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Oppenheimer was naive bordering on stupidity. He advocated against nuclear weapon detection systems. Somehow the foremost expert on nuclear weapons believed the

Oppenheimer was naive bordering on stupidity. He advocated against nuclear weapon detection systems. Somehow the foremost expert on nuclear weapons believed these detection systems would not work but some random amateur physicist that happened to be head of the NEC was right in that they would. This was also how we learned that the Soviets had a bomb. Oppenheimer advocated for cooperation amongst nations in nuclear weapons and guess what, the Soviets rejected it. Von Neumann was right about everything and him having personally experienced Soviet brutality didn't have the luxury of being ignorant of reality.

consilient 3y ago
> him having personally experienced Soviet brutality didn't have the luxury of being ignorant of reality. Allied troops didn't reach Hungary until 1944, and the Soviet-backed coup occurred in 1947. von Neumann moved to Germany in 1926, and to the US in 1933. > Von Neumann was right about everything He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union.
- brigadier132 3y ago
  > and the Soviet-backed coup occurred in 1947. von Neumann moved to Germany in 1926, and to the US in 1933. He personally experienced communism. > He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. If we look at the past 100 years of Soviet existence what can we say has happened? The spread of soviet arms across all of the world, hundreds of millions dead from famine, war between Russia and Ukraine today. What is the alternate history where the US does invade the Soviet Union? Also given we are talking about the smartest person from the 20th century, I'm going to guess his logic when coming to the conclusion of first strike was sound.
- everybodyknows 3y ago
  > He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. Source?
  - consilient 3y ago
    I'm having trouble finding a primary source, but here's a paper discussing the issue. Field, A. (2014). Schelling, von Neumann, and the Event that Didn’t Occur. Games, 5(1), 53–89. doi:10.3390/g5010053 https://sci-hub.se/10.3390/g5010053 https://sci-hub.se/10.3390/g5010053
  - sabarn01 3y ago
    I think you are thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Who having visited the Soviet union after the revolution didn't think much of it.
legitster 3y ago
> Von Neumann was right about everything For all of the recent attention Oppenheimer is getting, we all are living in Von Neumann's world.

consilient 3y ago

> him having personally experienced Soviet brutality didn't have the luxury of being ignorant of reality. Allied troops didn't reach Hungary until 1944, and the Soviet-backed coup occurred in 1947. von Neumann moved to Germany in 1926, and to the US in 1933. > Von Neumann was right about everything He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union.

brigadier132 3y ago
> and the Soviet-backed coup occurred in 1947. von Neumann moved to Germany in 1926, and to the US in 1933. He personally experienced communism. > He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. If we look at the past 100 years of Soviet existence what can we say has happened? The spread of soviet arms across all of the world, hundreds of millions dead from famine, war between Russia and Ukraine today. What is the alternate history where the US does invade the Soviet Union? Also given we are talking about the smartest person from the 20th century, I'm going to guess his logic when coming to the conclusion of first strike was sound.
everybodyknows 3y ago
> He wanted the US to start WWIII with a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. Source?
- consilient 3y ago
  I'm having trouble finding a primary source, but here's a paper discussing the issue. Field, A. (2014). Schelling, von Neumann, and the Event that Didn’t Occur. Games, 5(1), 53–89. doi:10.3390/g5010053 https://sci-hub.se/10.3390/g5010053 https://sci-hub.se/10.3390/g5010053
- sabarn01 3y ago
  I think you are thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell Who having visited the Soviet union after the revolution didn't think much of it.

legitster 3y ago

> Von Neumann was right about everything For all of the recent attention Oppenheimer is getting, we all are living in Von Neumann's world.