Do you believe you could be 'radicalized'?

Nope. I could be easily pushed into murdering someone for hurting my children, but I doubt I could ever be “radicalized” or incited to mass murder.

Do you think being in the military is a form of radicalization? (with respect of course)

No. I’m far too cynical and distrustful.

“So wait, wait… these people over here are ‘evil’?! And they must be ‘punished’?! If I do what I’ll get into ‘paradise’?!”

… “Getthefuckoutofhere!!”

@KNOWITALL Not really… there’s a difference between military and terrorists, IMHO. I’m not saying military personnel haven’t been known to do some pretty shitty things, but it’s still not the same to me.

@cookieman I didn’t mean to compare terrorists and military at all, but the mindset seems a little similar (following orders), and our military was compared to terrorists after the photos and Gitmo abuses.

^^ Psst. You mean the other chocolate jelly.

@cookieman Well craponastick..sorry.

No. I’m too apathetic.

@KNOWITALL I would think it was fair describe military training as socialisation. Of course radicalisation is a type of socialisation but it would probably be pushing things to directly compare military training with terrorist radicalisation.

I was radicalized by Fluther

I would hope that if I lived during the Holocaust, I would have been radicalized.

@KNOWITALL “Do you think being in the military is a form of radicalization? (with respect of course)”

Also with respect… yes, I do. I know that “radicalization” is not something that could be done to me, because I am extremely headstrong, and tend to resist all attempts by others to change me. But I think some people, even if in a small way, do want to be told who to be.

@janbb I think there is a difference between “being radicalized” in the way that it is meant in this question, and being forced by circumstance to stand up for your way of life, or your very life. I also think there is a difference between being a radical and being radicalized. It’s a question of being in control of yourself, or handing that control over to someone else.

@glacial Oh – I wasn’t thinking of it that way. I was thinking of it as becoming radicalized by certain circumstances, not by others. That makes a difference.

I was radicalized in my younger college days—not prepared to discuss how right now. (I did nothing bad, though). But now that I’m older, I’ve turned into a centrist skeptic banjo playing atheist amateur astronomer and have eschewed my old left-wing days.

I am a bit of a radical, but my opinions do not overwrite my life and my loves. So… a real radical I never was and never will be…

I am too much of a skeptic to be radicalized. Paradoxically, those who are most susceptible to being radicalized in a given direction are those who have already been radicalized in another direction. Without ever thinking through what they believed in the first place, they can easily be pushed to cling to a different set of beliefs.

It all depends on the circumstances. And all of us might eventually be in the middle of extreme circumstances. Skeptics can be radicalized too. I think what happened to some American POW in North Korea in the 50s is a good example.

Matt, the brainwashing practiced by the North Koreans was not very effective, especially considering the near torture conditions the soldiers were put through and the tiny number who were affected. Here is an article that talks about it.

From the third page:
Certain personality traits of the brainwashing targets can determine the effectiveness of the process. People who commonly experience great self doubt, have a weak sense of identity, and show a tendency toward guilt and absolutism (black-and-white thinking) are more likely to be successfully brainwashed, while a strong sense of identity and self-confidence can make a target more resistant to brainwashing.

I highlighted the part about absolutism. In other words, skeptics are less susceptible to brainwashing.

No, I have too much history.

@LostInParadise – Good point! Maybe there are better examples than POWs in North Korea, like the Stanford prison experiment. Radicalization was working there.

And I agree that skeptics are less susceptible to brainwashing. But the risk isn’t zero, depending on the circumstances.

Only by my own thoughts, I don’t accept leaders.

”Every man has a breaking point… Col. Kurtz has obviously reached his.”

Anyone can snap given the ‘right’ conditions.

@fremen_warrior Exactly.

Not likely since I’m too much of a nonconformist and freethinker to have a cultlike mentality.

If I became “radicalized” I’d not see myself that way, and I don’t think these terrorists would call themselves “radical”, no matter how many people they kill. Radical is how people see OTHER people, not how we see ourselves.

@snowberry I get your point, but not sure that I agree.