Methods of catastrophic world destruction have been stagnant since the 1960s: is a new brainstorming philosophy needed?

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Background:

There has been surprisingly little development in world-destroying technology since the 1960s, when the ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) made it possible for modern civilization to be ended in a just a few hours (Figure 1).

Fig. 1: Thanks to mid-20th-century technology, it’s possible for a small number of people to decide to efficiently destroy all civilizations on Earth at once.

Proposal:

Unfortunately, as a result of the extremely efficient approach to destruction shown in Figure 1, very little development in world-ending technology has occurred in the last 50 years.

This has, no doubt, lead to an atrophying of creative approaches to world destruction, and has also caused the public to lose interest in the dangers of mass destruction (nuclear war is very “passé,” and concern about it has failed to generate any critically-acclaimed films since https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove in 1964).

In order to remedy this situation, we propose the immediate development of creative new methods of delivery of world-ending weaponry.

To “prime the pump” of creativity, we suggest an “intercontinental tunneling missile” (Figure 2):

Fig. 2: Since the acronym “ICBM” was already taken, this can’t be called an “intercontinental burrowing missile,” and we have to go with “tunneling missile” instead. This could be a new and creative approach to ending civilization.

Naturally, this is only the start, and future brainstorming will no doubt result in many more new ideas.

Conclusion:

It’s important that creativity be fostered everywhere—not just in arts and humanities!

PROS: May help future weapon designers think of new and unique ways to destroy civilization, instead of relying on stagnant (but tried-and-true) methods.

CONS: None!

Originally published 2025-05-19.