From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Wed Aug 14 2002 - 13:07:21 MDT
Brian D Williams wrote:
> From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>
>> Brian D Williams wrote:
>>
>>>> From: Eugen Leitl <eugen@leitl.org> What is the hard answer to
>>>> a nuked Manhattan?
>>>
>>> A Mega-nuked Mecca.
>>
>> That is absolutely unacceptable.
>
> So is a nuked Manhattan.
Yes. For that reason, I will not nuke Manhattan.
Similarly, should Manhattan be nuked, I will not mega-nuke Mecca. In
the event that an actual government launches a nuclear attack against US
territory, I can see how a nuclear response against that government
might be appropriate. (I don't think I would do it if the government
could be dealt with by conventional warfare, but I can see how some
people might see more value in maintaining a tit-for-tat punishment for
the use of nukes. Even though I myself find this terribly frightening.)
However, if terrorists smuggle a nuke into Manhattan, even if they are
known beyond all doubt to be Arab terrorists, holding the entire Islamic
people responsible and launching a nuclear attack against Mecca is
absolutely unacceptable. That is not justice. That is not even
revenge! That is an unprovoked nuclear attack pure and simple! I don't
care how enraged you are, if you can't find the people responsible, that
doesn't mean you can launch A NUCLEAR ATTACK on someone else! I think
the Onion really said it all after 911: "An Enraged Nation Looks Around
For Someone To Hit". I can see the US, in the wake of losing Manhattan
to a nuke, engaging in conventional war, in the sense of actual invasion
and conquest, against any and all nations that ever helped the
terrorists responsible in any way, or - if the terrorists plain can't be
found - against any nations that harbor or help terrorists, period. I
don't necessarily approve, but I can see how others would. But to
engage in *nuclear* retaliation against any group that has not directly
used a nuclear weapon risks the survival of human civilization by
eroding the principle of DO NOT USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS EXCEPT AGAINST
COUNTRIES THAT HAVE DIRECTLY HIT YOU WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS, which is a
critical principle in international relations.
-- Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/ Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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