Each January, the science and security board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
unveils an estimate of the likelihood that humanity will self-destruct.
They do so by marking the time on a metaphorical “Doomsday Clock,” on
which midnight represents the apocalypse. In 2017, the clock stood at a
frightening two and a half minutes to midnight; this month could easily
see the minute hand creep even closer to doom. Is panic warranted? And
if so, can we unpack how and why humanity seems destined to cause its
own annihilation?
At its start in 1947, the Doomsday Clock was set at seven minutes to midnight. Since then, its minute hand has ticked as far forward as two minutes to midnight in 1953—in the wake of hydrogen bomb tests by both the United States and Soviet Union—and as far back as 17 minutes to the hour at the end of the Cold War in 1991. In January 2017, the Bulletin moved the clock forward by just 30 seconds—from three minutes, where it had rested for two years, to two and a half minutes to midnight. They made this unprecedented move of only a fraction of a minute, they explained, because “as this statement is issued, Donald Trump has been the U.S. President only a matter of days.”...https://www.sapiens.org/culture/violence-steven-pinker-doomsday/
At its start in 1947, the Doomsday Clock was set at seven minutes to midnight. Since then, its minute hand has ticked as far forward as two minutes to midnight in 1953—in the wake of hydrogen bomb tests by both the United States and Soviet Union—and as far back as 17 minutes to the hour at the end of the Cold War in 1991. In January 2017, the Bulletin moved the clock forward by just 30 seconds—from three minutes, where it had rested for two years, to two and a half minutes to midnight. They made this unprecedented move of only a fraction of a minute, they explained, because “as this statement is issued, Donald Trump has been the U.S. President only a matter of days.”...https://www.sapiens.org/culture/violence-steven-pinker-doomsday/
No comments:
Post a Comment