Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id EAA11107 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 21 Sep 2001 04:54:42 +0100 From: <AaronLynch@aol.com> Message-ID: <12b.4bc8292.28dc12fa@aol.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 23:50:18 EDT Subject: The Real Weapon To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 113 Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Thanks, Anne.
Unfortunately, I don't think that Dawkins identifies the main weapons, at
least not as used in New York. The main weapons used in New York were the
trade center towers and surrounding sky scrapers themselves. They were the
source of most of the energy that did the mass killing. I suspect that the
planners of this attack actually carried out the calculations of destructive
power before the attack, and that running the calculation again may give a
view of their mind set.
As a trigger device, the Boeing 767 derived most of its energy from the on
board fuel. Its fuel capacity is about 90,000 Litres, which would weigh about
80,000 metric tons. That is, 0.08 killotons of reducer, which comes to about
0.15 killotons of something such as TNT (trinitrotoluene), which has 6 oxygen
atoms per 7 carbon atoms.
Estimates of the amount of rubble released by the collapsing towers ranges
from 600,000 tons to 2,000,000 tons. The energy released is equal to the mass
m times the gravitational acceleration at Earth's surface g times the height
h by which the center of mass was dropped. Assuming the center of mass came
down by 200 meters, and putting g at 10 meters per second per second, we get
E = 2000m in Joules. The Merck index lists the energy content of methane as
burned in oxygen at 13,300 killocalories, which comes to about 55,000
killojoules. So the energy of the building's collapse, expressed in terms of
weight of methane, is 2000/53000 times mass m, or 0.037m. Assuming that it
would take 13/7 times as much TNT to produce the same energy, we get E =
0.07m. For m = 600,000 tons, or 600 killotons, the energy released becomes
0.07 times 600 or 42 killotons of TNT equivalent. That is equal to about the
combined energy released by the two nuclear weapons used during World War II.
The collapse of the buildings even happened as a chain reaction of floors
hitting floors.
It is also reasonable to suppose that the killers wanted to kill all 50,000
people who worked in the World Trade Center. One thing that kept the 42
killotons "yield" from killing hundreds of thousands is that the energy was
mostly directed down into the earth, where much of it became localized heat
that continues to help make the ruins smolder, and most of the rest raced
away as an underground shock wave. Another thing that kept the death toll
from going into the 6 figures was the energy release happened over the
"lengthy" span of at least 9 seconds, the time it takes for the highest floor
to reach the ground in a 400 meter fall. A nuclear blast wave is deadlier
because its energy mostly hits in a split second. Nevertheless, it seems very
likely that the killers wanted their weapons to be about as deadly as nuclear
weapons.
The scale of the attack, along with smuggled messages from Osama Bin Laden
himself indicate that provoking an all out war was the objective. The
apparent intention to target the White House and perhaps the Capitol Building
further suggest that this is the case. Anyone who intended to collapse the US
civilian government must be seen as wanting to cause an emergency military
takeover in the USA. Such people might have expected and even desired vast
escalations, including actual nuclear war. If they had gotten all the trouble
they wanted, the potential loss of life would be far into the millions, not
only in the USA, but also in any Muslim lands that US generals might have see
as aggressors. I am not sure that even Dawkins has fully stated the level of
danger.
Even with the worst scenarios not being realized, there remains the danger
coming from the fact that the idea of using a jetliner as a trigger device
for political and structural collapse has now been widely disseminated.
As to the evolutionary origins of the danger, I have put in my book Thought
Contagion some discussion of religious warfare, including the violent variety
of jihad, and the ideas of martyrdom for those who die fighting for Islam.
The book also contains some discussion of the evolutionary factors that can
make some religious movements jingoistic while others are pacifistic.
--Aaron Lynch
http://www.thoughtcontagion.com
In a message dated 9/15/2001 7:42:15 PM Central Daylight Time,
tazzie@bolian.upnaway.com writes:
> Subj: Dawkins View
> Date: 9/15/2001 7:42:15 PM Central Daylight Time
> From: tazzie@bolian.upnaway.com (Anne.)
> Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk
> Reply-to: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
> Here is the link to the Dawkins piece!
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,552388,00.html
>
> Anne.
>
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