Exam Review Flashcards
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
Mutual assured destruction is the concept that both the attacker and defender have second strike capabilities in the event of a nuclear attack, through means of the Nuclear triad (Nuclear submarines, Bomber planes, Inter continental missiles) which guarantees the destruction of both sides.
Moral Hazard
the idea that someone is more likely to accept risk when they know they are not the ones who will have to face the consequences of the taken risk.
Tragedy of the commons
Created by Garret Hardin, The Tragedy of The Commons is an interesting concept. The idea is that without regulations or mechanisms in place to prevent a resource from being over-consumed, individuals will exploit the resource without regard to how it will effect others, and eventually themselves. An example of a common resource being over-consumed is species of fish in the ocean.
Marches of folly
Marches of folly happen when a group or leader follows or creates policies/decisions that are counter productive or against their self interests. An example of a march of folly in popular historical stories is the Trojan horse being allowed to enter Troy despite warnings and signs that it was a deadly trick.
The boiling Frog
The boiling frog is a metaphor and goes as follows, if you put a frog in boiling water it would immediately leap away from the danger, but if you place a frog in cool water and allow it to boil slowly, the frog will not notice the increasing temperatures until it is too late and the frog dies. This metaphor is commonly used in relation to global warming and world leaders refusing to take action or acknowledge what seems to be impending doom.
Cassandra
A tale originating from Greek Mythology Cassandra, daughter of the king of Troy Priam, Foresaw/predicted the destruction of the city Troy upon the arrival of the Trojan horse. Cassandra warned others of the danger that would follow if they allowed the Trojan horse into Troy, she was ignored and soon after the Trojan horse entered the city, Troy collapsed. A Cassandra in current times could look exactly like the Cassandra in the story of the Trojan horse, warning others of imminent danger down their course of action, but to no avail, ignored
J-Curves
When a new policy is introduced, there will be difficult short-term costs to overcome, but once the short-term costs have been surpassed the long-term effects will outweigh the short-term. In some cases politicians do not make new policies because of the fear of how the short-term effects may damage their administration, despite the potential positive long-term effects.
Swiss cheese model
The Swiss cheese model is simple, In all layers of a defence there will be holes, like how Swiss cheese has holes, but when you add more layers of defense each hole will eventually covered, just like how putting a slice of Swiss cheese behind another would cover the previous slices holes. When a threat attempts to pass through holes in the cheese it will be mitigated by at least one layer before reaching it’s destination. More layers of defence (cheese) to cover holes = smaller threat
Independent and dependent variables
Independent variables influence dependent variables. This means that the dependent variable cannot change without the independent variable changing. An example of this could be a flowers health (the dependent variable) not changing unless the amount of sun light (independent variable) it gets changes.
Paradox of preparedness
The paradox of preparedness is the thought that you did not need to prepare for something as much as you did because there wasn’t much to prepare for after all, but, if you did not prepare as much as you did you would have wished you prepared more.
Wooden headed
Wooden headedness is when you approach an issue with preconceived notions, out of ignorance. Someone who is wooden headed cannot understand a situation for what it truly is.
Banality of evil
The idea in banality of evil is that, people who do commit horrible actions and usually normal people who do not resemble the action they have committed
The Nuclear Triad
The nuclear triad is nuclear Submarines, bomber planes, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The purpose of the nuclear triad is to guarantee second strike capabilities.
Counter force and Counter Value
Counter force is when you aim to destroy another countries nuclear capacities/capabilities. Aiming for missile silos, submarines, bomber planes, etc. When using counter force there is not as many casualties as using counter value, and cultural aspects remain unharmed. Counter value is when a countries capital city is targeted, its aiming mainly at population centres. With counter value there is more civilian casualties than counter force, and there is the destruction of culture, very de-moralising
The Butterfly effect
A small change in one location/ dimension can result in a much larger change in another.
Confirmation Bias
is the tendency of people to favour information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed. Confirmation bias is an example of a cognitive bias.
Fox vs. hedgehog
The fox and the hedgehog are popular metaphors for two different styles of thinking[ii]. The fox is more diffuse, with a breadth of knowledge and the ability to use multiple frameworks to understand the world. The hedgehog is more focused, with deep knowledge of one thing, using a single idea or frame of reference.
The Dunning-Kruger effect
The Dunning-Kruger effect occurs when a person’s lack of knowledge and skill in a certain area causes them to overestimate their own competence. By contrast, this effect also drives those who excel in a given area to think the task is simple for everyone, leading them to underestimate their abilities.
What are the Three types of questions?
Descriptive: What happened?
Analytical: Why did it happen?
Normative: Is it good or bad? Who benefits and who suffers?
