Terrorist attacks not only harm citizens but also shift their attention, which has long-lasting impacts on public opinion and government policies. Yet measuring the changes in public attention beyond media coverage has been methodologically challenging. Here we approach this problem by starting from Wikipedia's r\'epertoire of 5.8 million articles and a sample of 15 recent terrorist attacks. We deploy a complex exclusion procedure to identify topics and themes that consistently received a significant increase in attention due to these incidents. Examining their contents reveals a clear picture: terrorist attacks foster establishing a sharp boundary between "Us" (the target society) and "Them" (the terrorist as the enemy). In the midst of this, one seeks to construct identities of both sides. This triggers curiosity to learn more about "Them" and soul-search for a clearer understanding of "Us". This systematic analysis of public reactions to disruptive events could help mitigate their societal consequences.

翻译：恐怖袭击不仅危害公民安全，更转移其注意力，对舆论与政府政策产生长期影响。然而，如何超越媒体报道范畴，用方法论手段测量公众注意力的变化始终面临挑战。本研究以维基百科580万条目为知识库，选取近期15起恐怖袭击事件为样本，通过复杂的排除程序识别出因这些事件而持续获得显著关注的议题与主题。对相关内容的分析揭示出清晰图景：恐怖袭击强化了“我们”（受害社会）与“他们”（作为敌人的恐怖分子）之间的严格边界划分。在此过程中，公众既试图建构双方的身份特征——这种探索触发对“他们”的求知欲，也推动对“我们”进行更深层的灵魂拷问。这种针对颠覆性事件公众反应的系统性分析，或可助力缓解其社会影响。