London Riots August 2011

I have been amazed at the attempts to rationalise the behaviour of the groups of people responsible for destroying large parts of London during the recent riots.  This reminded me of my brief foray into Chaos Theory a few years ago.

Chaos Theory dictates that it is possible that a very small occurance can produce unpredictable and sometimes drastic results by triggering a series of increasingly significant events. I think rationalising the riots as some sort of reaction to a deeper socio-economic problem ignores the fact that we all have the potential to do evil. Given the right situation, opportunistic and animalistic behaviour can take hold of groups of people. I don't think they can rationalise what they are doing. They have no cause. They only see opportunity and greed.