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Intellectuals of the time loved to make fun of and satirize MAD. But the fact is it worked. Intellectuals were more terrified than merely 'making fun' of Mutua
by conz 5y ago
Intellectuals of the time loved to make fun of and satirize MAD. But the fact is it worked.
Intellectuals were more terrified than merely 'making fun' of Mutually Assured Destruction. Their satirising efforts where aimed at stemming the nuclear arms race and nuclear weapon proliferation.
'It worked' only in the sense that cooler heads prevailed to prevent accidental holocaust[0] and that humanity was incredibly lucky[1]. That this occurred is more than a minor miracle.
[0] https://www.wjperryproject.org/books https://www.wjperryproject.org/books
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0096340215611107 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00963402156111...
- toyg 5y agoEven more worrying, there is no guarantee that it will ever work again in the future. MAD is not effective against people who actually want to bring about armageddon/rapture/whatever. Humanity was lucky all contenders acted in a fundamentally similar cultural framework where survival was paramount.
- canjobear 5y agoThe accidents and near misses show that MAD worked. People were reluctant to pull the final trigger because they knew the outcome would be catastrophic. Despite decades of serious diplomatic incidents, misunderstandings, and mishaps, there was no nuclear holocaust: this was exactly the outcome that MAD promised, and delivered.
- dragonwriter 5y ago> Intellectuals were more terrified than merely 'making fun' of Mutually Assured Destruction. Their satirising efforts where aimed at stemming the nuclear arms race and nuclear weapon proliferation At which they failed, but perhaps they spread enough fear of nuclear war to make MAD work better, which certainly wasn't the plan but is a kind of win on its own.