Caroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022
We’re obviously still waiting for more details about the horrific Colorado Springs mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub, but based on everything we do know and everything we’ve seen in recent months and years, this looks like stochastic terrorism — and the persons responsible for the rhetoric are already targeting another LGBTQ org in Colorado Springs. 1/
Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022

Stochastic terrorism is “the use of mass communications to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable."

Trump & his supporters have embraced this tactic and I’ve written about it countless times over the years, like in this piece about Roger Stone. 2/
https://americanindependent.com/longtime-trump-ally-roger-stone-promises-violence-if-congress-impeaches/

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone promises violence if Congress impeaches

Roger Stone says he wasn't advocating violence, but his style of rhetoric is known to incite it.

The American Independent
Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022

I’ve heard stochastic terrorism described as a pan of popcorn on a hot stove, where the pan is social media and the kernels are random members of the public. Far-right figures are the ones turning up the heat, pouring oil in the pan, and shaking the kernels around.

No one can really be sure *which* kernel will “pop” next, but you can be pretty damn certain that if you keep the heat on, keep adding oil, and keep shaking the pan around, one of those kernels is going to pop sooner or later. 3/

Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022

I shared this article earlier today on Twitter, and I’m re-sharing here because it’s an important explainer on how those who engage in stochastic terrorism exploit one of our most primal emotions: disgust.

Disgust can help us avoid harm by triggering an aversion to things that can make us physically sick. But it can be weaponized against us, too. 4/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-stochastic-terrorism-uses-disgust-to-incite-violence/

How Stochastic Terrorism Uses Disgust to Incite Violence

Pundits are weaponizing disgust to fuel violence, and it’s affecting our humanity

Scientific American
Show threadCaroline Orr Bueno

Some of the most horrific acts of violence in human history have been preceded by a campaign of dehumanization during which propaganda is used to foment disgust against the targeted group.

Disinformation about sexual “grooming” is meant to evoke that same sense of disgust — to engage our instincts and direct our attention towards something that is supposedly a threat to our wellbeing and even our existence. 5/

Nov 21, 2022 at 2:00amWeb
Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022

Disgust is an evolutionarily advantageous emotion that trains our “behavioral immune system” to avoid danger, but it’s being weaponized to encourage dehumanization, cruelty, and at times deadly violence by manufacturing a threat.

They’re hijacking our primal instincts — our brains — to incite violence. 6/

Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022

Much of the anti-trans rhetoric circulating today is aimed at dehumanization, which is a psychological process of demonizing an "enemy" as sub-human & thus not worthy of humane treatment. It’s considered a key component of intergroup violence because it is an important precursor to moral exclusion, “the process by which stigmatized groups are placed outside the boundary in which moral values, rules, and considerations of fairness apply.”

It’s also the 3rd of 8 stages of genocide. 7/

Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 21, 2022
So when I say I study cognitive security and try to promote cognitive resilience and reduce information-based harms, this is the kind of stuff I’m talking about. There are bad actors out there who have hijacked the brains of millions of Americans, any one of whom may be the next to “pop”. It has to stop, and a big part of my life’s work will be figuring out how to disrupt this pattern, mitigate these harms, and protect people from the associated hate, violence, and death. -x-
Show threadGlenn TullyNov 21, 2022
@rvawonk sickening to see such acts.
As someone long time study of psychology in my personal life and using various sources in many sectors. Currently starting a bachelors degree in Psychology and looking to use it with a study into criminology,. Your explanation is on point and I've regularly called out the likes of Steven Crowder who propagate with highly charged, chest beating, violent undertones to the LGBTQA+ community.
Show threadJohn CaswellNov 21, 2022
@rvawonk Supremely important work and am right with you. I go from outrage to helplessness in a beat so any method or tactic you emerge with let us know. A movement in the opposite direction, using the system to defeat itself - anything. I stumbled on this fragment the other day - “The hive mind collectively rejoiced as it assimilated its first human mind. That was until the collective's first intrusive thought." I will remain hopeful and find ways.
Show threadJessica StewartNov 21, 2022

@johncaswell @rvawonk

Beautifully said. I, too, go from outrage to helplessness. But we will prevail!

Show threadPhoenix Rising 🏳️‍🌈🗽💙🪶🇺🇲Nov 21, 2022
@rvawonk May you succeed!
Show threadJen Mc 🏳️‍🌈🇦🇺Nov 21, 2022
@rvawonk that article was great. And yes, everything you’ve said makes perfect sense. Thank you for the work you and your colleagues and peers are doing in this area.
Show threadPamNov 22, 2022

@rvawonk
thank you for this explanation of stochastic terrorism.
I keep hearing pleading to the right wing to stop the rhetoric before someone gets hurt and I’m frustrated with the naïveté.

The violence is a feature…not a bug. They can’t be shamed.
We need a legal way to turn down the rhetoric.

Show threadNathanael NerodeNov 22, 2022

@rvawonk

While this is all true, I'd also point out that there's a strong element of DARVO and projection. The Republican political leadership is full of documented child abusers ( https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/04/from-hastert-to-gaetz-lets-talk-about-republicans-and-sex-crimes.html ) -- Jim Jordan, Dennis Hastert, Mark Foley, Roy Moore, Matt Gaetz, and Donald Trump are some proven examples. The Republican party openly backs sex criminals.

They accuse innnocent people of committing the crimes they commit.

So, Let’s Talk About Republicans and Sex Crimes

This seems like an appropriate moment.

Slate
Show threadCaroline Orr BuenoNov 22, 2022
@neroden this is also true.
Show threadnadin brzezinskiNov 21, 2022
@rvawonk yes!
Show threadStop-the-MAGAss-ReichNov 21, 2022
@rvawonk One only needs to look at what Putin and his propagandists are doing to see how dehumanization works in genocide.
Show threadDr. Greg SwanNov 21, 2022
@rvawonk
Glad to find you posting on Mastodon as I move in. That is a good choice for life's work and the thread is well-documented.
Show threadanneeroperNov 28, 2022
@rvawonk The human nervous system & #neurobiology is essentially programmed to make our bodies defence machines (defending the body to live/procreate). Fear is the body's alert system. Historically that might mean fighting off 'others' who'd bring violence/disease.But that mind/somatic &societal conditioning used to control via rhetoric/practices/religions etc. is no longer skilful. Beliefs that ostracise are the danger today.Embracing all peoples/animals leads to human& planetary safety.
Show threadParanoid FactoidNov 24, 2022

@rvawonk A Problem From Hell by Samantha Power is a good book on this topic. You can also find translations of Rwandan radio broadcasts just prior to their genocide. And it's remarkably similar to the kind of material broadcast by Fox News and conservative talk radio.

I don't know what will happen but my sense is this isn't good.