taken hostage by Isis

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Our Reptilian brain wants exactly what a terrorist wants. Attention and reflexive action; not responsive action.

Uhm.

stimulus-response-head-think-knee-jerk-maze-workBut there is a reason we do not live our lives solely by following our Reptilian brain.

Any marketing person will tell you activating the Reptilian brain is powerful, but people desire more. Most of us do not succumb to our Reptilian brain or ignore the cortex and limbic system because most of us understand nuanced responses tend to mesh better to reality than simplistic ‘fight or flee’ responses. In fact. While a Reptilian response feels good <instant gratification>, the greater value <sustained gratification> is more often found in thoughtful responses.

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The Brain Response Mechanism:

  • Cortex: handles learning, abstract thought, imagination
  • Limbic system: deals with emotions (structures between birth to 5yrs old)
  • Reptilian brain (brain stem/cerebellum): instinctive, needed for survival and reproduction

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Now. The American Reptilian brain is a little different than other country’s citizens. It gets driven by what Clotaire Rapaille called “the American Culture Code.” Using the words of Nike one can boil the American agenda down to three simple words: “Just do it.” Our champions are athletes, entrepreneurs, police officers, firefighters, and soldiers – all people who take action. Americans celebrate work and turn successful business people into celebrities. Donald Trump and Bill Gates are celebrities. Stephen T. Covey, Jack Welch, and Lee Iacocca are mega-selling authors. Our best-sellers include The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Good to Great.

We may respect thinkers, but we don’t celebrate them nearly as much as we do our action figures.work hard and lose life

When our forefathers came to America and discovered a huge undeveloped land, their first thought wasn’t “let’s have some tea” … it was “let’s get to work.”

In fact. The American Culture Code for work is WHO YOU ARE. We seek much our personal, and country, meaning in our jobs & work <note: this is not particularly healthy & has some societal issues>.

That said.

That means when a terrorist event happens, well, we want to go to work. We want to be champions and ‘just do it.’

That is our Reptilian brain kicking in.

So. Why did I decide to share this?

Well. Because when Trump or any populist sends out a tweet <and media amplifies it on air> he is appealing to our Reptilian Brain <which we all have>. He encourages us to think our natural reptilian instinct, our reflex action, is the right thing to think. Luckily, most of us slowly slide by the Reptilian reflex and shift into a more thoughtful response.

But a significant minority stays right there in the Reptilian thought and, well, shout common sense! And I can live with that <although I will do everything in my power to explain why it is not>.

What may aggravate me even more is that people smart enough to know that isn’t the answer start suggesting the Reptilian reflexive response is the smartest most common sense response. There is no excuse for that … or them.

To be clear. There is a time & a place for reflexive Reptilian behavior, but you cannot, and should not, live your Life that way 100%.

to-do-be-betterAnd maybe that is my gripe with Trump <beyond some of his divisive ideas>. He seems to live in a 100% Reptilian world themselves and want to demand the general population to live the same way.

Uhm. That is no way to live.

That is assuming basic survival is the best level and not the ground level. He seems to be suggesting one of the simplest mistakes almost every one of us does which is to look at an outcome as an outcome of a sequential list of events.

And, well, that is the fallacy of if this then this.

Life is rarely that simple. The world is certainly not that simple. And I seriously doubt a terrorist act is that simple. Terrorism, and the roots of terrorism, is not a linear problem nor will solving it require a linear solution.  We will not find simple cause & effect reasons nor will we isolate the desired ‘if this then that’ which would explain everything easily.

Look. Once again I am trying to share some fake pseudo intellectual argument that while it is tempting to think of someone like Trump’s rhetoric with regard to immigrants, refuges and Muslims <criminals and terrorists> because it appeals to our Reptilian brain – we are better than that.

Smarter than that.

We can ‘survive’ smartly.

We can ‘survive’ without being devoid of values to our fellow humankind.

We can ‘survive’ without sacrificing some of the founding freedoms which we offer to anyone who elects to come to our country.

We can ‘survive’ by maintaining one of the core distinct differences USA has versus other countries — “innocent until proven guilty.”

<which, to date as far as I can tell, has not undermined our country by being overrun by criminals and terrorists>.

Of course we should be vigilant.

Of course we should take smart proactive steps to address radicalization.

Of course we should aggressively prosecute those who are truly guilty.

muchness best versionBut assuming guilt simply because Reptilian brain suggests it?

C’mon. We know better than that.

Let the asshats speculate. Sometimes they will be right and sometimes they will be wrong.

The rest of us should await the facts and in doing so will always be 100% right.

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Written by Bruce