The benefits of nuclear weapons
... or at least what my physics professor thought to be a benefit:
"I generally don't understand what kind of a problem people have with a nuclear weapon. You will evaporate into smoke in milliseconds, you don't even notice what happens. What contrast to the dark ages where you were hit over the head with a mallet and would spend hours lying around on a cold, uncomfortable field, bleeding to death in absolute agony with your skull broken into pieces. Don't you think nuclear weapons are a big step forward from that?"
Followed by a minute of absolute silence from us students. To contemplate about the wise words we had just heard.
( RedWine President of the S.C.U.M., Sun 20 Mar 2011, 6:54, 6 replies)

Top marks that man. Interesting way to look at things. Flawed of course but I love those teachers who throw ideas like that out there for kids to consider. It could be the potential number of random deaths that has people concerned (1:1 vs 1:1000000+), but his core point of quick vs agonising death has some merit; albeit people who survive the initial blast may die of infection, cancer and god knows what else for generations to come.

But getting whacked by an axe sucks balls too.
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Sun 20 Mar 2011, 7:17, closed)

Nice idea,
but watch Threads.

*shudders*
( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Sun 20 Mar 2011, 8:49, closed)

^this^
**also shudders**
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Sun 20 Mar 2011, 12:53, closed)

I was too young to watch it first time round
So I watched it a couple of months ago (the whole thing is on YouTube or maybe vimeo). Amazing film, but truly horrible. I'm glad my parents didn't let me watch it when I was 12.
( SteamedCleaner, Mon 21 Mar 2011, 0:17, closed)

The stupid, it burns
but not enough to evaporate me into smoke in milliseconds without even noticing what's happening.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Sun 20 Mar 2011, 12:31, closed)

Then again...
The people within the last radius get vaporised, the thousands of people in the surrounding areas still suffer long agonising deaths through shock damage from the blast, injuries from flying debris or collapsing buildings and even years later will be suffering the effects of radiation poisoning.
So sure, if you are right under the bomb it is painless...

Also note the size of the blast - how much of that is your (military) target, and how much of that is innocent collateral damage?

Compare to the medieval weaponry, where you only got hit if you were directly in the way, and while it may sometimes be a painful death, how many years of fighting did it take to kill as many people as one of the weapons dropped on Japan in WWII?
(442, Wed 23 Mar 2011, 23:07, closed)