Recent disturbing events during this election cycle, notably the attempted assassination of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, have put political violence in the spotlight. In our tense political climate, how do battles over ideas turn into actual violence? Stochastic terrorism explains how violent rhetoric, such as on social media, contributes to the problem of political violence.
Stochastic terrorism is a term coined by mathematician and risk analyst Dr. Gordon Woo. His studies on terrorism risk laid the groundwork for estimating the potential impact of media-inspired terrorist acts as nonlinear relationships.
The term was popularized in a 2011 DailyKos opinion piece as “the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.”
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Keywords and phrases:
"stochastic terrorism"
"lone wolf terrorism"
"incitement to violence"
"inflammatory rhetoric"
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