Thoughts after Paris

It's been about two or three days since the attacks on Paris on Friday and I've had plenty of time to think about everything that's happened and just reflect on things as they are, so here goes...

Firstly, I'll talk about the thing that really hit me personally on Friday night. I was at a gig on Friday, and to think that I was looking forward to it the same way - ready to enjoy myself and fully embrace the occasion - as those attending the Bataclan in Paris, before finding out after the concert about events over there, devastates me the most. Those concert-goers were in the same situation as myself yet things couldn't have turned out more differently.

On Saturday night, a question that came into my head was: "What do ISIS want?" I searched this exact question on Google and stumbled upon the longest article I have ever read, which I am about one-tenth into. I feel very uncertain as to what it's ideology is, and I think this makes it difficult to comprehend it's actions worldwide. I don't want to say much more on it until I have read everything I can to understand it all.

What is interesting is that a couple of Doctor Who episodes ago (spoiler alert!), the human race and an alien race that have been living together for years suddenly become embroiled in war, with both threatening the destruction of the other. The Doctor manages to solve their dispute by reconciliation, and I feel France's air strikes on Syria are not the correct response to this situation. However, I do understand that real life is not the same as a storyline of a Doctor Who episode and that ISIS seem extremely devoted to their ideology - so much so that there seems to be no way of changing their way of thinking. I have no idea what solutions there are to this problem, but all I know is that it'll be very, very complicated.

That's all I've got time for as I'm off to another lecture now. I'm going to another concert tonight and there'll be plenty more than just music on my mind. I'm just remembering that these attacks have been going on in many other countries, and they are all as important as each other.

Oli
Twitter: @Chowerz