

Sept. 26, 1983: The Man Who Saved the World by Doing ... Nothing - VMG
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/09/dayintech_0926

======
wolfrom
What I find most interesting about this event is that there is really no
consensus on what would have happened had he believed the alert to be genuine.
When he received an award at the UN in 2006, Russia felt the need to declare
that they would not have launched a counterattack without confirmation from
other sources. I think it's a good example of how history is far more
subjective that we like to think.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov>

~~~
philwelch
What we really don't know is whether the Soviets actually would have followed
that policy or whether they just _said_ that to save face.

~~~
gregable
Even the soviets probably don't know that for sure.

------
rottencupcakes
What happened to the last post about this that was at the top of the front
page? <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1728683>

~~~
VMG
I reposted it because frankly nobody knows what Petrov Day is and chose a more
informative headline

------
makmanalp
Hate to be a nitpick, but doing nothing is slightly different than not doing
something (a specific thing). That aside, it's a great testament to why
authority should be questioned and decisions should always be filtered through
the mind.

~~~
jacquesm
Yep. See also the story about General Sir Mike Jackson, without who the
Yugoslav war might have taken a completely different turn.

~~~
qw
I found an interesting quote at
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6216808.stm>

During the mission his strong character famously resulted in a clash with his
American commander General Wesley Clark.

When ordered to intercept Russian forces which entered Kosovo without the
alliance's agreement he refused. "I'm not going to start the Third World War
for you," he is reported to have told General Clark

------
jedwhite
I don't think it's fair to say he did nothing. He did two very important
things:

1) Analysed the available information and determined that it was a false
alert.

2) Actively passed on his assessment that it was a false alert to his
superiors.

So it would be fairer to say "Man Who Saved the World by Using His Smarts and
Responding Decisively."

------
jacquesm
See also:

[http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/09/the-soviets-
built-a-...](http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/09/the-soviets-built-a-
doomsday-machine-its-still-working/)

And the Hn discussion:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=884554>

------
rue
This, slightly exaggerated as it may be, poignantly raises the Fermi paradox
proposition that most advanced civilizations end up destroying themselves and
how narrow the "right" path sometimes is.

~~~
VMG
It also raises some interesting thoughts about the antrophic principle
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle>)

------
chopsueyar
In Taoism, it is known as 'wu wei':

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei>

------
arethuza
Late '83 was not a good time - as well as this incident there was also "Able
Archer 83", which had the Soviets very scared that the west was going to carry
out a first strike:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83>

------
marze
It is fun to see the phrase "save the world" used in its literal meaning for a
change.

------
momoro
It would be nice if I could click a button and give the guy $5 or something...

------
tomkinstinch
I've been learning more about the Cold War and reading stories like this in
_The Dead Hand_.

Not a bad read for the historically-inclined: [http://www.amazon.com/Dead-
Hand-Untold-Dangerous-Legacy/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Hand-Untold-
Dangerous-Legacy/dp/0385524374)

------
some1else
I wish his reasoning was described better. This way it seems more like luck.
Nevertheless, I'm thankful for it :-)

~~~
borism
His reasoning is described perfectly well - first strike is not done by
sending five missiles - it's done by at least half of the active arsenal
(which is counted by both sides really well).

------
chimingin
why is this on hacker news??????

------
chewbranca
Satellite error... please, it was a game of global thermonuclear war!

Anyone else find it ironic this happened in the same year that wargames the
movie came out?

~~~
chewbranca
Really? downvoted for that? You know that was funny.

~~~
chewbranca
Oh get a life.

~~~
dgordon
NO U.

Whining about downvoting, especially twice, is pathetic. And I'm willing to
risk five points to say this.

