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It’s been less than a week since a man strolled down one of Toronto’s most popular streets firing into restaurants and cafés, killing two and injuring more than a dozen others. Today in The Conversation Canada, we have two pieces that take different looks at how the public reacts to such high-profile tragedies. Fuyuki Kurasawa of York University writes about the downside of social media in the minutes, hours and days after high-profile crimes. And Jordan Richard Schoenherr of Carleton University looks at the psychology of fear to explain people’s behaviour when major terror events happen.
Doug Ford of Ontario has taken swift action on the province’s electricity system, including removing the CEO of Hydro One. York’s Mark Winfield analyzes the potential costs of Ford’s plans to reform the hydro system.
And finally…. David Chandross of Ryerson University reports on how health care providers are using sophisticated video games for everything from building better organizations to realistic simulations for emergency treatment.
Regards,
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Police at the scene of a shooting in Toronto’s Greektown on July 23, 2018. The parents of Faisal Hussain, whose shooting spree left two people dead and 13 injured, say their son had struggled all his life with psychosis and depression, but none of the medications or therapies he tried were able to overcome his mental illness.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Fuyuki Kurasawa, York University, Canada
Social media abhors informational vacuums and speed eclipses accuracy. That allows pseudo-experts, agitators and even liars to circulate rumours and poisonous information when big news breaks.
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A woman wipes a tear as Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood community gathers for a candlelit vigil to honour the victims of a deadly shooting in Toronto on July 22 that killed an 18-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Jordan Richard Schoenherr, Carleton University
After acts of violence, we want to make sense of what is right and wrong and where we stand in the world. But we must ensure our belief systems are periodically and systematically checked.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces his plan to keep the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station in operation until 2024, in this June 2018 photo.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
Mark Winfield, York University, Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems intent on dismantling the previous government's energy strategy. But that may not protect consumers.
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Video games have inspired a revolution in university teaching. Pictured here is a scene from the popular game Fortnite Battle Royale.
(Sergey Galyonkin, Epic Games Berlin via Wikimedia Commons)
David Chandross, Ryerson University
University course designers are harnessing the addictive quality of video games to develop 'Serious educational games' that engage and motivate students.
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Politics
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Katharine Adeney, University of Nottingham
Accusations of election rigging, opposition parties enraged and international relations tense. It won't be an easy term for the man most likely to lead Pakistan.
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Science + Technology
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Frank J. Cilluffo, George Washington University; Sharon L. Cardash, George Washington University
The difference between probing and mapping and actually attacking depends on the intent of the people doing it, which is hard to figure out and may change. The dangers, however, remain worrying.
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