Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
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Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#2I'd be remiss if I didn't offer belated condolences for my namesake.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#3I'd be remiss if I didn't offer belated condolences for my namesake.
You might be interested to know how we're honoring him today in the rationality and effective altruism communities.
We've set up big red buttons on each site that 100 core users of each site can use to 'nuke' the other site. If 1 of those 100 users enters their launch codes, the other site goes down.
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EW8yZYcu3Kff2qShS/petrov-day...
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#4Seems like the world had close to another moment like this with Milley/Li over the recent presidential transition in the US.
Is it going to require the use of nuclear weapons on a global scale before humans decide to abolish them? I think it's just a matter of time before politicians with a wish for mass death finally bring it to us.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#5Seems like the world had close to another moment like this with Milley/Li over the recent presidential transition in the US. Is it going to require the use of nuclear weapons on a global scale before humans decide to abolish them? I think it's just a matter of time before politicians with a wish for mass death finally bring it to us.
The situation would be comparable is Trump actually ordered a nuclear assault, but he did not.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#6Seems like the world had close to another moment like this with Milley/Li over the recent presidential transition in the US. Is it going to require the use of nuclear weapons on a global scale before humans decide to abolish them? I think it's just a matter of time before politicians with a wish for mass death finally bring it to us.
The situation would be comparable is Trump actually ordered a nuclear assault, but he did not.
I mean, if we're going to go down that rabbit hole, we should call out the fact that the guy literally restrained the USCP from suppressing an insurrection while deploying lawyers to find ways to overturn a legally operated election, all while throwing his own vice president to the insurrectionists for his refusal to take part.
Seems anyone trying to establish the stability of US democracy through backchannels was doing so in the face of the biggest known risk against the American democracy since the civil war.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#7Posted to HN 2-3x per year. Here's the bottom line:
1. Remove rational human beings from the nuclear C2 loop at great peril.
2. Its hard enough for so-called super powers to C2 nuclear weapons, its even more difficult for developing nations with fewer resources & less public accountability & greater instability. Industrial accident prone nations should not have nuclear weapons, period. It is questionable if they should have nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. Yes, I'm talking to you Iran.
3. It is almost a certainty there will be a mistaken or accidental nuclear launch in the next 15 years.
And, finally, the Miley/Xi/Trump narrative is pure propaganda. China's alleged insecurity about a US first strike, requiring the CJoS to reassure them, is based on a laughable misunderstanding of how US nuclear launch works, either by the Chinese or the author of the leak - or both. China just announced its reversal of "no first strike" and Biden is POTUS, so Miley's attempts at reassurance must've fallen on deaf ears if you believe the story in the first place.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#8Posted to HN 2-3x per year. Here's the bottom line: 1. Remove rational human beings from the nuclear C2 loop at great peril. 2. Its hard enough for so-called super powers to C2 nuclear weapons, its even more difficult for developing nations with fewer resources & less public accountability & greater instability. Industrial accident prone nations should not have nuclear weapons, period. It is questionable if they shou…
> It is almost a certainty there will be a mistaken or accidental nuclear launch in the next 15 years.
Given that we got through the whole cold war without this happening, I'm not so sure
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#9Posted to HN 2-3x per year. Here's the bottom line: 1. Remove rational human beings from the nuclear C2 loop at great peril. 2. Its hard enough for so-called super powers to C2 nuclear weapons, its even more difficult for developing nations with fewer resources & less public accountability & greater instability. Industrial accident prone nations should not have nuclear weapons, period. It is questionable if they shou…
C2 stands for Command & Control
Re: Stanislav Petrov, Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War on Sept. 26, 1983 (2017)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
The situation would be comparable is Trump actually ordered a nuclear assault, but he did not.
I mean, if we're going to go down that rabbit hole, we should call out the fact that the guy literally restrained the USCP from suppressing an insurrection while deploying lawyers to find ways to overturn a legally operated election, all while throwing his own vice president to the insurrectionists for his refusal to take part. Seems anyone trying to establish the stability of US democracy through backchannels was do…
I’m not defending Trump. I’m just saying the nuclear situation wasn’t comparable to Petrov. Accuracy and precision matters.
A general saying he would hypothetically disobey orders is quite different from actually doing so.