New Yorker: Thresholds of Violence; How school shootings catch on.

[TechMan]

A very interesting theory on why school shootings continue.  It is a long read but interesting.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence

[Perd Hapley]

That was interesting, thanks.

The author says that school shootings are overwhelmingly American, and then he later refers to their being 12 "major" school shootings in the U.S. in a certain time period, and 11 "major" school shootings outside the U.S., in the same time period.

So much for American exceptionalism.

[brimic]

That was very interesting...
Of special note:



This is not the first time I've seen this, in fact, its often used a tactic used to manipulate groups of people.
One person does something that seems a bit odd. After a crowd gathers,  an accomplice in the crowd joins him, giving him social validation which causes a cascade of people jumping in or following. Often used in 'get rich quick' seminars or impromtu Mau-maus.