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[Spehss _]

Super loud thunder woke me up from a crazy vague nightmare I was having.

I may or may not have thought it was a bomb at first. WWIII, how you doin.

[Sergarr]

Incidentally, today's lecture on Life Safety talked about damaging factors of a nuclear weapon.

From what I gathered, if you're close enough to hear the nuclear explosion, then you're boned from factors ranging from the overpressure wave sweeping away your house like a feather to raging firestorms burning it to crisps.

[Slayerhero90]

http://libcom.org/history/the-third-wave-1967-account-ron-jones

Note to other's who read this, you gotta read the whole thing. It's the in the end that the meaning actually becomes something inspiring instead of just click bait.

That said the idea that something like that lurks in all of us is definitely a scary idea. It's really crazy just how far people will go as part of a group being instructed from a person that they view to be in authority.

That was fascinating.

[ShadowHammer]

http://libcom.org/history/the-third-wave-1967-account-ron-jones

Note to other's who read this, you gotta read the whole thing. It's the in the end that the meaning actually becomes something inspiring instead of just click bait.

That said the idea that something like that lurks in all of us is definitely a scary idea. It's really crazy just how far people will go as part of a group being instructed from a person that they view to be in authority.

That was fascinating.

It was pretty interesting, but I fail to see that it actually proves the teacher's point. Apparently it was comparable to Nazi Germany? Sure, he convinced students to do some random stuff, but he didn't actually ask them to do anything which could be considered morally objectionable under any moral system I have seen or heard of.

His "rules that replaced reason" were in no way unreasonable: a salute to identify other members of the group allows, well, easy identification of other group members; discipline in the classroom led to a demonstrable increase in the quality of learning; better posture is generally believed to be good for one's health. Despite what was said in the speech at the end, there never was any "madness". The students didn't go to any absurd lengths to be part of the group. They may have done some ridiculous things as homework assignments, including spreading Third Wave idealism, creating Third Wave propaganda, etc., but it's extremely difficult to argue that that is in any way even close to turning in your Jewish neighbour to the gestapo. Saying that this is just one step further is definitely a bit of a slippery slope.

Of course, some students took it upon themselves to act immorally in the name of the experiment, but surely the three girls in the back weren't the only ones who didn't bully others for not being a part of The Third Wave. There were several instances of 'tattletaling', which one might view as parallel to tipping off the gestapo; however, there was yet to be any evidence whatsoever of action being taken against those 'tattled' on. One might argue that in Nazi Germany, they weren't exactly open about what happened to the people who were 'tattled on' and subsequently taken away, but there's no way that the people who 'tattled' on them thought that literally nothing happened to them.

I suppose that the point was to show how easy it was to manipulate students into being a part of a totalitarian regime, but I don't understand why it is bad for students to follow ideals such as discipline, strength, and community. I'm not even certain that this could be considered manipulation.^[1]

All in all, I think that this story is basically saying, "I instituted a fascist system in a school; therefore, the students involved were practically Nazis."^[2] I don't think that this is accurate at all. Instead, I would argue that this experiment showed that, with the correct leadership, fascism can actually accomplish a lot.^[3] After all, the teacher said that the students involved were all participating more in class, that the quality of answers was improving. If the teacher had responded to the problem of bullying by issuing an order to prevent attacks against those not part of the group, that would have almost certainly eliminated that problem. Really, I guess I just don't see what the problem was.

^[1] ma·nip·u·late (məˈnipyəˌlāt/): control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously.
^[2] In case anyone thinks that statement was a strawman, here's a quote from his speech at the end there: "Yes, we would all have made good Germans. We would have put on the uniform."
^[3] Please note that this does not mean I am an advocate for fascism; to be clear, I do not support fascism.

Since I feel obligated to share a moment of terror in this thread, I have my first ever essay-writing assignment on Monday. I have no idea how I'm going to do on it.

Also, that wall o' text is terrifyingly long. Why did I spend an hour and a half writing that?

[Orange Wizard]

Your real essay will be fine, if that one was of any indication.

[TD1]

Your real essay will be fine, if that one was of any indication.

+1

Also, essays get easier with practice. And, depending on the course/subject, you will most likely get a lot of practice

[Arx]

Yeah. There's pretty much one format to use, and in some subjects there's pretty much only one essay you have to write - which is why I don't take history.

[Knit tie]

I had to write a history essay every week back in high school *groan*

[Knit tie]

I just read Colonel Cassad's posts about the new Ukrainian government torturing people and I have no reason to not believe them. Jesus Christ, people. I am seriously thinking about getting bodily involved in the whole crisis, I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if I don't.

[Slayerhero90]

Incidentally, today's lecture on Life Safety talked about damaging factors of a nuclear weapon.

From what I gathered, if you're close enough to hear the nuclear explosion, then you're boned from factors ranging from the overpressure wave sweeping away your house like a feather to raging firestorms burning it to crisps.

General rule about a nuke is if you can see the explosion, you're buggered.

If you even hear the word "nuke", you're screwed p-much.

[smeeprocket]

that's not right. I was watching White Light, Black Rain and some of the survivors heard the nuke. Admittedly they were either horrifically burned, survived because they were covered in debris, or something else like that, but you can hear it and survive.

I mean, the aggressive cancer you'll get later will probably take you out.

Also, you will become instantly dehydrated. The movie I mentioned, one survivor talks about how he gave water to two different people and "killed" them both by accident because they drank until their stomachs burst they were so thirsty.

It was so bad after the bombs, children would commit suicide by jumping in front of trains.

It's a good documentary, btw, everyone should watch it.

[Graknorke]

Incidentally, today's lecture on Life Safety talked about damaging factors of a nuclear weapon.

From what I gathered, if you're close enough to hear the nuclear explosion, then you're boned from factors ranging from the overpressure wave sweeping away your house like a feather to raging firestorms burning it to crisps.

General rule about a nuke is if you can see the explosion, you're buggered.

On the bright side, if there's enough stuff between it and you you'll be fine. Modern, higher yield nuclear weapons have very little fallout, so that's good

[Gunner-Chan]

I think no nuclear weapon exists right now that hearing it wont kill you. They've gotten a lot stronger since WWII. For that matter, seeing it actually go off will likely blind you. Even if you're far outside of the actual danger zone.

On the bright side, if there's enough stuff between it and you you'll be fine. Modern, higher yield nuclear weapons have very little fallout, so that's good

This is assuming the weapon air bursts correctly, a nuclear weapon that ends up detonating just before or with impact with the ground will still create a ton of fallout.

[smeeprocket]

if I'm going to be in the vicinity of a nuke, I want to be ground zero. I want the bomb to land directly on my head. None of that drawn out slow death for me.

[Gunner-Chan]

And then in a cruel twist of fate, smeeprockets head somehow disarms the warhead.

But he lives on paralyzed in a hospital for 30 years before dying of a preforated colon.

2 spoopy