Halo 3 and the Logics of Suicide Bombing

Linked through the New York Times “Freakonomics” blog, I found an interesting blog posting entitled “Suicide Bombing Makes Sick Sense in Halo 3”. In this posting, the author Clive Thompson explains how the game of Halo surprisingly gave him a better understanding of the psychology behind suicide bombing. For him, it all starts with the fact that he, unlike thousands of teenage boys, does not have the time to spend hours on end practicing Halo because he is an adult with a job and a family, and consequently doesn’t play nearly as well as most of them do. Through his frustration of being dismantled again and again, he developed a strategy of running straight at his opponent and tossing a grenade at the last second. Though he dies much faster that way, the proximity to his enemy ensures that the grenade will hit and that he will have taken someone down with him in his death.

I found this theory very intriguing. While, in fact, this explanation ignores many of the finer nuances of personal, political, and spiritual reasons for suicide bombing, it provides an excellent metaphor of the psychology of asymmetric warfare. Just like in the real world, there is an issue of resource scarcity: in this example, the author does not have as much time as others to spend on honing his skills; in reality, suicide bombers do not have the various resources (money, technology, etc.) to build an organized, sophisticated strategy and/or military. While those who do possess the resources have too much (their wealth, their prestige) to lose to be willing to die, the underdogs know that they are at a disadvantage and that their situation has a slim chance of improving. This idea of hopelessness has often been cited as a major reason for suicide bombings; they see no other way to have their opinions heard. And even if they cannot improve their situation much, at least they can halt their enemy’s operations temporarily. Suicide bombing turns into the cheapest, most effective option they see for affecting change. This idea does not include the greater context of suicide bombings in the real world, but they provide a more explanatory note of why violence is seen as effective that is not as available in many explanations of the dynamics of terrorism.

Though the author himself does not touch on this subject, another intriguing aspect of this article is the fact that this growing community of Xbox Live players is representative of globalization effects in the real world: As technology has gotten more advanced and increasingly connected people, competition has become increasingly fierce and one’s flaws are now more magnified than ever before. Just as the author has started realizing how many more skilled players there are out in the world and how much his lack of time actually puts him at a disadvantage, the shrinking world as a result of technological advances has brought more competitors and fiercer competition in economic markets. Both developing economies and established economic forces have become increasingly aware of their markets’ shortcomings in the global context and precipitated a panicked reaction for reform in order to not fall behind.

I, for one, am going to go show this article to my buddies who spend hours on end playing this game. Maybe they will see their beloved game in a new, psychologically beneficial light, though they really don’t need another excuse to be playing Halo.