4 ms·
> The clock is a publicity stunt—and a successful one. Is it? I had no idea it was still a thing. I associate it first and foremost with fiction. Specifically,
by basseq 7y ago
> The clock is a publicity stunt—and a successful one.
Is it? I had no idea it was still a thing. I associate it first and foremost with fiction. Specifically, Dr. Strangelove: the campy black comedy that's fifty-six (56) years old.
If pushed, I probably would have guessed it was a real thing from the Cold War. Let me be clear: I couldn't have said with certainty that the Doomsday Clock was a real thing.
I had no idea that it was maintained in 2020. It belongs in the era of Burt Ward in tights. "Time to Stop the 'Doomsday Clock' — Because No One Cares" might be a better title.
- arethuza 7y agoIt's not quite so "campy" when you realise how seriously people who were actual nuclear war planners regarded Dr. Strangelove: https://www.wired.com/2018/03/geeks-guide-doctor-strangelove/ https://www.wired.com/2018/03/geeks-guide-doctor-strangelove... I can recommend Ellsberg's book on nuclear war planning if you have difficulties staying awake at night.
- jmkni 7y ago> I can recommend Ellsberg's book on nuclear war planning if you have difficulties staying awake at night. Are you implying it's boring?
- Nashooo 7y agoI think Parent means that the contents of this book WILL keep you awake at night.
- arethuza 7y agoNo - I meant its literally the only book that I have read that caused me to have difficulties sleeping for a few nights. Edit: Don't downvote jmkni - my fault for wording things strangely.
- rbanffy 7y agoSome books kept me awake, but I wouldn't say I was calm enough to be functional in that period.
- arethuza 7y agoThe book includes accounts of his time at BLAND, sorry RAND, the sheer banality of it all makes it all the more shocking - young men calculating whether it would be 100 million, 600 million or far more and oops shame about Finland. [A job where you feel that meetings you attend feel like the Wannsee Conference can't be good.]
- philpem 7y agoI think you've got what @jmkni said mixed up with the common saying "read this book if you have trouble sleeping at night" -- which means exactly as you said. "If you have trouble staying awake" would be the opposite, and I'd take it to mean the book is positively terrifying.
- jacquesm 7y agoAnd if you don't have those difficulties you'll definitely have them after reading the book.
- LanceH 7y agoWell, any thoughts of getting rid of it are preposterous. We cannot allow a Doomsday Clock gap!