This post includes pictures and links.  If  these are missing you can read the entire post at: http://www.weonepeople.com/oneworld/2009/12/reading-anothers-mind.html

Wouldn't it be great if we could read an insurgent's mind?  Understand what makes them tick?  In fact wouldn't it be great reading anyone's mind including our own?  That may not be impossible.

It should not be news that physically insurgents are no different from the rest of us, they have the same circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system and all other body and mind systems the rest of us have. In order to understand what makes an insurgent tick differently we first have to understand what makes all humans tick, why we behave the way we do and do the things we do.

In physics there is a law called The Parallelogram Law of Forces.  For a detailed understanding of this law see http://www.pre-engineering.com/resources/parallel.htm.  According to this law if there are two forces of different magnitudes and directions operating on an object then the object will react in a mathematically predictable way subject to the resultant of these two forces.  As human beings our behavior and actions are governed by, are resultant of, two forces:  Reason and Emotions.  A graphical representation of human behavior and actions in terms of the Parallelogram Law of Forces as it applies to individual reasoning and emotions would look like this:

A person's actions and behavior is a resultant of their Reasoning and Emotions.  As the intensity and direction of their reasoning and emotions change so does their behavior and actions.

For example consider two men identical in all ways but one:  One is affluent while the other is extremely poor.  Both are honorable, loving and caring for their families.  Because of his affluence the rich man and his family are well fed.  Because of his poverty the poor man and his family are hungry.

Let assume both men love apples.  They pass a grocery shop with a huge basket of delicious apples outside its entrance on the street. The shopkeeper is occupied and not watching the apples when the men pass.  How will the affluent man behave, act under these circumstances?  How about the poor man?

The affluent man, being honorable, will either walk by if he and his family are already well stocked or will step into the shop and buy some apples.  This experience will have no emotional impact on the affluent man.  The poor man on the other hand has a dilemma.  He is an honorable man with a hungry family. He has two choices: Walk away and preserve his honor while his family starve or give up his honor and steal some apples to relieve his family temporarily of their hunger.  Regardless which choice he makes this experience will make him unhappy and ponder the unjustness of society of which he and his family are a part.  As he goes through several iterations of this and similar experiences his unhappiness with the unjustness of society will increase until he becomes bitter and angry.

Enter Marxism and its description of bourgeoisie and proletariat, pictorially described below.  For a full explanation of this picture see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletariat

The poor man we have been talking about having been introduced to this picture by Maoists or communists relates himself, his family and his community with the lowest level of this pyramid.  Being an honorable man, loving his family and community, he rebels and encourages his family and community to also rebel and topple the establishment.  Their new found political belief and their bitterness - their reasoning and their emotions - causes them to attack others in the pyramid.  In response the government sends in the police and the army who shoot at them which only reinforces their belief in the communist doctrine, increases their anger, and intensifies the conflict.

This is just one example of how the parallelogram law of forces can be used to understand others.

How a about the Taliban? Can we use the parallelogram law of forces to understand them?  Again let us start by examining ourselves.  Why do children born of Christian parents stay Christian?  Why do children of Hindu parents stay Hindu?  Why do children of Jewish parents stay Jewish?  Why do children of Muslim parents stay Muslim?  Most parents educate their children in their religion and their religion alone.  A good christian is well versed in the bible but largely ignorant of hindu, islamic and judaic scriptures.  Likewise good hindus, jews, muslims and others are well versed in their own scriptures but largly ignorant of the scriptures of others.  Because of this selective education, religious knowledge, the reasoning force in the parallelogram law of forces is directed towards the religion an individual has been born and indoctrinated in.  Religion is the major component in our reasoning but science, arts and humanities also play a large role  Thus the reasoning component of our parallelogram is a product of our religious and humanitarian beliefs.

There is a saying that "birds of a feather flock together".  In the animal world, herds of animals - all of the same species - roam together.  You will find herds of buffalo, elephants, cattle, prides of lions, tigers, etc. roaming together.  You will not find a mixed herd of buffalo, elephants and cattle nor a mixed pride of lions and tigers.  Even in the water you will find schools of fish all of the same species and not a mixed school of fish.  We humans may think we are beyond such basic animal instinct, but for the most part we are not.  We adhere to our own race, religion, nationality, etc. to form clans, human equivalents of flocks.  This emotional attachment to ones clan forms the other force in the parallelogram.

What differentiates the Taliban from the rest of us?  While most of us send our children to schools where they learn the arts, sciences and humanities the Taliban send their kids to madrassas where they are indoctrinated only in religion to the exclusion of arts, sciences and the humanities.  Their emotional component, i.e., their clannish instinct is much the same as ours.  What is different is their reasoning is devoid of science and humanities. 

While the police and the army might contain these insurgents only an understanding and tackling of the parallelogram law of forces that create and sustain these insurgencies can be successful in defeating them.

For example if the poor and unfortunate in india who are not yet converted to extremist communism are brought out of poverty it will starve the insurgency of expansion and if done in a proper way could even convince some Maoists to return to the side of law, peace and coexistence.  This is easier said than done, but it can be done.  For example for a brief period in the late 1960s and early 1970s it was compulsory for college students to join the National Cadet Corp. The Indian National Cadet Corp exists even today but it is not compulsory.  If some similar organization was formed to send high school and college students into the slums and villages of india with an aim to liberate these unfortunate people from poverty that would be a giant leap in the right direction that will bring a positive experience and outcome not only to the slums and villages but also to the students themselves.

It is not my intention to explain all insurgencies of the world.  I can only hope that an understanding of the parallelogram law of forces can help others understand insurgents and develop effective strategies to tackle them.