{"id":6488,"date":"2023-06-08T11:54:06","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T16:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=6488"},"modified":"2023-06-08T11:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T16:56:53","slug":"one-more-existential-crisis-coping-with-fears-of-nuclear-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/one-more-existential-crisis-coping-with-fears-of-nuclear-war\/","title":{"rendered":"One More Existential Crisis: Coping with Fears of Nuclear War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Art: Su Ongoren ’25<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the world is sitting in the highest international tension since the Cold War, and the chance of nuclear war is a topic that often comes up in conversation. Many high school students think that the probability of nuclear war is rising and speculate that a nuclear war will<\/em> happen during our lifetimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions have been rising between the world\u2019s superpowers for years, but as the war in Ukraine has broken out, and tensions rose further, with Vladimir Putin even threatening the U.S. about nuclear war for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As students whose visions of the future have been tainted by global tragedies, many have a profoundly cynical point of view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s possible but not an immediate concern,\u201d said Caroline G. \u201824. \u201cAs our technology continues to advance, though, we should definitely keep the possibility of nuclear war in mind.\u201d  This can be seen as one of the calmer outlooks on future possibilities for the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlotte B.C. \u201825 responded, \u201cI mean, at some point, it’s gonna happen. On any random day in history, people are going to be mad at each other, and they\u2019ll be unable to solve the problem, so they\u2019re gonna turn to nuclear war in a fit of rage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it may seem as though our future is doomed according to some students, the expert point of view is rather different. According to Newsweek, some experts estimate that nuclear war is anywhere from 10 to 20 percent likely to happen<\/a>. Although nuclear bombs have been dropped, a nuclear war involving multiple opposing forces has never happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the concerns of many rise when they realize that technological advancements have given nations  the power to destroy the world to a  degree unlike the past bomb droppings. Mark Twain once said \u201chistory doesn\u2019t repeat itself, but it often does rhyme\u201d and today\u2019s current events are no exception. So it may be a good idea to look back to the last time we almost erupted into nuclear havoc, the cold war . Regarding the likelihood of nuclear war now, it may be best to look back to the Cold War due to the similarities between the two situations. According to Newsweek<\/a>, Former President John F. Kennedy\u2019s predictions of nuclear war sat at a hefty 50 percent during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  However, some of his advisors\u2019 predictions were under one percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article might have caused some stress, but don\u2019t worry: you\u2019re not alone. If you are feeling stressed out, here’s some advice from Mel Chan and Julia Warren, the high school counselors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Chan:<\/strong> \u201cExistential crises are often rooted in uncertainty about the future. College, careers, love, war, etc. That uncertainty is often coupled with powerlessness and helplessness; essentially a lack of control. What may (although not always) help is focusing on the present, on the things you can actually do and the things you actually have control over.  Although it doesn’t always feel like it, I think this quote from one of my favorite movies really sums it up: “The future is not set. There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Warren:<\/strong> \u201cMy biggest advice to students who get anxious about nuclear war is to take media breaks. It\u2019s important to find a balance between being informed and being buried by information. Also, be mindful of the news sources you are getting information from. Eye-catching headlines and dramatic language do a fantastic job of getting people to read about nuclear war, but are not necessarily good for calming anxiety. If it\u2019s getting really bad and turning into what you think might be an existential crisis, talk to someone. Anxiety tends to get bigger and stronger the more we try to suppress it. Seek help if it\u2019s feeling overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat of nuclear war is very<\/em> real but also very hard to predict. Due to the current state of the world, the imposing threat of nuclear war has caused students a significant level of anxiety, which is a possible contributor to the high variation of opinion. Despite the tension, students must go about their daily lives, attend class, and worry about the more trivial matters of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Su Ongoren \u201825, the author and artist, is a staff writer for<\/em> The Grace Gazette.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art: Su Ongoren ’25 Currently, the world is sitting in the highest international tension since the Cold War, and the chance of nuclear war is a topic that often comes… Continue reading “One More Existential Crisis: Coping with Fears of Nuclear War”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":6490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[200,7],"tags":[],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-6488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recent","category-school"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-1GE","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6488"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6494,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6488\/revisions\/6494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6488"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=6488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}