To mark this anniversary here is an article from The New Yorker dated August 31, 1946.
The very first use of possibly the most powerful energy source known to man, atomic fusion, and what do humans use it for...death and destruction. War is hell.
In 2015 dollars the Manhattan Project would cost $26 Billion.
Good_Knight
Aug 6, 15 7:12 pm
The narrative is Einstein is a genius so...hoo-ray for asian holocausts? 'Mericuh!
midlander
Aug 6, 15 8:32 pm
How long do you expext we've got before someone uses one again? I can't imagine this post-cold war stasis lasts indefinitely. 30-50 years? I won't speculate as to where, things change too quickly.
rereading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep gets me reflecting on how much society's view on this seem to have changed. Now our favored apocolypse is global warming; nuclear weapons are just a negotiating point against "enemies". Who, you know, might very well cease being enemies for a while someday.
Miles Jaffe
Aug 6, 15 10:29 pm
There will only cease being enemies if it is more economically profitable for us to have them as friends. And vice versa.
go do it
Aug 7, 15 12:40 am
Miles I like how you always have a way of getting to the core of discussions. Although I don't always have such a dystopian view of problem solving to limit the answers to economics but in reality it usually does end up being all about the money. And then I chastise myself for being so resigned to pessimism after all the russians love their children too
People and by extension governments are all the same you have got to make it worth their while.
This is one of my favorite quotes by a hero of mine.
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
A. Lincoln
Miles Jaffe
Aug 7, 15 8:04 am
Great quote.
The problem is not economics, they are just the tool. The problem is the difference between self-interest and enlightened self-interest. With the former you just look out for yourself, with the latter you look out for everyone else.
To mark this anniversary here is an article from The New Yorker dated August 31, 1946.
The very first use of possibly the most powerful energy source known to man, atomic fusion, and what do humans use it for...death and destruction. War is hell.
In 2015 dollars the Manhattan Project would cost $26 Billion.
The narrative is Einstein is a genius so...hoo-ray for asian holocausts? 'Mericuh!
How long do you expext we've got before someone uses one again? I can't imagine this post-cold war stasis lasts indefinitely. 30-50 years? I won't speculate as to where, things change too quickly.
rereading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep gets me reflecting on how much society's view on this seem to have changed. Now our favored apocolypse is global warming; nuclear weapons are just a negotiating point against "enemies". Who, you know, might very well cease being enemies for a while someday.
There will only cease being enemies if it is more economically profitable for us to have them as friends. And vice versa.
Miles I like how you always have a way of getting to the core of discussions. Although I don't always have such a dystopian view of problem solving to limit the answers to economics but in reality it usually does end up being all about the money. And then I chastise myself for being so resigned to pessimism after all the russians love their children too
People and by extension governments are all the same you have got to make it worth their while.
This is one of my favorite quotes by a hero of mine.
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
A. Lincoln
Great quote.
The problem is not economics, they are just the tool. The problem is the difference between self-interest and enlightened self-interest. With the former you just look out for yourself, with the latter you look out for everyone else.