I May Have Drifted
This has probably nothing to do with my day-to-day work but it is worth reflecting on because I had another AHA moment. I was onto a module on Scenario Planning and one of the reading resources that I came across was the book On Thermonuclear War by Herman Kahn. This book was published in 1960 but the lessons and principles can apply as much in today's context.
In the early years of the Cold War, Megadeath intellectuals made it their business to think about the unthinkable, and to design the game plan for nuclear war— how to prevent it, or, if it could not be prevented, how to win it, or, if it could not be won, how to survive it. It is such a controversial book because it contradicts current assumptions and because it is much out of our comfort zone, it is painful for the human mind to comprehend.
Here are 3 abstracts that gave me the AHA moment:
"... unless Americans really do believe that nuclear war is survivable and survivable under conditions that, although hardly desirable, are acceptable and manageable, then deterrence has no meaning. You can’t advertise your readiness to initiate a nuclear exchange if you are unwilling to accept the consequences. If the enemy believes that you will not tolerate the deaths of, say, twenty million of your own citizens, then he has called your bluff."
"... What makes nuclear war different, Kahn points out, is not the number of dead; it’s a new element—the problem of the postwar environment. The overall suffering induced by ten thousand years of postwar environment..."
"... He was the champion salesman of the fallout shelter, and was especially excited by the potential of mineshafts as evacuation centers. He produced plans for building shelters in the rock below Manhattan, estimating that “very high-quality” shelter spaces could be constructed there for between five hundred and nine hundred dollars apiece. But—and this is the strange logic of deterrence—the essential purpose of investing billions in civil defense was not to save lives but to enhance the credibility of America’s nuclear threat. “Any power that can evacuate a high percentage of its urban population to protection is in a much better position to bargain than one which cannot do this,” Kahn explains in “On Thermonuclear War.” He contemplated the possibility of several mass evacuations every decade in order to bolster American credibility. Having more shelters than the Soviets is like having more missiles: it is another way of saying, Go ahead, make our day. We can take your nuclear hit and come right back at you. The United States could not afford a mineshaft gap..."
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I am not a military person, nor do I understand much about it; I am definitely not here to discuss any political issues, but I can see why this book received extreme critics.
However, I do believe that it is important for us to
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Suspend our sense of what we believe the world to be and replace it with what we believe the world could become, even if it is a world that we fundamentally disagree with.
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3 words came to my mind though, which are something closer to heart and something I can relate to better:
Do you not think that these 3 words are highly relevant to all of us in our individual lives, businesses, and careers?
Becoming Irreplaceable?aims to empower fellow professionals to build sustainable and meaningful careers, this is definitely one way for us to increase our own happiness index! It is really about taking the control back.