Happy Stanislav Petrov Day, everyone! Perhaps you, like me, could use a refresher? Not to worry, Sam Matey-Coste has us covered.
Petrov was under direct orders to follow protocol and to immediately, without hesitation, report any Oko nuclear launch warning to Soviet high command. Who would then, presumably, launch a nuclear counterattack on the United States. This nuclear World War III would have devastated human civilization, perhaps irrevocably.
Stanislav Petrov disobeyed his orders.
It’s a good story, made even more important because it’s true.
Petrov died in 2017. As one source said at the time, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.”
Let’s hear it for the humanity that still matters, even among the machines.
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