You'd have to imagine that Slotin was knowingly engaging in statistically life threatening behavior. He was either entirely blinded by hubris or purposefully self destructive
I mean to compare it to another risky activity performing the supercriticality experiment with a screwdriver is probably like a slightly less dangerous game of Russian roulette
I think it would be pretty difficult to quantitatively compare the two, but of course a person dying in combat might consider it an honorable sacrifice while Slotin died thinking "I am fucking stupid".
You'd have to imagine that Slotin was knowingly engaging in statistically life threatening behavior. He was either entirely blinded by hubris or purposefully self destructive
He got hailed as a hero and the accident covered up so the West didn't look like a bunch of idiots on the world stage in Nuclear Physics.
My man fucked around and found out.
I also have some questions about the people standing next to him watching him do it.
It made him the cool guy in front of all the other physicists.
Never underestimate the power that status displays give to men. They'll do insane shit because of it.
men will literally hold a beryillum sphere open with a screwdriver to prevent supercriticality instead of going to therapy
I mean to compare it to another risky activity performing the supercriticality experiment with a screwdriver is probably like a slightly less dangerous game of Russian roulette
It's less dangerous than literally charging into machine gun fire. Which millions of men (and they were all men) were convinced to do.
Playing with a radioactive coconut is child's play next to that.
I think it would be pretty difficult to quantitatively compare the two, but of course a person dying in combat might consider it an honorable sacrifice while Slotin died thinking "I am fucking stupid".