The doomsday machine was designed for total destruction from "summary" of The Doomsday Machine by Daniel Ellsberg
The doomsday machine, as envisioned by military planners, was not intended to serve as a mere deterrent or a limited tool of warfare. Its sole purpose was to bring about total destruction on a scale never before seen in human history. This was a weapon designed to annihilate not just enemy combatants, but entire populations, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake. The concept of the doomsday machine was rooted in the belief that the threat of mutual assured destruction would prevent nuclear war. The logic was that if both sides knew that any attack would result in their own annihilation, they would be deterred from launching a first strike. However, this logic was based on the assumption that rational actors would always act in their own self-interest, a dangerous assumption when dealing with the ultimate destructive power of nuclear weapons. The design of the doomsday machine reflected a mindset that prioritized military superiority above all else. The idea was to create a system that would ensure a devastating response to any attack, no matter the circumstances. This meant building a machine that could automatically launch a full-scale nuclear strike without any human intervention, in order to guarantee the destruction of the enemy. The consequences of such a system were horrifyingly clear. The implementation of a doomsday machine would mean that the decision to launch a nuclear attack would be taken out of human hands, leaving no room for restraint or judgment. The potential for accidental or unauthorized launches would be ever-present, raising the risk of triggering a catastrophic chain of events that could lead to the end of civilization as we know it. In the end, the doomsday machine represented a chilling vision of the future, where the very existence of humanity was held hostage by the threat of nuclear annihilation. It was a stark reminder of the dangers of relying on weapons of mass destruction to maintain peace, and a call to action to rethink our approach to national security in order to prevent such a doomsday scenario from ever becoming a reality.
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