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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 141
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OP
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 141 |
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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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1 |
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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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of science fiction is crud... but then 90% of everything is crud.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Ok--who is/was Sturgeon, please?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
W-H-O-A, WOW, and WAY-OUT, Tsuwm !!! Thank you !!! I didn't even know I was familiar with some of his work. I am DEFINITELY checking these out at the library--today!!! And I LOVE his symbol--that invitation is to me as manna to the starving!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218 |
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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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218 |
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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