#6018 - 09/04/00 12:56 AM
Syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles
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member
Registered: 03/12/00
Posts: 121
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Consider the Stockholm syndrome if you have any doubt about the veracity of
the saying, `Fact is stranger than fiction'. In 1973, following a botched
robbery attempt, the perpetrator held four employees of a Stockholm bank
hostage in the bank vault. At the end of the five day captivity, police were
surprised to discover that the hostages were afraid of them and resisted
rescue. They had bonded with the robber, a prison escapee, and became
sympathetic with him. Later, they started a defense fund for him, testified
in his favor, and one of the female hostages even fell in love and became
engaged to him.
Of course, this phenomenon is not limited to the Swedes. Patty Hearst of the
US, heiress to the Hearst publishing fortune, was kidnapped in 1974 by the
Symbionese Liberation Army. She later joined her abductors and participated
in a bank robbery with them. More recently, an Indian Airlines flight was
hijacked and the passengers were holed up in the plane for more than a week.
At the conclusion of the drama, some passengers were heard saying about the
hijackers, `they were not bad people'.
Why do people turn around and begin to sympathize with their tormenters in
situations like these? It is one of the mysteries of the way the human mind
works. Perhaps it is a way for people to cope with the immense, immediate
stress of being in a situation where their lives depend on their captors. If
one threatens to shoot, and then doesn't, hasn't he done a favor to us the
mind apparently rationalizes. In a place devoid of external contact, the
view of reality becomes distorted and the victims may develop a fondness for
the only person in their life.
This week in AWAD we look at some of the syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and
principles that govern our minds.
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#6019 - 09/06/00 04:04 AM
Re: Syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles
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stranger
Registered: 09/06/00
Posts: 1
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Here's thought, narcissistically named Mathers Law - and is a muchy more than my brain can handle:
"A Law is not a Law unless it has exceptions"
Hmmmm........
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#6022 - 09/08/00 09:25 AM
Re: Syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 10464
Loc: this too shall pass
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#6024 - 09/11/00 09:33 AM
Re: Parkinson's Law
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enthusiast
Registered: 03/16/00
Posts: 218
Loc: Mountain West, USA
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The September 9 AWAD has sufficiently piqued my interest. I'd like to get a copy of the article referenced in Anu's message: Rob Kyff, This Column Obeys All Laws, The Hartford Courant, Nov 11, 1998.
I've searched around for it online, and even checked the "premium" services of the Hartford Courant's archives, but I've had no luck in locating the article. Anyone happen to have run across this in times past?
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#6026 - 09/11/00 11:24 AM
Re: Parkinson's Law
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enthusiast
Registered: 03/16/00
Posts: 218
Loc: Mountain West, USA
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http://courant.ctnow.com/news/library/Yes, I tried that site. I get no (correct) hits on any of the info I have for the article. Let me double-check. Okay, I'm back. Thanks Jackie. I researched using the author's last name instead of the title and found it. Humbled, Brandon
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