• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

2 Minutes to Midnight

WhySoDevious

WhySoDevious

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,459
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have updated the Doomsday Clock today.

It's now 2 minutes to midnight.



The last time it was this close was back in 1953.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ck-the-doomsday-clock/?utm_term=.1eddf18484a5

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the symbolic Doomsday Clock a notch closer to the end of humanity Thursday, moving it ahead by 30 seconds. It is now set at two minutes to "midnight."

In moving the clock 30 seconds closer to the hour of the apocalypse, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cited "the failure of President Trump and other world leaders to deal with looming threats of nuclear war and climate change."

The organization now believes "the world is not only more dangerous now than it was a year ago; it is as threatening as it has been since World War II," Bulletin officials Lawrence M. Krauss and Robert Rosner wrote in an op-ed published Thursday by The Washington Post. "In fact, the Doomsday Clock is as close to midnight today as it was in 1953, when Cold War fears perhaps reached their highest levels."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Last edited:
CloudWolf

CloudWolf

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,626
This thread is going exactly how I imagined it would go.

Errr, will they kill the unborn in the womb?
 
Africanus II

Africanus II

Member
Oct 26, 2017
403
We'll we did have not one but 2 false nuclear weapon scares this month, NK increasing its weapons testing, US arsenal falling into disrepair and getting ever closer to an accident, Iran deal falling through etc etc.
 
Alice

Alice

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
5,867
At least, the few of us who do survive when the clock strikes midnight can jam to this!

 
TheGummyBear

TheGummyBear

Member
Jan 6, 2018
8,787
United Kingdom
ElectricBlanketFire said:
I was wondering when they'd change it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I don't know if this is a serious post, but it's a sentiment that I see a lot. The answer is that the doomsday clock doesn't change in real time to accommodate the latest threats, it's updated annually.

It's a symbolic review of the events of the past year. It's why the last time the clock was this close to midnight was 1958, instead of being in 1963 (Cuban Missile Crisis) or 1983 (Able Archer Incident).

Because of this it's hard to gauge just how seriously we can take the Doomsday Clock, especially now that it doesn't only measure the likelihood of nuclear war but a multitude of scenarios.

With that having been said, I can see why the clock was moved forward. It would have been a joke to keep it in the same place in a year where we have had threats of "fire and fury" from the world's largest military industrial complex, a continuously frosty relationship between the world's largest nuclear superpowers, a deteriorating situation across the Middle East and a belligerent pariah nation getting closer towards obtaining its own nuclear arsenal.
 
ElectricBlanketFire

ElectricBlanketFire

What year is this?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,857
TheGummyBear said:
I don't know if this is a serious post, but it's a sentiment that I see a lot. The answer is that the doomsday clock doesn't change in real time to accommodate the latest threats, it's updated annually.

It's a symbolic review of the events of the past year. It's why the last time the clock was this close to midnight was 1958, instead of being in 1963 (Cuban Missile Crisis) or 1983 (Able Archer Incident).

Because of this it's hard to gauge just how seriously we can take the Doomsday Clock, especially now that it doesn't only measure the likelihood of nuclear war but a multitude of scenarios.

With that having been said, I can see why the clock was moved forward. It would have been a joke to keep it in the same place in a year where we have had threats of "fire and fury" from the world's largest military industrial complex, a continuously frosty relationship between the world's largest nuclear superpowers, a deteriorating situation across the Middle East and a belligerent pariah nation getting closer towards obtaining its own nuclear arsenal.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I know how the Doomsday Clock works.
 
Commedieu

Commedieu

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
15,025
Well, Turkey invaded Syria because of the Trump administration's call to install a border force using what turkey considers to be terrorists... but Rex tillerson said "wait we didn't mean it."

It just goes to show you how things in this world are. And how easily words can be acted on.

It seems Pyongyang is making an effort for peace with South Korea without anyone's help. Seem interesting..
 
Dary

Dary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,416
The English Wilderness
source.gif
 
TheGummyBear

TheGummyBear

Member
Jan 6, 2018
8,787
United Kingdom
ElectricBlanketFire said:
I know how the Doomsday Clock works.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You have my deepest, most genuine apologies. No insult was intended.

As I said in my post, I see a lot of similar sentiments expressed from people who don't know how the Doomsday Clock works. I was also among the uninformed myself not so long ago, and had nasty mental breakdowns the last couple of times the clock was moved closer to midnight.

I only meant to express to those who are (understandably) concerned by this news that the clock is a flawed and, in its modern format, confusing metaphor rather than an accurate statement on how close we are to our doom as a species.
 
captive

captive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,999
Houston
Etrian Oddity said:
Strike up the band boys



::edit:: YESSSSSSSSSSS
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Merkunt said:
[/MEDIA]

Edit: Great minds, yada yada...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yamajian said:


EDIT: DOH
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Transistor said:
My favorite Iron Maiden song
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

turbobrick said:
Well, its a good song so I guess I'm ok with it.

edit: lol, we all thought the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
came for iron maiden 2 minutes to midnight.
 
Qasiel

Qasiel

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,330
Came for Iron Maiden, was not disappointed.

Do I start advising friends and family to put "Threads" on their recommended viewing yet? /s
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,662
I swear, it's like Trump feels like America was better off during the Cold War and is trying to bring as much of it back as he can. More nukes? Check. A massive wall? Check. Americans living in the fear of nuclear annihilation? Check. He's probably proud of his role in the clock being moved up.
 
Nivash

Nivash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,463
Completely unexpected. Between the US/NK spat, the US betraying the Paris Accords and the general Trumpiness of, well, everything to do with the world's sole superpower there was no way they could do otherwise.

I'm surprised they stopped at 2 minutes and didn't go straight to seconds.
 
OP
OP
WhySoDevious

WhySoDevious

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,459
DarthWoo said:
I swear, it's like Trump feels like America was better off during the Cold War and is trying to bring as much of it back as he can. More nukes? Check. A massive wall? Check. Americans living in the fear of nuclear annihilation? Check. He's probably proud of his role in the clock being moved up.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Fear is the best way to control the masses.

Just see how many civil liberties the US gave up after 9/11 with the Patriot Act.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.