Grasping True Extinction

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/atom-bomb-bikini-atoll-pod/


While reading Jonathan Schell's The Fate of the Earth I found myself pondering on the subject of absolute extinction. The foundation of this extended level of thinking was based on a quote from Dr. Thomas, "we do not really understand nature at all." Whenever nuclear warfare crosses our mind we think of destroyed cities and a decreased population of human beings struggling to survive in a world after civilized society. Dr. Thomas had me thinking beyond that. The idea of the earth being considered a single organism is new in the scientific field. The earth works in a specific way and sustains itself with an "earth-like" metabolism balancing oxygen and carbon dioxide. In the natural working order of the earth animals play a huge roll by keeping the plant growth in check by harvesting the resources. A hydrogen or atomic bomb would disturb the natural order because it would be instantaneous, not allowing the earth to adjust itself. Animals would go blind and die of sickness, main components of the food chain dead, destroying the rest of the chain. For humans, we would have no food to eat, and we would eventually die from radiation or other causes. Food grown in Bikini Atoll is still harmful to eat, and the hydrogen bomb was detonated fifty years ago. We definitely cannot survive fifty years without food. All of these components led me to the terrifying thought of "True Extinction". This is when all humans are gone and the ability for the earth to maintain itself is destroyed. No human would be alive to have the memory of what was, most of the things that defined us as a race would be destroyed and no one left to explain it's significance. It would be as if we never existed and the story of humanity would end, never to be told.








Schell, Jonathan The Fate of the Earth. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2781000/2781419.stm

Terminated

                                          ( A clip from Terminator 2. Sarah dreams of our future. Video courtesy of www.Youtube.com)
       

                 The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are two movies that have an interesting take on atomic warfare and nuclear energy. The Terminator was released in theaters in 1984, costing 6.4 million dollars and grossing over 38.4 million. Terminator 2 cost 100 million dollars and grossed 500 million worldwide. These movies deliver a strong message about the potential dangers of technology that I have overlooked my entire life, until recently.

                 In the world of "The Terminator" a company called Cyberdyne Systems makes huge leaps in technology and creates an artificial intelligence called Skynet. Skynet is able to learn, think, and strategize, but more importantly has absolute control over everything Cyberdyne owns. This includes manufacturing of weapons, cyborg soldiers, nuclear warheads, and time traveling machines. As an AI, Skynet sees that humanity is a threat to its own existence and seeks to have us all eliminated. Skynet launched nuclear bombs on the world and continued the war by manufacturing robot and cyborg soldiers. In 2029, John Connor leads the human resistance (most of humanity is wiped out) and is about to win the war against Skynet. In the last acts of retaliation Skynet sends a cyborg back in time to the year 1984 to kill his mother before he is born. This background information is the prelude to the two Terminator movies.

               The Terminator(1984) shows us the potential danger of technology that goes unchecked and the havoc it could reap on mankind. By the end of the film, the message is that we still have hope and can change the future if we choose to. In Terminator 2: Judgement Day(1991), in my opinion, the message was just opposite. In addition, another message from the series is that we have delved too deep into technology and that it now guides us. Once certain ideas have been put into motion they cannot be undone and you cannot kill an idea. I do not agree with this entirely, also James Cameron often has pessimistic views on humanity. Regardless, this is an interesting view to have while watching the movie next time.
               


































http://www.terminatorfiles.com/saga/t1/

Zombie Apocalypse.

               The nuclear bomb has undoubtedly had a huge affect on the media and pop culture. Almost every year there are several apocalypse themed movies. Nearly every war movie speaks of the atomic bomb and some of the biggest names in the video game world are themed with apocalypse or nuclear war.  I feel that nuclear bombs will lead to the apocalypse, because if one is launched on a nation, then that nation will retaliate by launching a nuclear missile and so on and so forth. This leaves powerful nations vulnerable to lesser nations. This would destroy trade and productions in cities, damaging the global economy. No good could possibly come from atomic warfare.

            On every networking website, i.e. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, there are people mentioning the zombie apocalypse; which in my opinion, stemmed from the nuclear bomb.  People are actually speaking as if there would be a zombie apocalypse. For instance, there is a 5k race called "Run for Your Lives", in which you run through obstacles and through the woods avoiding participants dressed as zombies who try to take your flags.  If you lose all three, then you become a "zombie" and do not receive a completion time. This race is nationwide, done several times throughout the year, and several thousand participate.
    

"Now we're all sons of bitches"

                                             (Courtesy of www.Youtube.com)

                This man is J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the father of the atomic bomb.  The film clip shows an interview with him speaking on the detonation of the first atomic bomb. Through his facial expression and words you can truly feel his regret and fear he has for his child (the atomic bomb).  On July 16th 1945, the first bomb was launched, and less than one month later two more were used in World War II. The government came to Oppenheimer, wanting him to help create a stronger, more powerful bomb. As you can see from this film, Oppenheimer had no desire to do so, if anything he'd want only to create a time machine. (See my first entry about Braid!) In my opinion, Oppenheimer stayed close to the bomb, wanting to make sure that it's power was checked. However, in 1953, during the "Red Scare", Oppenheimer was stripped of his government clearance, due to claims of having affiliation with the communist party. It is true that he did have friends who were communists, but I feel that the government didn't want him near the atomic bombs anymore. Why you might ask? To that I am uncertain, but it may be because how he was against developing the technology further and may speak out against it.

            It is sad that a man who has a deep love of science and invention dubs himself a monster. " I am become death, a destroyer of worlds", this quote is beautiful and sad. It makes me wonder if he truly knew what he was doing while creating the bomb, but it just didn't click until detonation. Maybe what he saw was more powerful then what his imagination conjured. Perhaps once he saw the raw power, he realized that it wasn't his and completely out of his hands. We have learned from this video how Oppenheimer feels, but I am intrigued to know exactly how and why he feels this way. For now, I only have speculations. 

"Science is not everything, but science is very beautiful." - J. Robert Oppenheimer 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baoppe.html

This is the War Room.

         It would be wrong to have a blog named after Stanley Kubrick's film "Dr Strangelove: Or How  I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and not blog about it. Strangelove is about how miscommunication and paranoia could lead to the end of the world. On a more basic level, the movie is about war and sex. This movie was made in 1964, only a year or so after 13 days that almost put us in a nuclear war. Kubrick grew up in the atomic era, he was very knowledgeable on political matters, and was fascinated with the human race in a pessimistic view. Strangelove captures the fear that we felt during that time and delivers a wonderful satire on the confusion of the government. 

        Sex, a huge theme in Strangelove, strangely enough there is only one woman in the entire movie. The names of the characters in the movie can all be related to sex or something sexual. The man at the bottom of the page riding the atomic bomb, his name is T.J. Kong. Kong as in King Kong, the infamous ape who met his end because he fell in love with a woman. General Ripper, his name originates from "Jack the Ripper", the infamous serial killer of prostitutes in England. Emasculated by the Russians, Ripper wants to get even, claiming the Russians took the purity of his essence. Ripper launches the attack, and the plot ensues (I don't want to spoil the movie). Kubrick uses this theme of sexuality and emasculated men to play on how the U.S. government could have ended the world, just to prove that we were a strong nation. A pissing contest if you will. The movie is full of phallus shape objects, and triangles galore. Kubrick was truly a strange man, but he knew how to hide things in his movies that related to his themes. Strangelove is a great movie that can be analyzed to no end. 

T.J. Kong rides the Atomic bomb all the way to armageddon. Courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/Slim-pickens_riding-the-bomb_enh-lores.jpg

Fallout from Fallout.

Concept art of Washington D.C. if it fell victim to nuclear warfare with China http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/art/fnv-screenshots1.php

A common theme in Fallout is music and posters from the 1950's.  This isn't one isn't real, but mock posters like these can be found all over. Courtesy of www.etsy.com / www.google.com

            Staying with the theme of video games and the nuclear bomb, I introduce to you Fallout 3. Fallout 3 won "The Game of the Year" in 2009. This game was ground breaking game that was played by millions. So, what messages does this game relay to the masses that have played it?

             In the world of Fallout 3 the North American landscape is absolutely devastated because of nuclear warfare with China in 2077. You play a character who grew up in one of the many underground vaults in the United States. Vaults that were created because the government felt that nuclear war was inevitable. China invaded Alaska and took over our oil supplies, so we nuked China, and then they nuked us until there was nothing left. The main character emerges from the vault in the 23rd century, entering what was Washington D.C., but is now called "Capital Wasteland". In the game you can acquire a weapon called "Fat Man" and even detonate a nuclear bomb in a settlement if you so choose. However, the version of the game released in Japan does not have the weapon or that option due to the sensitivity of the subject. 

           China is an emerging super power, a super power that we have an immense debt to. This is common knowledge that is most likely known to almost, if not all Americans. Creating a game that shows the U.S. Capital in ruins (the Lincoln Memorial is missing it's head) must create a fear in those who play the game. The games scenario is very unlikely, but not entirely improbable. Should the audience feel fear? What do games like this do to American pride? Without a doubt, I feel that the audience of the game can see the possibility of the United States falling from the top of the food chain, passing the torch if you will. It also shows that we are not untouchable, we have used nuclear weapons on others, what could stop someone from using them on us? Fallout 3 shows us a possible realistic future for the United States (though there are fantasy elements) and can serve as a reality check for us. Much like Braid, this game is excellent for bringing awareness to it's audience. 

http://bethsoft.com/en-us/news

http://www.pcworld.com/article/153102/fallout3_review.html

Nuclear Bombs and Video Games.

(Courtesy of http://www.davidhellman.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/aob07-12.jpg)

This picture above is a screenshot from the 2008 video game called "Braid". Receiving nearly perfect scores from several reliable gaming sites, and is the 10th highest rated Xbox 360 game with 55,000 copies sold in the first week of it's release. More importantly, this game is about a young scientist who helps create the atomic bomb. Themes throughout the game are wishing to turn back time, and forgiveness. The game ends with the famous quote from Kenneth Bainbridge after the Trinity test, "Now we're all sons of bitches". 

It is theorized that the main character is based on J.R. Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. The themes in the game are based on the feelings Oppenheimer had after successfully creating the atomic bomb. The reason i chose to blog about this video game, is because video games target a younger audience, and this game covers a topic that the youth need to be aware of. In just one week 55,000 people had just become aware of nuclear weapons. This game created awareness for me, and caused me to further my knowledge on the subject. If you do not know much about nuclear energy, and want a fun way to start, i'd play "Braid".

http://www.avclub.com/articles/game-designer-jonathan-blow-what-we-all-missed-abo,8626/