Why do inventors keep thinking the same stupid thing?
Question:
Many years later, the scientists of the Manhatten Project (to invent the nuclear bomb), said essentially the same thing.
These are just the most famous examples. Why do such smart individuals insist on such an obviously wrong idea?
Let me say this to all scientists currently working on anything with weapons application. It WILL be USED. If you are not comfortable with that, stop your work.
Answer:
Yeah. Those guys who developed the transistor had no idea it would lead to the computer and the internet.
I bet you're Really annoyed at them, too.
Damned scientists should just keep their ideas to themselves.
It never leads to any good...
history repeats itself
Maybe because they are more interested in their work becoming reality? Academic folk can be funny like that, they are more passionate about their life's work manifesting from thought into reality than the actual consequences. Egos screw up a lot of things.
Bad analogy. Dynamite is used every day. Nuclear weapons were used once in anger. We, despite your cynicism, possible learned something.
Both of your examples are bombs. Before you can harness an energy source for use in something, you have to be able to assess it's force. Dynamite, for example, was for moving and breaking large piles of dirt in mining. Someone said, "You know... if you threw this at someone, it could do alot of damage." The response? "Who would want to do that?"
As for the nuclear bomb... admittedly it was meant as a weapon. However when the energy and potential of the bomb was seen, it was exponentially more than was expected. Who would want to level a city, right?
well the microwave oven was conjured up by some german guy leaving his candy bar by a radar station in ww2. ya cant make an omlet without breaking a few eggs ya know
They will always make a "better weapon" do you want to be the victim of someones better bomb.
Once he wrote E=MC squared. the bomb was on the way.
Einstein decided it was better for us to have the nuke than Nazis.
You can stop your work but that wont stop the weapons from getting bigger.
And everything can be used as a weapon.
Nukes have now been around for how many wars after WW2 and used how many times?
better to work on ways so that no one will think that war is a good option.
huh? lay off those who aren't around to defend themselves. the atomic bomb was invented to stop the war & maybe to stop all others. well, it didn't stop minor wars but certainly did stop any major ones. not since 1945, has there been a war of major/world proportion. if there is one, you might have time to put your head between your legs & kiss your *** goodbye, but then, maybe not. as for nobel & his dynamite? good intentions might not win the day with 20/20 hindsight but did you ever do something you thought really smart & it turned out all wrong? liar if you said no 'cause we all do or did! some, however, are a bit more monumental about it. since you like shooting your mouth off, be prepared to have it shot off! you do have a right to your opinion but then so do i. also remember, those who invent an item hardly ever retain control over that said item. what's that saying about fools & knowledge?
The problem lies in the idea that, "If we don't invent it, someone else will." That was why there was such a push to develop nuclear weapons -- because we were in a race with the Germans. So really what we need are ways to stop anyone in the world from doing research on technologies like this.
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