4 ms·
Given how close we came to killing every human on the planet during the Cold War (and avoiding it through dumb luck), I'd have to say our capacity to kill each
by ivankirigin 17y ago
Given how close we came to killing every human on the planet during the Cold War (and avoiding it through dumb luck), I'd have to say our capacity to kill each other far outweighs our capacity to survive.
- run4yourlives 17y agoI'd have to say our capacity to kill each other far outweighs our capacity to survive Well, we're still here aren't we? Seriously though, when push came to shove (Cuban missile crisis was the closest) we (collectively) backed down. It seems nobody really wanted to fight when it meant certain death to themselves.
- icey 17y agoThere have also been narrow misses that could have gone either way: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/shatter021099b.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/... [TLDR version: Stanislav Petrov prevented nuclear war by correctly guessing that the nuclear launch his station detected was a false alarm, and not a true attack on the USSR. If he had decided the other way, nuclear war may have ensued.]