I'm Elise Hugh. You're listening to TED Talks Daily. Why? Why did that happen? That was the question. Today's speaker, the historian Christian Marie Abu Sarah, began with before she made a life of studying violent movements and the stories attackers tell themselves to justify their

behavior. Her TEDx SMU talk from 2020 reminds us, every act has context. She says instead of asking

why violence happens, we should be asking a totally different question.

So I'm starting us out today with a historical mystery.

In 1957, there were two young women, both in their 20s, both living in the same city,

both members of the same political group. That year, both decided to commit violent attacks. One girl took a gun and approached a soldier at a checkpoint. The other girl took a bomb and went to a crowded cafe. But here's the

thing. One of those girls followed through with the attack,

but the other turned back.

So what made the difference?

I'm a behavioral historian,

and I study aggression,

moral cognition,

and decision-making in social movements. That's a mouthful.

So the translation of that is I study the moment an individual decides to pull the trigger.

The day-to-day decisions that led up to that moment and the stories that they tell themselves about why

that behavior is justified. Now, this topic, it's not just scholarly for me. It's actually

a bit personal. I grew up in Cootney County, Idaho, and this is very important.

This is not the part of Idaho with potatoes.

We have no potatoes.

And if you ask me about potatoes, I will find you.

This part of Idaho is known for mountain lakes, horseback riding, skiing.

Unfortunately, starting in the 1980s, it also became known as the worldwide headquarters

...