Twin Nuclei Problem: Difference between revisions

The '''Twin Nuclei Problem of Cell and Atom''' is the recognition that having gained the power to manipulate cellular and atomic nuclei between 1953 and 1954, humanity is now in possession of unprecedented destructive power, and thus capable of self-extinction. All of human civilization is now one correlated experiment, and any sufficiently large event may be enough to end it, limiting its long-term future. That such an event has not yet occurred is largely a function of growth and luck. Since the early 1970s, growth has stagnated in all but a few economic activities, and as evidenced by the coronavirus pandemic, luck is fragile and running out. The idea was first introduced in [[ep18#Twin Nuclei Problem of Cell and Atom|Episode 18]] of [[The Portal Podcast]].

The conditions for the Twin Nuclei Problem began at the end of World War II, with the use of atomic fission bombs on the cities of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima Hiroshima] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagasaki Nagasaki] to force Japan's surrender. <!-- Duck and cover still plausible with fission, hydrogen fusion bombs change everything. 1954 Castle Bravo detonation. -->