Day of Tragedy, Day of Growth

I'M WRITING THIS ON THE EVENING OF ONE OF the most tragic days in
Americanhistory, just as this issue of Psychology Today is about to go to
press. By the time you read these words, the attacks on New York and
Washington will have played out in a hundred ways I cannot now imagine.
Today, all is mystery and frustration and anger and sorrow.

It's hard to imagine why presumably sane people would hijack
airplanes and ram them into office buildings, causing their own deaths
and the deaths of thou sands of innocent people. But sanity is a relative
term. If you're raised to believe that Americans (or Jews or Blacks) are
evil, then killing them might seem like a good deed. If you're told that
your suicide will assure you a place in paradise, then blowing yourself
up might be a rational act. If your dead comrades are viewed as heroes by
your community, you might be anxious to join them. It will take more than
bombs and metal detectors to defeat terrorism; we must also try to
understand the terrorists and the cultures that produce them. If we don't
make that effort, we will fight with the wrong weapons, or worse yet, we
will underestimate the enemy.

Today is one of those frustrating days that forces us to ask a
thousand questions that have no answers. Who has perished, and how many
might still be rescued? Who is responsible for these horrible crimes? Why
did our intelligence and defense systems fail? How can we prevent heinous
acts like this from happening again? Uncertainty is torture for most
people; alas, the pain is so great that many prefer delusion. I hope and
pray that by the time you read this ail of today's questions will have
been answered for you--and that the answers are not more disturbing than
the questions.

On a personal note, I heard today from about 20 friends and family
members, including some long lost. They were concerned about my safety,
knowing that the magazine's main office is in Manhattan. And that, of
course, is the upside of tragedy--that it brings us together in love. How
sad that it takes the worst in humankind to bring out our best.

This is a time for family, for community, for prayer and for both
personal and collective strength. For the sake of the dead and the
suffering, we must turn today's tragedy into something positive for
America and for humankind. From the ashes, we must build noble
structures. From our pain, we must achieve enduring insights. And in our
fear, we must find great courage.

Robert Epstein, Ph.D., is editor in chief of Psychology Today,
University Research Professor at Alliant International University in San
Diego and Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral
Studies in Massachusetts.