I had failed the psychological profiling of a terrorist. The central committee of the Red Brigades had judged me too single-minded and too opinionated to become a good terrorist. My friend, on the other hand, she was a good terrorist because she was very good at following orders.

Napoleoni frames terrorism less as a product of ideological brilliance than of organizational fit. The “psychological profiling” and judgment by a “central committee” suggest a bureaucratic, quasi-corporate selection process in which obedience and discipline are prized over independent thought. Her “single-minded” and “opinionated” temperament is presented as a liability because it resists command structures, while her friend’s capacity to “follow orders” is treated as the decisive qualification. The passage implicitly critiques how violent groups can recruit ordinary people by rewarding compliance, and it complicates stereotypes of terrorists as uniquely fanatical masterminds—emphasizing instead the banality of hierarchy, vetting, and conformity.