October 20, 2009:

John Mueller opened the evening with his promise of a cheerful talk of nuclear weapons. The crowd laughed and immediately we were taken into Mueller’s work of obsession and weapons with ease.

The talk of weapons of mass destruction seemed less intense as he reminded us that, throughout history, they have been mostly sources of anxiety. We were reminded that, although there is a sad past tied to nuclear weapons in places like Hiroshima, nuclear weapons will never destroy the earth like in the movies.

The roles of nuclear weapons were discussed, and Mueller explained that these weapons are useless in military, a massive waste of money, and sadly take away brilliant minds in science. We were reminded that the people of the planet are highly stressed and anxiety-ridden when faced with the concept of nuclear weapons. We were able to rationalize–at least for a moment, as a whole audience–that the obsession truly is a bit out of reach for us.

John Mueller took this provocative subject matter and filtered it through his engaging and intelligent mind. He reminded us of what Einstein said about the nuclear bomb: “[It] has changed everything except our way of thinking.”

Muller is working on changing the way we think about nuclear weapons with a smile.