4 ms·
> The nuclear bomb was also supposed to change everything. But in the end nothing changed, we just got more of the same. It is hard for me to imagine a stateme
by munificent 3y ago
> The nuclear bomb was also supposed to change everything. But in the end nothing changed, we just got more of the same.
It is hard for me to imagine a statement more out of touch with history than this. All geopolitical history from WWII forward is profoundly affected by the development of the bomb.
I don't even know where to begin to argue against this. Off the top of my head:
1. What would have happened between Japan and the US in WWII without Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
2. Would the USSR have fallen without the financial drain of the nuclear arms race?
3. Would Isreal still exist if it didn't have nuclear weapons?
4. If neither the US nor Russia had nuclear weapons, how many proxy wars would have been avoided in favor of direct conflict?
The whole trajectory of history would be different if we'd never split the atom.
- aero-deck 3y agoThe whole trajectory of history would have been different if a butterfly didn't flap it's wings. The bomb had effects, but it didn't change anything. We still go to war, eat, sleep and get afraid about things we can't control. For a moment, stop thinking about whether bombs, AI or the printing press do or do not affect history. Ask yourself what the motivations are for thinking that they do?
- munificent 3y ago> We still go to war, eat, sleep and get afraid about things we can't control. If that is your criteria, then nothing has ever changed anything.
- aero-deck 3y agoyou're ignoring religion.
- munificent 3y agoBefore religion: We still go to war, eat, sleep and get afraid about things we can't control. After religion: We still go to war, eat, sleep and get afraid about things we can't control. So, no change.
- NumberWangMan 3y agoNot to mention how close the USA and Soviet Union were to a nuclear exchange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alar...