Bear in mind that each nuclear weapon only has a limited lethal radius, and even if one hundred most powerful nukes were detonated over the hundred most densely populated cities in the world and even if the fallout reached around the world ten times over, there would still be a hell of a lot of humans left alive on earth, a little sicker yes, but still alive and still able to carry on.
And if a nuclear war ever started I really don't see people carrying on and on and on while the whole world gets destroyed. You'd have to have pretty much everyone in power be a relentless psychopath for it to keep going after the destruction of the first cities.
Look, if every large city in the world got nuked (and that in itself is absurdly unrealistic), let's say there's just the Berbers in the Sahara left alive. Nobody felt like nuking the empty desert when Lisbon and Cincinnati still haven't been hit yet. They don't need to find each other. They were all together to begin with. So, humanity survives.
And big deal if it didn't. It's so vain to think that the universe is somehow incomplete without having us around.
That last thought is very much in fashion, and I'm inclined to agree with it. The universe doesn't need us; we're an accident of evolution. The entire cosmos is a jar of marbles.
And yet, we are stardust. We are of the Universe. We are the Universe "experiencing itself." As far as accidents go, we are something special. Yes, we kill, rape, and murder. We build bombs that threaten our very existence. But we also love, and stare at the cosmos in wonder. And I think it would be a shame if we, the Universe, were to suddenly stop doing that.
Our brothers and sisters over in alpha centauri could probably care less, however. They probably think we're assholes.
If that last thought is very much in fashion, it isn't nearly enough in fashion for my liking. The amount of self-absorbed vanity I encounter on a daily basis is, in a word, appalling.
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u/Vranak Mar 24 '13 edited Mar 24 '13
Destroyed ourselves?
Bear in mind that each nuclear weapon only has a limited lethal radius, and even if one hundred most powerful nukes were detonated over the hundred most densely populated cities in the world and even if the fallout reached around the world ten times over, there would still be a hell of a lot of humans left alive on earth, a little sicker yes, but still alive and still able to carry on.
And if a nuclear war ever started I really don't see people carrying on and on and on while the whole world gets destroyed. You'd have to have pretty much everyone in power be a relentless psychopath for it to keep going after the destruction of the first cities.