Now I'm become death, destroyer of worlds — Oppenheimer(father of the atomic bomb)
Knowledge is forever a two-edged sword — Wayfarer
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre. — Cardinal Richelieu
If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. — Cardinal Richelieu
He and Bertrand Russell drafted the Russell-Einstein manifesto, and from memory, Russell was literally arrested protesting against atomic weapons (which is one of the reasons Russell is forever on my Good Guys list.) — Wayfarer
If the whole world outside of Russia were to insist upon international control
of atomic energy to the point of going to war on this issue, it is highly
probable that the Soviet government would give way (...). If it did not, then if
the issue were forced in the next year or two, only one side would have
atomic bombs, and the war might be so short as not to involve utter ruin — Russell, 1947
I should like to see (…) as close a union as possible of these countries who
think it is worthwhile to avoid atomic war. I think that you could get so
powerful an alliance that you could turn to Russia and say: ‘It is open to you
to join this alliance if you will agree to the terms; if you will not join we shall
go to war with you’. I am inclined to think that Russia would acquiesce; if
not, provided this is done soon, the world might survive the resulting war
and emerge with a single government such as the world needs”. — Russell, 1947
To understand a thing is to know the manner by which it might be destroyed. A fundamental understanding of the basic building-blocks of the Universe is essential, then, to the total destruction of everything.
And yet Russell and von Neumann both advocated for a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. — JosephS
And yet Russell and von Neumann both advocated for a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union — JosephS
I don’t think Einstein had a malicious bone in his body, the discovery of atomic weapons caused him enormous grief, but I think he would see it as an unintended consequence of his discoveries. — Wayfarer
This is funny for two reasons:
1) Einstein and Szilard wrote FDR, recommending nuclear weapons research.
2) As a consequence, the atomic bomb was engineered (not discovered). — Galuchat
That's one of those times when someone is so intelligent that they sound stupid. The converse may be true on other occasions. Humanity, it seems, is at the mercy of the bungling idiot and the mad scientist. — TheMadFool
And I’m no Russell fanboy, I disagree with his philosophical outlook in almost all respects. But I still honour him as a teacher, and admire him for joining demonstrations. — Wayfarer
If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at 5 o’clock, I say why not one o’clock? — von Neumann
There is an argument that the atom bomb, and the very idea of mutual annihilation, has led to what is known as The Long Peace, where there is a relative peace between major powers for the first time since the Roman Empire, — NOS4A2
As a teenager, my brain was in my penis (it still is I think), I also looked at a video of an atomic explosion and was in complete awe of the "beautiful" trademark mushroom cloud. — TheMadFool
mutually assured destruction — Janus
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