A Minor Role

[cutter]

Wow! Short, to the point, profound. It is rumored that Einstein realized the Pandora's box that was opened when he witnessed the first of the atomic bomb tests. Whether that is true, I do not know. I often wonder how the human race has survived so long.

[9idrr]

Well, ba65, ya sure done packed a lot in a little space this time, didn't ya?

[brucearmstrong65]

Sept 30, 2017 21:05:13 GMT -6 cutter said:

Wow! Short, to the point, profound. It is rumored that Einstein realized the Pandora's box that was opened when he witnessed the first of the atomic bomb tests. Whether that is true, I do not know. I often wonder how the human race has survived so long.

We know that Oppenheimer had qualms from early on in the Manhattan Project. After witnessing the Trinity Test in July 1945, he quoted a line from Hindu scripture: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Einstein was quoted in a 1949 interview as saying: "I do not know how the Third World War would be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth - rocks!" This quote has, over the years, morphed into what John Lithgow's character in "The Day After" quoted Einstein as saying: "You know what Einstein said about World War III? He said he didn't know how they were gonna fight World War III, but he knew how they would fight World War IV: with sticks and stones."

[freebirde]

A better quote by Oppenheimer would have been "I am Shiva, creator and destroyer of worlds." I have heard estimates of Allie's deaths in taking Japan, some as high as more than all the rest of WW II along with most of the Japanese being killed. If that had happened, the U.S. would not have had the ability to defend itself from anyone. In the years from then, the nuclear threat has kept wars small and local. Personally, I think it has also kept the wide spread use of biological and chemical contained.

[kaijafon]

very good! thank you !

[motherhen]

I had just finished an episode of the Twilight Zone before I read this, so it was perfect timing. Well done!

[headlesshorseman]

I agree Freebird, the loss of life was lowered by the use of the bombs. Unknown millions would have died on both sides.

Was the twilight zone episode the one about the avid reader that emptied the library into his apartment an then broke his glasses?

[freebirde]

I read one story where one of the Los Alamos scientist took some peyote and ended up in an alternative timeline where the atoms did not split. Germany ruled East of the Rockies and Japan ruled west of them.

[motherhen]

Oct 5, 2017 18:29:32 GMT -6 headlesshorseman said:

I agree Freebird, the loss of life was lowered by the use of the bombs. Unknown millions would have died on both sides.

Was the twilight zone episode the one about the avid reader that emptied the library into his apartment an then broke his glasses?

Yes, that episode has always hit close to home for me because my vision is so bad. I'm near-sighted and I hope that I won't need glasses for reading also as I get older. So far so good!

[cutter]

If I understand correctly, the battle plan for Japan if the bombs hadn't brought their surrender called for something like 5-7 more atomic bombs being dropped with allied troops moving forward on the home island, Blitzkrieg style, under the mushroom clouds. That would have resulted in millions of deaths, both to allied troops and Japanese. In all likelyhood, the Allies would have been forced to kill virtually every Japanese citizen. American troops on the Home Island while war was still declared would have likely motivated them to take their code of honor to a whole new level. I really believe they would have fought to the last man, woman, and able child. That still doesn't make it a good thing, just better than the alternative.

[papaof2]

Sometimes the best we can do is choose the least bad option. I think this was a case of least bad.