Sex, Brains and Tragedy

Remarks delivered at Cambridge University as part of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, "Suicide Bombers- the psychological, religious and other imperatives"

Another name for my talk would be "How to Make Someone Hot for Martyrdom." How many of you have heard of a part of the human brain called "the reward center?" It's my thesis that none of us should be turned loose on the planet without an instruction manual for this primitive mechanism, which — among other things — impels us to mate. It's also impelling bombers from Palestine and Egypt.

Consider a recent documentary called Suicide Killers by a Frenchman, who interviewed failed Palestinian suicide bombers. These "would-be explosives" are usually young…and celibate, thanks to fundamentalist Islam. They repeatedly cite "marriage in heaven" as a chief motivation for their annihilation. Upon martyrdom they are promised 72 virgins, or, if female, they will become one of those desirable, and sacred beauties. Local newspapers report bomber's suicides as "marriages." Even their parents affirm that "better marriage" is one reason they are happy for their dead children — and quite willing to sacrifice their brothers and sisters so they can find the same happiness.

Here's how our mating neurochemistry contributes to this tragedy. This primitive part of the mammalian brain is known as the "reward center." It drives us toward the activities that helped our ancestors survive and pass on their genes. It therefore governs our mating behavior. It's treacherous for various reasons.

• First, we rely on it instinctively to make decisions all day long. It tells us when to eat and drink, and which courses of action are likely to prove rewarding — hence its name. Because these urges are subconscious, they often go unexamined by our rational mind. They simply feel right, and we assume they are our will.
• Second, the top priority of this center is the survival of our genes: not our wellbeing, not the happiness of our marriages, and not our moral or spiritual improvement....

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