Any thought on Sundial concept

[Wonhun]

Quite an interesting idea, what are you guys thought on that?

Basically the idea is to build the nuclear bomb that can destroy the whole world to deter any threat of invading.

 

[wren-briar]

I just finished watching it when your post popped up.

On the one hand, I don't think we have the right to end other people's lives.

On the other hand, I often feel like humanity is a curse upon this poor planet, and maybe a "clean sweep" would be a good thing. Too bad it wouldn't just wipe out humans.

 

[DarkRange55]

Optical Boom

This is partly in response to another’s post. The technology behind the science-fiction stories is the part that interests me the most – I like stories that are based on relatively realistic science. I wanted to write a science fiction story where humanity was attacked by some alien...

sanctioned-suicide.net

On the opposite side, Plutonium 239 as a critical mass about 10 cm in diameter, so be hard to get a bomb smaller than a softball. If one includes dirty bombs as nuclear weapons, then a firecracker in a paper cup of radioactive waste would be smaller, but that's not a nuclear explosion.

 

[avoid]

A single apocalypse weapon leaves you no wiggle room. Would you press the button if enemy soldiers crossed a distant country's borders or attacked one of your distant bases? Would you end the world if your rival overthrew a friendly government? Can you protect an ally with a bomb that would kill them too?

Kurzgesagt asks what situation justifies detonating Sundial and I believe there is none. I understand that Sundial would deter other nations from attacking but so does the current arsenal of nuclear weapons. And detonating Sundial is like flipping the table into the air after losing a game of chess: an irrational and immature overreaction.

I see no point in making Earth inhabitable to humans and most other organisms just because someone didn't get their way. Great powers should continue to rise and fall if the alternative is calling a halt to the cycle of life.

 

[broken_stoic]

It was a horrific, terrifying over-response to a perceived threat. Hopefully we never end up there again.

 

[Wonhun]

Could not imagine what would happen if Russia or North Korea managed to develop this 50 years old technology.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I kind of like the idea though I guess I'd only really feel comfortable about it if it's under the control of a trustworthy figure which would be pretty unlikely.

 

[Wonhun]

I kind of like the idea though I guess I'd only really feel comfortable about it if it's under the control of a trustworthy figure which would be pretty unlikely.

How to be trustworthy enough for possessing control on destroying the whole world? I can only imagine its uses on the bad hand like Kim Jung Un in North Korea

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

How to be trustworthy enough for possessing control on destroying the whole world? I can only imagine its uses on the bad hand like Kim Jung Un in North Korea

I don't actually know. I guess no one can really be trusted with that level of power.