Doomsday Machine
Eve Matelan provided us a link to this intriguing article delving into whether the Soviets ever actually built a version of the Doomsday Machine discussed in the movie Doctor Strangelove:
In Strangelove, the doomsday machine was a Soviet system that automatically detonated some 50 cobalt-jacketed hydrogen bombs pre-positioned around the planet if the doomsday system's sensors detected a nuclear attack on Russian soil. Thus, even an accidental or (as in Strangelove) an unauthorized U.S. nuclear bomb could set off the doomsday machine bombs, releasing enough deadly cobalt fallout to make the Earth uninhabitable for the human species for 93 years. No human hand could stop the fully automated apocalypse.
An extreme fantasy, yes. But according to a new book called Doomsday Men and several papers on the subject by U.S. analysts, it may not have been merely a fantasy. According to these accounts, the Soviets built and activated a variation of a doomsday machine in the mid-'80s. And there is no evidence Putin's Russia has deactivated the system.
Well, um, yikes.
Okay, everybody -- have a great weekend!
BTW, Eve has some thoughts of her own on the Doomsday Machine and other less terrifying future-related topics. You can catch her in one of my (still-being-edited) video montages from the Singularity Summit.
Comments
excellent! i hope i'm usually less than terrifying... i was laboring under the delusion i was an optimist.
Posted by: bright strangely![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 14, 2007 11:11 AM
excellent! i hope i'm usually less than terrifying, i was laboring under the delusion i was an optimist.
Posted by: bright strangely![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 14, 2007 11:12 AM
Two things here. First, it's not a genuine doomsday weapon since all human life on Earth isn't threatened. Second, this brings up the old scenarios of what's the worst thing a bunch of terrorists with nukes could do? It sounds to me like nuking Moscow may be the absolutely worse thing they can do to the US. Depending of course, on the status of this retaliation system.
Posted by: Karl Hallowell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 14, 2007 04:23 PM
It's somewhat remarkable that we've managed to "win the cold war". Here's how the author's suggestion would play out in the real world: The US and Russia would announce their nuclear plans and intentions, then the US would feel pressure to be "more reasonable". We'd likely cave, and we might actually adopt the new posture.
The Russians' official strategic posture would of course be completely fictional - they will do what they want to do, as always. They won't be bound by treaty or world opinion.
An aside: Hitchens & Co. are having a heyday dumping on The Creator. If his chums are right, and humanity has a proclivity to want to attach to a "big idea", this article sheds more light on one of the alternatives to religion. What is our reaction to learning that the USSR may have created weapons intended to exterminate mankind? Is it shock? They killed 25 million of their own citizens pursuing their experiments, it's no shock to me. On the other hand, I don't trust the Catholic church, or Adolf Achmadinejad, but I would be surprised to learn that either had created a doomsday machine. Both believe that the fate of this world is ultimately in the hands of a greater power, for the Soviets, that's not the case. Same with the Nazis. A couple of big ideas and 100 million dead later, relegion doesn't look so bad. And look how fast the nazis and Soviets were able to demonstrate how far men will go when they believe that they are supreme.
Posted by: gregbuls![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 16, 2007 10:41 PM
What is our reaction to learning that the USSR may have created weapons intended to exterminate mankind? Is it shock?
As I mentioned before, it's not a doomsday weapon. Also, we don't have context here. What's the equivalent infrastructure for the other nuclear powers? If US leadership dies suddently or Washington, DC is destroyed what happens? It's hard to believe that the US doesn't have some sort of retaliation system set up.
Same goes for China, England, France, Israel, etc.
Posted by: Karl Hallowell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 17, 2007 11:45 AM