Author Topic: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight  (Read 10544 times)

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Offline Jedi Knight

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #15 on: January 11, 2012, 09:02:12 am »
I've never heard of this thing. Does it move by itself, or is there a dude in charge of randomly setting it ahead/back?

Several dudes, actually.

Offline DiscoBerry

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #16 on: January 11, 2012, 09:06:32 am »
I've never heard of this thing. Does it move by itself, or is there a dude in charge of randomly setting it ahead/back?

It's a think-tank and they debate humanities time left on earth, taking in factors such nuclear weapons, global warming, pollution, etc...The closest its been is 2 mins to midnight and the farthest has been is 17 mins from midnight.

Offline rookie

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #17 on: January 11, 2012, 09:40:50 am »


It's a think-tank and they debate humanities time left on earth, taking in factors such nuclear weapons, global warming, pollution, etc...The closest its been is 2 mins to midnight and the farthest has been is 17 mins from midnight.

Oh. Then it's not really a clock, is it? Just a...a...a thing they do for their passive-aggressive hissy fit? Well, it's good to know that Fox News doesn't have a monopoly on fear mongering. Thanks DiscoBerry and Jedi.
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Offline Lithp

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #18 on: January 11, 2012, 01:51:00 pm »
It's a bit more credible than that. It's moved less than 20 times since the invention of the atomic bomb. And its most recent move was something like 5 minutes BACK. As well, nuclear war & climate change are definitely valid concerns for a possible extinction of the species.

No, it's not as though the world is suddenly going to end if they ever decide to put it at midnight (which I'm not even sure they can). It is symbolic, for obvious reasons, the time left until the extinction of humanity is impossible to actually quantize. But that doesn't mean it's not worth putting into some kind of perspective, & it's disingenuous to call it "fear mongering."

Offline Aqualung

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2012, 02:05:46 pm »
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In a sign of pessimism about humanity's future, "scientists" today set the hands of the infamous "Doomsday Clock" forward one minute from two years ago.  "It is now five minutes to midnight," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) director Kennette Benedict announced today (Jan. 10) at a press conference in Washington, D.C.The clock is a symbol of the threat of humanity's imminent destruction from nuclear or biological weapons, climate change and other human-caused disasters. In making their deliberations about how to update the clock's time, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists focused on the current state of nuclear arsenals around the globe, disastrous events such as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and biosecurity issues such as the creation of an airborne H5N1 flu strain.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=doomsday-clock-moved

Fixed.
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Offline Jack Mann

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2012, 03:33:25 pm »
It's basically the non-religious equivalent of that guy on the street corner with the sign proclaiming the end is nigh.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2012, 04:04:46 pm by Jack Mann »
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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #21 on: January 11, 2012, 03:34:38 pm »
It's basically the non-religious equivalent of that guy on the street corner with the sign proclaiming the end is night.

...night?

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Offline Vene

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #22 on: January 11, 2012, 03:40:08 pm »
It's basically the non-religious equivalent of that guy on the street corner with the sign proclaiming the end is night.
I don't know, climate change actually is a pretty severe threat and we are living through another mass extinction event (it's also one of the fastest-if not the fastest). The exact number is pretty symbolic, but the threat is real.

Offline Jack Mann

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #23 on: January 11, 2012, 04:05:17 pm »
It's basically the non-religious equivalent of that guy on the street corner with the sign proclaiming the end is night.

...night?

Don't know what you're talking about.  Clearly says "nigh" in my post.

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Offline N. De Plume

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #24 on: January 11, 2012, 07:43:45 pm »
No, it's not as though the world is suddenly going to end if they ever decide to put it at midnight (which I'm not even sure they can).

Well, since midnight is supposed to represent some form of apocalypse, they will only move it to midnight if something that guarantees that apocalypse occurs and they are not killed in the first expression of that event. Like if they survived the first wave of bombs in of a nuclear war.

Quote
It is symbolic, for obvious reasons, the time left until the extinction of humanity is impossible to actually quantize. But that doesn't mean it's not worth putting into some kind of perspective, & it's disingenuous to call it "fear mongering."

I agree with this. I think the goal is to point out to various leaders that they are being obtuse dicks on one of a number of serious subjects and give them a slap in the face.
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Offline nickiknack

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #25 on: January 11, 2012, 09:45:55 pm »
I think the goal is to point out to various leaders that they are being obtuse dicks on one of a number of serious subjects and give them a slap in the face.
Sadly, it goes right over their heads, and they don't really give two shits. *cough* republicans *cough*

Offline Thejebusfire

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #26 on: January 11, 2012, 11:02:22 pm »
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"It is now five minutes to midnight,"


"It's been five minutes to midnight for the past hour. We've got plenty of time. We've got time to kill."

Offline Lithp

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #27 on: January 11, 2012, 11:09:11 pm »
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Well, since midnight is supposed to represent some form of apocalypse, they will only move it to midnight if something that guarantees that apocalypse occurs and they are not killed in the first expression of that event.

That's fucking dedication.

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Like if they survived the first wave of bombs in of a nuclear war.

That is an event I was thinking of, but I wasn't sure. Even then, maybe that's just like, one second to midnight? Maybe midnight can't actually be achieved because it's, you know, the end of the world? And no one will be left to record it?

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #28 on: January 12, 2012, 12:28:19 am »
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Well, since midnight is supposed to represent some form of apocalypse, they will only move it to midnight if something that guarantees that apocalypse occurs and they are not killed in the first expression of that event.

That's fucking dedication.

Quote
Like if they survived the first wave of bombs in of a nuclear war.

That is an event I was thinking of, but I wasn't sure. Even then, maybe that's just like, one second to midnight? Maybe midnight can't actually be achieved because it's, you know, the end of the world? And no one will be left to record it?
Kinda have to go with this. Midnight is humanity's end. As long as enough survivors exist for eventual re-population, it can't be midnight. The only person who could technically set the clock to midnight is the very last living human. Or, I suppose, a small group if they were all of the same sex.

Offline Oriet

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Re: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
« Reply #29 on: January 12, 2012, 12:43:56 am »
Quote
Well, since midnight is supposed to represent some form of apocalypse, they will only move it to midnight if something that guarantees that apocalypse occurs and they are not killed in the first expression of that event.

That's fucking dedication.

Quote
Like if they survived the first wave of bombs in of a nuclear war.

That is an event I was thinking of, but I wasn't sure. Even then, maybe that's just like, one second to midnight? Maybe midnight can't actually be achieved because it's, you know, the end of the world? And no one will be left to record it?
Kinda have to go with this. Midnight is humanity's end. As long as enough survivors exist for eventual re-population, it can't be midnight. The only person who could technically set the clock to midnight is the very last living human. Or, I suppose, a small group if they were all of the same sex.
It could be done under other circumstances. Like if they knew they were all gonna starve cause climate change killed all the crops, or if there was too much radiation so they'd all be dead in a couple years (if not much shorter), or even if they knew that in a decade or so climate change/fallout would finally kill humanity off. Basically, there's several ways we can know we're fucked before we're dead, and I actually worry we're headed straight for such (do to climate change) and that nothing will really get done to avoid it in time.
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