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Take a look sometime at the history of storing and transporting nuclear material in the US and see if you ever sleep again. The combination locks set to 000000,

Take a look sometime at the history of storing and transporting nuclear material in the US and see if you ever sleep again. The combination locks set to 000000, the dropped wrenches almost blowing a hole in North Carolina, the senior officers getting drunk in Moscow bars... the list goes on. Then remember that these are just the declassified stories from the US, and that there’s probably even more hair-raising tales from other countries and/or still classified.

vasili111 8y ago
Can you please give me a link to that stories?
- dmurray 8y ago
  Command and Control is a well regarded book on the subject that has been discussed here before (I haven't read it yet so I can't make a personal recommendation). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(book) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(book)
newnewpdro 8y ago
Can you recommend any good books on the subject?
- syn_rst 8y ago
  "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety" is pretty good. I read it a while back after seeing it linked here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5R7F8G?ref_=k4w_ss_dp_lp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5R7F8G?ref_=k4w_ss_dp_lp
wahern 8y ago
I think the reality of the issue is the biggest counter-argument to M.A.D. Not that the concept of M.A.D. isn't sound, per se, just that it's not a strong retort to concerns about the risk of use of nuclear weapons, or even the outbreak of nuclear war. M.A.D. is dependent on both a strong rational actor model and as well as a strong and strict state apparatus. In reality, at the end of the day what seems to have kept us away from nuclear war is the simple fact that most people are extremely risk averse and, in the first instance, will behave rather empathetically even against enemies. That's comforting from a humanist perspective, but given the prevalence of traits like psychopathy and other pathologies in the general population not anywhere near the kinds of odds that justify the current number and administration of nuclear weapons and weapons-grade material.
ryanmercer 8y ago
I don't care about sloppy combination locks or omg-I-almost-launched-a-retaliation-strike-at-a-flock-of-geese, I care about a commercial rental vehicle being used that you know, I might rent some day and drive.

vasili111 8y ago

Can you please give me a link to that stories?

dmurray 8y ago
Command and Control is a well regarded book on the subject that has been discussed here before (I haven't read it yet so I can't make a personal recommendation). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(book) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(book)

newnewpdro 8y ago

Can you recommend any good books on the subject?

syn_rst 8y ago
"Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety" is pretty good. I read it a while back after seeing it linked here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5R7F8G?ref_=k4w_ss_dp_lp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5R7F8G?ref_=k4w_ss_dp_lp

wahern 8y ago

I think the reality of the issue is the biggest counter-argument to M.A.D. Not that the concept of M.A.D. isn't sound, per se, just that it's not a strong retort to concerns about the risk of use of nuclear weapons, or even the outbreak of nuclear war. M.A.D. is dependent on both a strong rational actor model and as well as a strong and strict state apparatus. In reality, at the end of the day what seems to have kept us away from nuclear war is the simple fact that most people are extremely risk averse and, in the first instance, will behave rather empathetically even against enemies. That's comforting from a humanist perspective, but given the prevalence of traits like psychopathy and other pathologies in the general population not anywhere near the kinds of odds that justify the current number and administration of nuclear weapons and weapons-grade material.

ryanmercer 8y ago

I don't care about sloppy combination locks or omg-I-almost-launched-a-retaliation-strike-at-a-flock-of-geese, I care about a commercial rental vehicle being used that you know, I might rent some day and drive.