[InDecember1945scientistswhohelpedbuildtheatomicbombfollowingHiroshimaandNagasaki[1945年12月、広島と長崎に続いて、原子爆弾の製造に貢献した科学者たちが、Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. They feared that once the shock wore off, denial would return and responsibility would slip away. The Doomsday Clock is its best known symbol.
In 1991, the clock was set 17 minutes past midnight. It has moved to 89 seconds by 2025, reflecting nuclear risks, climate instability, and artificial intelligence.
“The end is near.” This kind of apocalyptic thinking has been around for a long time. frank kermode sense of ending (1967) argued that apocalyptic narratives impose formal coherence (a beginning, middle, and end) on the chaos of history. We don’t like to feel trapped by history, so we look for climaxes, even if these stories are useless when disaster seems certain to occur.
Climate change politics currently faces this challenge. Some argue that ruin prevents action, while others advocate acting on principles regardless of success. The main difficulty is scale. While the crisis is global and overwhelming, our ability to act feels small and personal.
David Bentley Hart reminds us that “apocalypse” literally means a revelation, a revelation, not a grand ending. We make a mistake when we mistake the destruction of the world for its meaning. Hart asks whether our politics can handle that honesty.
If Revelation is about seeing the truth clearly, what does it take to keep your eyes open? Long before scientists measured the number of seconds until midnight, Jesus told a story about this preparation.
The Fable of the Ten Bridesmaids depicts ten women waiting for their bridegroom at night. 5 people bring extra oil. Five people don’t. If the groom arrives late, those who are not ready will be excluded. The story concludes with, “Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Preparation cannot be borrowed, improvised, or delegated.
in denial of deathErnest Becker argued that civilization, despite its achievements, is essentially a project of negation in which the ability to postpone a crisis is mistaken for the wisdom to resolve it. Doomsday Clock destroys this illusion by forcing society to confront an unpleasant reality. Real preparation begins only when denial ends.
Much of today’s political turmoil stems from a refusal to begin that effort. Culture wars and spectacle are easier than facing the risk of becoming stuck in a world that is livable. No matter how good a leader is, he or she cannot act alone. A well-prepared bridesmaid doesn’t have to be a hero. They only made sure there was oil before going to bed.
Today, “oil” is a symbol of volatility. In geopolitics, it is the fuel for competition. In this parable, the oil represents the quiet prudence that keeps the lamp burning. For Becker, this “oil” is the courage to face reality without illusions, and not mistake the use of power for a permanent solution.
Scientists warn against both technology and rigid idealism. As alliances change, enemies may be demonized one day and accepted the next, but the danger remains. Whether the threat is moral or material, you cannot rely on preparedness.
Consider the “prevention paradox” of Y2K. The government spent billions of dollars fixing computer systems before 2000. When the lights remained on, many ignored the warnings as hysteria, overlooking how preparedness could have prevented catastrophe. In preparation work, success often looks like a false alarm.
The Doomsday Clock is a warning, not a script. Helplessness is not a scientific conclusion. What ineffective leadership depends on is the political mood. When we believe that the future is predetermined by fate or technology, we stop preparing and power remains unchallenged.
Pessimism is not fatalism, and cynicism is not realism. Cynicism is pessimism stripped of duty, an alibi for inaction. But the appeal to duty will fail unless we acknowledge the doubts we all feel.
The greatest danger is not that collapse is inevitable, but that we believe that collapse is inevitable. Accepting the “end” is psychologically easier than continuing to prepare. There is no excuse for this parable. No writ of despair or guarantee of rescue is given, only the task of securing enough oil. Adequacy is the key.
It’s almost midnight. The real question now is not just where the clock hands are, but whether the lamp is still burning. If so, it means we have stopped hiding and started the work of preparing. In the end, what matters is how you use the time you have left.
notes and reading
Dr. King admitted he made a strategic mistake in protesting racism in general instead of confronting a single, specific injustice. “Our protests were very vague, we got nothing, and people were left very depressed and hopeless… It would have been much better to focus on integrating buses and lunch counters. Even one victory of this kind would have been symbolic, galvanized support and boosted morale.”
This lesson has direct relevance to apocalyptic politics. Paralysis occurs when danger is seen as total and abstract. Instead, preparation begins with focused, winnable actions. That means restoring enforceable limits on nuclear weapons, rather than condemning them in the abstract. Strengthening specific climate infrastructure rather than causing planetary collapse. Rather than vague warnings about “AI,” impose clear accountability for defined high-risk technologies. As King understood, symbolic victory is not an escape from reality, but a way in which responsibility becomes actionable.
– Martin Luther King Jr. Where do we go from here: chaos or community? (1967) and Why I can’t wait (1964). See also “Making a Change: January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.” previous post.
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“An Activist’s Testimony” “The Charm of Truth”—Robert Jay Lifton survive a catastrophe (Revised Edition 2025), Chapter 6 – Epilogue. Lifton – Psychiatrist and historian known for his foundational work on psychological survival, nuclear trauma, and moral responsibility in the atomic age.
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hopeful pessimism—Maria van der Lugt (2025). Van der Lugt – political theorist who wrote about pessimism, realism, and moral agency in situations of crisis and uncertainty.
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Why are we obsessed with the end of the world?—Dorian Lynskey (2025). Lynskey – Cultural journalist and commentator who studies apocalyptic imagination across politics, media, and popular culture.
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“Doomsday clock?”-Emily Strasser, popular mechanisms (January/February 2026). Strasser – Science and technology journalist covering risk, innovation, and the cultural meaning of scientific alert systems. She is the granddaughter of George Strasser, who helped build the atomic bomb.
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denial of death—Ernest Becker (2007). Becker – cultural anthropologist. I study how societies manage death, fear, and denial through symbolic systems.
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above Apocalypse Revealedsee David Bentley Hart, New Testament: Translation (2nd edition 2023) and related theological essays, Hart emphasizes that: apocalypsis Name it disclosure instead of catastrophe.
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The fable of the ten bridesmaidsMatthew 25:1-13.
vineyards and the world
time to be stupid
Approximately 2+2=5
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
