The psychology of nuclear weapons.
The nuclear aged has ushered in wondrous scientific and technological advances. But the unleashing of atomic energy over fifty-five years ago has also issued in an age of unimaginable nuclear destruction. Nuclear weapons have caused the world to teeter its focus between feeling and non-feeling. Society has become uncertain of what to do or feel when it comes to nuclear weapons, leading to a generalised psychic numbing. According to the Robert Jay Liften, this numbing feeling can be classified into three categories: the numbing of massive death, the numbing of profession and the numbing of everyday life. The psychological impact of the nuclear weapons has desensitised society forever.
Humankind has suffered from the devastation and misery of human evil. Throughout history, conquering armies, incessant warfare and violent tragedies have all left a mass of death in their wake. However, none of these horrific wars can be compared to the destruction of nuclear weapons. The aftermath of destruction involves the first form of numbing, massive death immersion. To date the strongest example of massive death immersion would be Japan during World War II and the first detonation of nuclear weapons. On August 5th 1945, the American military released two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, changing all life forever. The impact of the bomb left millions dead and even more to suffer the tortures of the nuclear aftermath. Survivors had grotesque scenes .
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of death and dying constantly in their minds. They had become immersed in a sea of decay. They quickly ceased to feel. They would stop to feel any emotions about what they were witnessing, although they were quite clear about what they were seeing (1). Survivors are often quoted as saying "I saw everything but felt nothing."(2). The reaction is a normal defence mechanism, used as a way of coping with experiences and images that are simply too threatening or overwhelming to comprehend in ordinary ways.
