Journal 7: Aziz Hamid

Journal 7: Hiroshima and "Logical Insanity"

Part One:

The first big insight I gained from reading the book “Hiroshima” by John Hersey is the culture of the Japanese people. Although the Japanese were severely injured by the atomic bomb they never once complained.  “The hurt ones were quiet; no one wept, much less screamed in pain; no one complained; none of the many who died so nosily; not even the children cried; very few people even spoke.” (36) This is a special attribute of Japanese’s culture.  The Japanese had no control of avoiding the atomic bomb, but they did have control over how they died. Thousands of people died, but they all died with dignity. Even while they were dying they still maintained their manners. They didn’t scream in agony. They were polite when asking for help. ““Help if you please!”” (28) The Japanese maintained their pride throughout the book and handled the devastating bomb with grace.
Another big takeaway I gained from reading the book is the severalty of the impact of the atomic bomb. I gained so much depth on the impact beyond the actual atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  I got to see the impact of the atomic bomb from the perspective of the six survivors. I got more insight into their experiences and everyday lives. The atomic bomb even disturbed the balance of nature causing the temperature to drastically increase, massive flooding and uncontrollable wind.

Part Two:

I enjoyed listening to the "Logical Insanity" podcast. The person that was most helpful to me in Dan Carlin’s podcast was theorist James Space. Space talks about mutually assured destruction, otherwise known as the deterrence theory.  Deterrence theory basically states that war can be prevented, when both sides of opposing sides would have nuclear weapons to cause both sides to halt at a stop. If the opposing side knows that you have the same capability of causing the same amount or even more harm they will be more reluctant to rage war. “The enemy is going to do it on us so we have to have a capability of doing it back to them.” It is like a mind game.

Part Three:

“History repeats itself” One thing we need to do is to know our history.  Studying history is very important because it teaches us about our past mistakes so we don’t repeat it.  I personally think students should take more history classes in college. This will help us learn more about our history and be more aware in the future.  Another thing is we cannot allow racism to persist in our country, we need to be more open to different cultures and beliefs and come together as one unified country. We can’t allow fear to overcome us and cloud our judgments. We need to understand other cultures and beliefs and respect them. One thing my parents taught me when I was young is not being an innocent bystander. We need to stand up when we see injustice being done and not be silent. We can’t allow wrongdoing being done and not do anything about it.