[FOUNTAIN]Many levels of terror

The fear that animals feel is carved deeply in the amygdaloid portion of the brain. When a rat spots a cat, its sympathetic nerve tenses because its amygdaloid body is stimulated, causing the rat to stiffen and let out deep breaths.
However, a rat with a damaged amygdaloid body will attack a cat. An animal’s rage is related to the hypothalamus, which is in the lower part of the brain. If we stimulate this part of the brain, the animal puts on indiscriminate attacks.
The famous case is Phineas Gage, an American railroad construction worker in the 1850s.
He was a thoughtful and polite person until his brain was damaged in an explosion. Then, he became a ruffian.
Related to terror attacks, cerebral physiologists present a unique analysis.
If you stimulate one’s hypothalamus with hatred and rage, the person’s likelihood of becoming a terrorist increases. The terrible terror attack scene is memorized vividly in its amygdaloid body. Terrorists maximize horror through this.
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, there is a scene in which Cain calls out his brother, Abel, to the fields. Then he kills his brother. This is the first murder case in human history.
God asks, “Where is your brother?” Cain responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and pretends to know nothing about his brother’s death. Terror and lies have been with human history since ancient times.
A 1789 French dictionary was the first to use the word “terrorism.” It was based on the reign of terror during the French Revolution.
However, there is still no clear definition of the term. It is translated as organized act of violence that stimulates fear in the masses.
Criminal psychologists agree on only two viewpoints. One is that terror is very resistant and addictive, just like drugs. Another thing is that as long as humans exist, terror will not disappear.
This describes how deep the temptations and persistent the terror acts are.
Last week, Park Geun-hye the chairwoman of the Grand National Party, was attacked while campaigning on the streets. No one is free from terror attacks anywhere.
In this situation, a member of Nosamo, an organization of supporters of President Roh remarked, “She must have had plastic surgery since she received 60 stitches.”
The nation is feeling numb in the amygdaloid body due to shock of the terror, but this person seems to have injured her hypothalamus.
It is an aspect of a sick society.

by Lee Chul-ho

The writer is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.