Then, just when things seem bad, a 300 metre diameter bolide would splash down, in the Pacific, making a big mess.
One of the things I think about, a lot, say, pretty much every day, is how long human beings have been around, but how brief modern history is. I wonder if we keep getting wiped out, and having to start over.
But - here we are. I am in my cushy leather chair, wishing I had a bigger monitor - this is just 15 inches. My cat is on the bed next to me, and I've got a good book waiting for me. My husband went to the store because we're out of corn chips for the guacamole.
Will it all go away if Al Qaeda detonates a bomb in Manhattan, or Capitol Hill? Will we slide all the way back to wearing skins and killing our dinner with chipped rocks?
My guess is not. Japan got over it, and we can, too.
That's the "up" side to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, if you, like I, insist on looking for silver linings. They taught us that nuclear war is thinkable, and survivable.
Especially if you use unclewest's fallout calculator, and get upwind quickly.
Edit: chips are here. Neal Stevenson calls. Later. |
