Terrorism and Human Factors

Since the attack on the World Trade Center, it seems that every pundit or scholar has something to say. Here then is my contribution.

Terrorism and the study of Human Factors share a number of things. They are often hard to define; they involve people; they often surround tragic results; and it is frequently difficult to provide a satisfying explanation.

For Human Factors, there is, since the events of 2001, a paradigm shift which involves everyone in some way or other. In the past we were free to assume that most accidents were, well, somewhat accidental. There was a tacit belief that if we could make our world fail-safe in any way or pile safety devices upon one another, we might prevent recurrences. That is no longer enough! The provision of safety is useless in the face of forces determined to defeat our efforts and to seek ways to use the very mechanisms designed for protection as a venue of destruction.

This, of course, turns many things upon their heads. Our task is now not only to provide safe means of living, but also to seek ways in which the safety devices we incorporate cannot intentionally be made to fail...a vastly harder problem!

It is as if we can no longer trust gravity to function as on earth, but must provide gravitational action as in space, and this in minute detail, and then attempt to make THAT fail safe and tamper-proof. This is no small challenge. If accidents and tragedy strike when we are all trying to avoid them, what now when forces are multiplying wishing to create chaos?