Comment on Chronorin's profile
Sure, what is it?
Well, it's a video about the dangers regarding nuclear weapons and why even though it might be good to keep them around (the threat of M.A.D. is very persuasive at keeping the peace, from what I heard), people should also know the true dangers of using them--at least at this time.
I know this might be a bit different, and I'm not sure how relevant is it to today, but I thought it would be good to let others know. Especially after I learned about the film Threads today...
I know this might be a bit different, and I'm not sure how relevant is it to today, but I thought it would be good to let others know. Especially after I learned about the film Threads today...
Hmm... not a bad idea. It feels a little less urgent, since in the space of a year we went from "Trump is going to launch nukes at North Korea" to "Trump is going to grovel before Kim Jong-Un and say they fell in love." But yes, it is strange that nuclear disaster is... not really part of the zeitgeist any more. When i was a kid in the '80s, it was always out there, in movies and TV shows -- this idea that our entire civilization could be destroyed at any time.
Ever seen the movie Wargames, with Matthew Broderick? Everyone knew that movie. It was just.... a known thing.
Ever seen the movie Wargames, with Matthew Broderick? Everyone knew that movie. It was just.... a known thing.
Well, thank you. Glad you feel that way!
To be honest, putting aside my thoughts that Trump is going to be basically, "Big talk, but no action," I think one big reason is because, as a whole, a lot of younger people either don't know the real dangers of nuclear war (they think it would be more like the Fallout games or Mad Max) rather than what it could actually be like. Plus, I think that since the threat of M.A.D. has in some ways prevented war, some people might think nukes aren't all they're cracked up to be.
But I do remember the 80s. After all, it was the Cold War then! At that time, people were afraid someone throwing a rock at the wrong person would blow the planet up. And I'd bet a lot of people didn't understand what nukes might have convinced leaders to do in general.
Funny you should mention it; while I had forgotten about the movie, I did learn about it! At least indirectly; at some point, I had this movie where the sequel to Wargames was put in as a trailer, and when I discovered Wikipedia, I went on there to learn about the sequel and that's when I learned about the original. Even though I haven't seen either, the concepts are fascinating, to say the least. And since you mentioned it, I can see how they represent what people feared at the time.
To be honest, putting aside my thoughts that Trump is going to be basically, "Big talk, but no action," I think one big reason is because, as a whole, a lot of younger people either don't know the real dangers of nuclear war (they think it would be more like the Fallout games or Mad Max) rather than what it could actually be like. Plus, I think that since the threat of M.A.D. has in some ways prevented war, some people might think nukes aren't all they're cracked up to be.
But I do remember the 80s. After all, it was the Cold War then! At that time, people were afraid someone throwing a rock at the wrong person would blow the planet up. And I'd bet a lot of people didn't understand what nukes might have convinced leaders to do in general.
Funny you should mention it; while I had forgotten about the movie, I did learn about it! At least indirectly; at some point, I had this movie where the sequel to Wargames was put in as a trailer, and when I discovered Wikipedia, I went on there to learn about the sequel and that's when I learned about the original. Even though I haven't seen either, the concepts are fascinating, to say the least. And since you mentioned it, I can see how they represent what people feared at the time.
Yes... in the movie, the danger comes from a computer system taking over and deciding to launch nuclear weapons without a human decision maker... they say that the Soviets may have have had a "dead hand" system like that in place at one time, in which nukes would be launched automatically unless periodically instructed not to.
True madness.
True madness.