9/11 YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!!! 9/11 Terror! 9/11

August 27, 2007 1:46 AM

YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!! YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!! YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!! (So defend your world-view and vote Bush! Ghouliani!)

They then asked the judges to set bail in the hypothetical case of a prostitute whom the prosecutor claimed was a flight risk. The judges who did the mortality exercises set an average bail of $455. The control group that did not do the exercises set it at an average of $50.

... (You're going to DIE!!!) ....

In 2002, the psychologists... showed that mortality reminders dramatically enhanced the appeal of a hypothetical candidate who told voters, "You are not just an ordinary citizen: You are part of a special state and a special nation."

... (You're going to DIE!!! (previously, previously)) ....

The control group... predictably favored Kerry by four to one. But the students who did the mortality exercises favored Bush by more than two to one.

posted by orthogonality (39 comments total)

I take it you're not voting for Lyndon Larouche?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:52 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I have a such a strong fear of death, it's a wonder I'm not a Bushie. But seriously, read the links, they're fascinating.
posted by orthogonality at 1:54 AM on August 27, 2007

Please. People are trying to sleep.
posted by words1 at 1:54 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Actually, I saw this a few hours ago and instantly agreed that it explained a lot.

It explains why people in a small town in rural Ohio, for instance, would fear that there was going to be a terrorist attack in their small town.

Me, I'm afraid of these people.
posted by words1 at 1:57 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Reminder: The Democrat party wants to tax you when you die.
posted by Poolio at 2:06 AM on August 27, 2007

Now I'm afraid that I only found the links interesting because you kept yelling about how I'm going to die.
posted by Shakeer at 2:08 AM on August 27, 2007

I'm not, and I still did.

Do you suppose that Rove, et al., were familiar with these studies? Or was it just weasel-gut instinct?
posted by words1 at 2:10 AM on August 27, 2007

It explains why people in a small town in rural Ohio, for instance, would fear that there was going to be a terrorist attack in their small town.

I live in New York City, and I'm not really concerned with being blown up by a radical. Honestly, kidding aside, I'm more concerned with stepping off the corner and getting hit by a guy on a bike who isn't watching where he's going.

Percieved risk vs actual risk. A lot of people don't get the difference.
posted by secret about box at 2:12 AM on August 27, 2007

Do you suppose that Rove, et al., were familiar with these studies?

Rove had THE math. I think it's fair to assume he'd have THE psychology too.
posted by Poolio at 2:15 AM on August 27, 2007

*perceived
posted by secret about box at 2:19 AM on August 27, 2007

I'm more concerned with stepping off the corner and getting hit by a guy on a bike who isn't watching where he's going

i'd be more concerned with pedestrians stepping out into the road without looking, but i guess this is a NYC thing.
posted by a. at 2:20 AM on August 27, 2007

This is interesting, but did you really need to take up so much screen space with this?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:29 AM on August 27, 2007

Ethereal Bligh writes "This is interesting, but did you really need to take up so much screen space with this?"

EB, it's very interesting, and I did my best to both show the results of the experiments (those objective results making the best "hook" to induce readers to read several longish articles) and keep it short. I suppose I could have gotten rid of the blockquotes, but that would have make it hard to read. I'd prefer to take up space and make it readable, than to compact it to the point of being difficult on the reader.

I purposely posted early in the day, so that other posts will go above mine.
posted by orthogonality at 2:35 AM on August 27, 2007

Ethereal Bligh writes "This is interesting, but did you really need to take up so much screen space with this?"

EB's just trying to protect traditional Metafilter forms, because I reminded him he's going to die.
posted by orthogonality at 2:53 AM on August 27, 2007 [3 favorites]

"I purposely posted early in the day, so that other posts will go above mine."

I thought that might be the case, and I commend you on your consideration.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:11 AM on August 27, 2007

But the students who did the mortality exercises favored Bush by more than two to one.

Well, it wasn't easy, but Bush has kept them alive for nearly 7 years. Who's going to keep them alive for the next 8? Will someone please think of the craven... er children?
posted by psmealey at 3:19 AM on August 27, 2007

Why are we Afraid to Die

A pretty useless fear. People who fear death are funny creatures. Existential slaves in fact. The very fact they allow this to cloud their judgment is not surprising from such a species as ours. It's hard to find fault with people, like Karl Rove, who exploit human stupidity. It's only human after all. Karl Rove is an unbeliever too, unsurprisingly.
posted by Gnostic Novelist at 3:20 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Warrior needs food badly

Valkyrie is about to die
posted by poppo at 3:24 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I know I am going to die. This gives me the freedom to have a cheeseburger for breakfast.
posted by srboisvert at 3:28 AM on August 27, 2007 [2 favorites]

srboisvert writes "I know I am going to die. This gives me the freedom to have a cheeseburger for breakfast."

You can has cheezburger?
posted by orthogonality at 3:32 AM on August 27, 2007

My father, a rational, level-headed man who is as liberal and open-minded a man as I know, suddenly had irrational fears of riding the state ferry system after the 2001 attacks. He didn't vote for Bush, and I think he's over his fear, but it was still surprising. He's almost 80, so must have contemplated his eventual passing more than I have, and even jokes about it.

Perhaps it the fear of not dying on your own terms?
posted by maxwelton at 3:38 AM on August 27, 2007

I think there's about an 80% chance that I'm going to die, but a 20% chance that, Jah willing, I'm going to keep on living.
posted by mullingitover at 3:40 AM on August 27, 2007

The authors seem to have it both ways. At the end, explaining why the corellation no longer seems to work, they explain that if subjects are asked to 'be careful' the effect attenuates or disappears. So we are asked to believe that voters were not 'being careful' about their choices in '04. Hmmm. Something makes me suspicious about an effect that can explain both the presence and the absence of an effect.
posted by grahamwell at 3:43 AM on August 27, 2007

I mean result, sorry.
posted by grahamwell at 3:43 AM on August 27, 2007

Bumper sticker seen in Southern Ohio:

I AM AN EXISTENTIAL SLAVE.... AND I VOTE!!
posted by psmealey at 3:46 AM on August 27, 2007

Ortho: Your aesthetic reasoning has failed. I find this post nearly entirely unreadable. And worse.
posted by loquacious at 3:46 AM on August 27, 2007

ditto
posted by adamvasco at 4:03 AM on August 27, 2007

did you really need to take up so much screen space with this?"
posted by Ethereal Bligh

ah the irony
posted by matteo at 4:09 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Not only did I enjoy the post, I particularly enjoyed the form and the formatting.

But then we've had nearly forty years of terrorist activity in the UK, so chaos and uncertainty is almost like a security blanket to us.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:10 AM on August 27, 2007

It explains why people in a small town in rural Ohio, for instance, would fear that there was going to be a terrorist attack in their small town.

you need to get out more. most americans by far live in small rural towns. from a fear-inducement point of view, there could hardly be a better target.
posted by quonsar at 4:21 AM on August 27, 2007

from a fear-inducement point of view, there could hardly be a better target.

Indeed. It seems clear to me that the wisest strategy for terrorization would have been to hit small, unlikely targets -- not big, concentrated targets. Look at the sniper attacks. Those guys got caught because they got greedy. If J. A. Mohammed hadn't been mentally ill, he could have gone on killing people indefinitely, and people would have thouht it was an AQ terror plot instead of a deranged serial killer.

From a behaviorist perspective, it would seem to me that the best tactic for inciting widespread fear would be to mix up small and medium sized targets. Then just leak threats against large targets. It surprised me that such a thing didn't happen. So in that, I was buying into the fear-mongering, sure (though I don't recall being afraid in my daily life).

That this kind of thing didn't happen after 9/11 amazed me, frankly. It could be the best evidence we've got of how weak they are in the US.

Or, for that matter, that they're not the masterminds we make them out to be. (Which is a damn good thing, considering how piss-poor we've done at fighting terrorists.) As an Irish-American college friend used to like to say about the IRA, at a fundamental level organized terrorists are essentially mobsters trying to keep an organization going and growing. Blowing things up is kind of antithetical to that goal. Terrorist organizations with long hisories typically slack off the violence a little (or change its profile) after their initial spurt. Or get broken up by their parent org, a la Black September.

I'm sure there's a dynamic that gets going after a while, where both sides feed off the fear that the climate generates. But that would be retreading ground we've already torn up time and again.
posted by lodurr at 4:52 AM on August 27, 2007

A lot of churches harp on the "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE...ETERNALLY!" message on a weekly basis. I'm sure there's no connection.
posted by DU at 4:57 AM on August 27, 2007

I just want to say that, though it's likely to have been in wide use before now, this is the first time I've personally seen the "Ghouliani" spelling, and it really is kind of perfect, isn't it? There is something ghoulish about that guy. Actually, he's like a cross between a police chief and a ghoul.

I never liked him when he was my mayor. Hell, shortly after he'd been elected and started his little "let's bring law and order to the unruly streets of NY" campaign, I actually had a cop stop me and warn me about jaywalking. Jaywalking! A cop! In New York City! I was flabbergasted. Ghouliani is a mean spirited, petty little man. And he has NO lips.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:57 AM on August 27, 2007

I know I am going to die. This gives me the freedom to have a cheeseburger for breakfast.

That's why al Qaeda has been quietly buying up fast food chains throughout the US and UK. Just gonna kill you slowly, infidel.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:59 AM on August 27, 2007

flapjax consider yourself lucky that you don't live in Atlanta.
posted by adamvasco at 5:01 AM on August 27, 2007

'"I know I am going to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens. " WA
posted by Rancid Badger at 5:11 AM on August 27, 2007

most americans by far live in small rural towns.

quonsar, I'm not sure if you mean "live" as a metaphor, as if people in the U.S. mentally live in small towns regardless of population density, but the rural population of the U.S. is about sixty million and has been for about fifty years.
posted by cgc373 at 5:11 AM on August 27, 2007

People who fear death are funny creatures.

Let us march happily into that good night.
posted by Wolof at 5:20 AM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Interesting.

I wonder what the experiments would look like if the population were from a country that's had more...experience with terrorism (e.g. London at the height of the IRA's activity, Italy during the Red Brigade years, etc.).
posted by rtha at 5:25 AM on August 27, 2007