[kragen]

> if North Korea simply goes insane and launches everything it could conceivably have 5 years from now, it wouldn't even remotely resemble that outcome

As it turned out, the First World War was not fought between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian royalty, nor was the Second World War fought between Germany and Poland.

> Even if it literally precipitated World War Three somehow, it would very likely still not even remotely reach the outcome

There are things happening today that are more dangerous than the Cold War. You just don't know about them yet.

[jerf]

"There are things happening today that are more dangerous than the Cold War. You just don't know about them yet."

That is not a defense for the scientists moving the clock. That's not what the scientists were claiming. They claim they're moving the clock for North Korea and Climate Change, not biological warfare (with or without a soupcon of genetic engineering), the immanent victory of the New World Order, the immantization of the eschaton, or whatever else you're referring to. The stated reasons are showboating, compared even to the known dangers of the Cold War.