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> There are still wars but not ones in which entire continents are destroyed and entire generations across dozens of countries are lost. Yet. Nuclear weapons
by nmeagent 3y ago
> There are still wars but not ones in which entire continents are destroyed and entire generations across dozens of countries are lost.
Yet. Nuclear weapons are an existential threat and may yet destroy human civilization. We've come very close many times already to starting a nuclear war and we're all basically lucky to be alive. Pour one out for Stanislav Petrov and take a look at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_close_calls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_close_calls
- MeImCounting 3y agoWhile the paranoia of the cold war was certainly terrifying and its sure that we narrowly avoided nuclear strikes several times. MAD stayed the hands of the megalomaniacs capable of pulling the trigger and fortunately it seems we are at a point where such paranoia is no longer quite so prevalent in society.
- haswell 3y agoThe paranoia is no longer prevalent, but I don't think this has much bearing on the underlying risk that exists regardless of the degree of awareness by the general population. One of the only reasons MAD has held up is because we've successfully restricted the reach of nuclear weapons, i.e. if every country that wanted them could get them, the average person would have a lot more reasons to be paranoid.