On 28 January, the Doomsday Clock, which symbolises the global threats facing humanity, was updated, reminding the world once again how close we are to danger. I came across it again and researched its full history. Today I am going to write about it.
Founded in 1945 by Einstein, Oppenheimer and a group of nuclear engineers, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created this clock in 1947 with the images of the apocalypse (midnight) and the nuclear end (approaching zero). The purpose of this clock, which is actually symbolic, is to draw attention to the various global destructions caused by mankind. In other words, it is a metaphor and an assumption based on an analysis of events; it is not a prophecy. However, the period referred to as “Midnight” indicates the end of the human race and possible nuclear destruction.
In researching this topic, nuclear threat, territorial disputes, climate crisis, global epidemics and unstoppable technological developments are given priority. For example, it was in 1947 that it was first established that there were 7 minutes to midnight. Researchers have made the following statement:
“Clock is not a gauge to register the ups and downs of the international power struggle; it is intended to reflect basic changes in the level of continuous danger in which mankind lives in the nuclear age.”
Although I had heard about it before, I did not know that it was so far back, so I was intrigued and started to investigate. I learned that the clock has changed 27 times in total, including the one in January this year.
It seems that the frequency of changes has increased especially after 2000. This clock, which generally goes up and down, actually shows the instability and destructiveness of events in the world. It reminds us that the number of major events is constantly increasing, and that even if a temporary period of peace or relaxation is achieved, events may recur.
Initially, nuclear weapons are the main threat and this creates fear between countries. In addition to the desire to acquire more, there is a constant fear of a possible attack. On the other hand, the regular testing of nuclear bombs reinforces this concern. Ongoing wars, broken pacts or the restless rumours on people's tongues also contribute to this boiling process. I suspect that the space race between the two superpowers, which are both enemies and rivals, may also have an effect. After all, both are among the biggest factors in the show of force.
As the Cold War unfolded in this way from 1947 to 1991, there were constant changes. Over time, governments became less aggressive and the public protested against the war. By 1991, the Soviet Union, one of the major factors in the nuclear crisis, had dissolved and the United States' concerns were greatly diminished. As a result, the Doomsday Clock has been pushed back further than ever before. We now have a full 17 minutes to destroy ourselves!
You take a mortal man
And put him in control
Watch him become a God
Watch people’s heads a-roll
Of course, this does not mean that the problem has gone away. Human beings are like a mischievous child who tends to break things and even likes to do so. It is unpleasant in a way. We are eager to worship tyrants, to play the villain, to lust after power, to engage in aggressive behaviour.
The process, which had slowed down a little towards 1991, immediately began to go downhill without slowing down. New and powerful global players emerged, terrorist attacks gave a face to the unknown, friendships were suspended and egocentric thinking was rekindled. Surely some global catastrophes must have crossed your mind during those years.
Brother will kill brother, spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion, something I don’t understand
Fools like me who cross the sea and come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep for their beliefs, “Do you kill on God’s command?”
…
A country that’s divided, surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace, no foolish naive stand
The end is near, it’s crystal clear, part of the master plan
Don’t look now to Israel, it might be your homeland
Sometimes it is not difficult to understand that in our time such disasters affect our lives in one way or another. Economic conflicts and tax increases, for example, affect us financially. It also affects us culturally. It affects songs, novels, plays and everyday conversations. The reflection of destructive effects can even reach our language.
So much so that the word ecological crisis, once a popular term, or the deadly virus of five years ago are now officially included in our dictionaries. Recent examples are Oxford's choice of the word "climate emergency" for 2019 or Collins's choice of the word "permacrisis" for 2022, which denotes prolonged and successive periods of instability and uncertainty. The word "pandemics" for the troubled year 2020 is also explained by Merriam-Webster.
Our clock, which I said was running fast, has never turned back since 1991 (except for 2010) and has been in a steady decline. In fact, today we are at our lowest point ever. Our end is now measured in seconds rather than minutes.
In 2018, we have returned to the lowest duration (2 minutes in 1953). Strange when you think about it, isn't it? To be so close to the apocalypse after 65 years makes you wonder what went wrong.
The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed
The glamour, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain
Don’t you pray for my soul anymore
…
2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom
…
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb
100 seconds in 2020, 90 seconds in 2023 and 89 seconds (which we’d expect it to be probably lower) in 2025...
The cause of all this is undoubtedly the Ukraine-Russia (territorial and power wars) and the Palestinian-Israeli war (religious and territorial wars), the re-election of Trump due to his unexpected behaviour in politics (destructive and unstable power), the unpredictable rise of artificial intelligence (the possibility of a technological crisis), and in the middle of it all the dying of nature (natural disasters).
Doomsday Clock shifts 27 times between 1947-2025 - Source by the author.
I think the brothers Arkadi and Boris were being optimistic with the title of their novel "One Billion Years to the End of the World" (or you might know it as “Definitely Maybe"). Although the "somehow" undermining of the scientific process distracted the characters from their work, perhaps they wanted to express their feelings in good faith in 1977 (when the Doomsday Clock was about to drop from 9 minutes to 7).
Unfortunately, the world is not on the brink of dystopia, it is in it. Looking at it now, I can understand the abundance of dystopian novels (1984, Fahrenheit 451, We, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale) and the fact that they are well known. Of course, alongside these pessimistic-looking realistic fictions, there are also works that touch on the themes I mentioned at the beginning. If you would like to read about this aspect of literature, I can recommend the following:
Nuclear Threat: Nevil Shute - “On the Beach”
Nuclear Disaster and Territorial Struggles: Dmitry Glukhovsky - “Metro 2033”
Climate Crisis: Frank Herbert - “Dune”
Global Epidemics: Mary Shelley - “The Last Man”
Technological Developments: Isaac Asimov - “Robot” series
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
We hope, of course, that the clock freezes and stays where it is. Because it seems quite difficult for it to go backwards. Nevertheless, I know that it is the current period that makes me say this. Who knows, we may witness an optimistic period worthy of fiction, and we may gain an unexpected period of time. After all, there was a time when we could turn back the clock. Well, as we all know, there is also the thing about history repeating itself. So we can do it again.
We said that mankind was a naughty child, as you can see, he kept falling down and bleeding on his knee. But even though he was crying, he managed to get up and carry on.
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