i think you're onto something. engineers have the skillset. so like any other employer, terrorists go looking for the best qualified candidates.

also engineers tend to be introverts and introverts tend to not have a worldly social perspective which IMO makes them more susceptible to a fringish pitch.

i have no source and am too lazy to google it - but I once heard Bush was reputed to say that "we'll invade and let MTV do the rest" - in regards to how to prevent terrorism in the future. conformism is an enemy to this sort of thing. you're not gonna suicide bomb when you're scraping pennies together for the latest apple product on your way to Daytona for spring break.

engineers tend to not be conformists (their earning potential and value as an employee revolves around some measure of uncommon thinking) and this same skillset imo makes them vulnerable to the fringe pitch.

also, it helps to be non-white, under 30, unmarried with no children, and harbor some feeling of marginalization to begin with.

no. we are bothered by microsoft and google and facebook. and twitter.

I agree with you in general. in regards to religion i'll go further and wager that many people even become skeptical - especially as they get older, but remain committed outwardly mostly for appearances - like an old couple in an empty marriage - the idea being sort of, "leave this and go to what?" the fact that the slashdot crowd is mostly agnostic/atheistic has a lot to do with things that are not in our control. a more questioning nature, insatiable curiousity, and the need for significant evidence for suspension of disbelief - i suspect over the long haul that engineer/scientist types will prove to have a genetic basis. for everyone else, people need things to believe in to justify and give external value to their existence. also, i am certain the God/Devil/Evil aliens paradigm is all related and over the long haul we'll reconsider what we term adults. adults, with varying exceptions, are just children who've stopped growing. and any parent or uncle or aunt can tell you you can convince a young child of ANYTHING. My nephew thought i was a powerful magician for about six months despite the fact i only knew two hokey magic tricks. that's until my sister showed him how i was doing them and then he went into a funk for about a week. it was like he almost needed to believe that i had magic - something unexplainable. i digress. i imagine that the couple of years are gonna be awesome for these types as they face what they perceive is their own encroaching oblivion. i would imagine that their joys and ecstasies will stand out in the sharpest relief now. i'm just looking for opportunities to fleece some dummies - maybe buying some properties on the cheap because - well - what the hell are you gonna need it for if you think the world is gonna end? is it not you in this instance who is fleecing me? :D

removing the battery is the only sure way. but alas, iphone users....

exactly. all of those things are awesome. *sniff*

a 15 year old interning @ morgan stanley perfectly represents their target audience?

devil's advocate: google?