Something Interesting

Something Interesting

By Albert BergHistory
Download on the App Store

Something Interesting episodes

  • 4. Roger Fisher and His Nuclear Trolley Problem

    Roger Fisher's quote:

    "My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer. The volunteer would carry with him a big, heavy butcher knife as he accompanied the President. If ever the President wanted to fire nuclear weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him first, with his own hands, to kill one human being. The President says, “George, I’m sorry but tens of millions must die.” He has to look at someone and realize what death is — what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It’s reality brought home.

    When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon they said, “My God, that’s terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the President’s judgement. He might never push the button.”

    Big Horns Intro 2 by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

    Artist: http://audionautix.com/


    21 min
  • 1. Hesiod, Good Strife, and Opponent Processing
    Hesiod's Works and Days is largely a work about agriculture, it opens with a bit of wisdom about two different kinds of strife, good and bad. Hesiod identified strife, not only as a negative, but also potentially as a positive, a way of inspiring people to try to be better than their neighbor, improving their lives in the process. The idea of this kind of good strife is found throughout the world, from the forces driving markets to be more efficient, to political strife, to the fascinating psychological effects of opponent processing.
    26 min

About Something Interesting

From the publisher's feed

Learn something new, something weird, something interesting.