Hot Stuff
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” —Albert Einstein “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” —Matthew 10:28
One of the most powerful abilities of the human mind is, perhaps, its ability to normalize its surroundings. When something new is first introduced into an environment, it causes discomfort. It throws the mind off balance, but before long a new equilibrium is set. It is amazing what we can get used to. It is amazing how this principle applies to every level of our sensory and cognitive experience. The same thing that allows you to adjust to the hot water while taking a bath, the same thing that causes a weird scent to disappear after you have been in a room for a bit is the same thing that causes a battered woman to stay with her abuser year after year. After all, what can you do, Diane? I think about this principle a lot when I think about the bomb. After Trinity, the first nuclear test, and the subsequent explosions of Little Boy and Fat Man over Japan, the collective human mind was shaken. It created an imbalance that was hard for people to ignore. Right away, the government began to shape a narrative that would