• RedWizard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        22 days ago

        My favorite part of this wiki is this section:


        Thomas Sebeok

        The linguist Thomas Sebeok was a member of the Bechtel working group. Building on earlier suggestions made by Alvin Weinberg and Arsen Darnay he proposed the creation of an atomic priesthood, a panel of experts where members would be replaced through nominations by a council. Similar to the Catholic church – which has preserved and authorized its message for almost 2,000 years – the atomic priesthood would have to preserve the knowledge about locations and dangers of radioactive waste by creating rituals and myths. The priesthood would indicate off-limits areas and the consequences of disobedience.[8][9][10]

        Tradeoffs with this approach include:[according to whom?]

        • An atomic priesthood would gain political influence based on the contingencies that it would oversee.
        • This system of information favors the creation of hierarchies.
        • The message could be split into independent parts.
        • Information about waste sites would grant power to a privileged class. People from outside this group might attempt to seize this information by force.

        Novelist and semiotician Umberto Eco commented on Sebeok’s report in his 1993 book “The Search for the Perfect Language”, where he analyzed whether a narrative system of communication with the future, or aliens, could be stronger than one based on written language or pictograms.[11]


        The Atomic Priesthood sounds like something out of fallout

  • Evilsandwichman [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    22 days ago

    I think I recall a video I saw by someone explaining how dangerous this thing is; apparently it can be over for you in like…what, minutes? Less than a minute? This thing isn’t just lethal, it’s lethal fast

    • buckykat [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      22 days ago

      “DROP & RUN” is very literal advice. Like, taking the time to gently set it down before you run away would measurably increase your risk of death.