Not sure if this has already been posted --
[Short Summary at the Atlantic of Oxford paper on why so many radical Islamists are engineers]
Here is the link to the 90 page Oxford paper http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/users/gambetta/Engineers%20of%20Jihad.pdf
Further discussion at eetimes.com [Here]—discussing the controversy over the paper. Some comments suggest this article is a hoax.
Islamic terrorists are more likely to be engineers than members of any other profession--and not because engineers possess superior technological skills. That’s the conclusion of a controversial Oxford University study that has the engineering community buzzing.
The study’s disturbing finding blames what it calls a universal engineering mindset, which it describes as one drawn to structure and rules plus clear, single solutions to complex problems. When coupled with the harsh realities of life in many Islamic countries, terrorism can be the result, the study says.
Unsurprisingly, the findings have met some blowback. A typical reaction came from George Haber, an EE and serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. “The conclusion that some engineers become terrorists means nothing,” he said. “Doctors and poets and uneducated people turn out to be terrorists as well.”
