[REVISITED, DRAFT 4] Don't Look Down

[Lansaka]

[INSPIRATION] The 2021 film on Netflix known as "Don't Look Up"

[TITLE] Don't Look Down

[DESCRIPTION] Two well-renowned seismologists have entered your office claiming they have found evidence of an upcoming 14.2 magnitude earthquake caused by @@COUNTRYNAME@@'s extreme WMD testing.

[VALIDITY] Nations with WMDs

[OPTION 1] "We have to do something, or we'll all going to die!" says one of the seismologists, @@RANDOMNAMEFEMALE@@, as she slams her fist on your desk so hard it shatters your glass of water on the other end. "Every single country on this planet will be affected or even destroyed! @@COUNTRYNAME@@, Bigtopia, Lilliput, all of them! And you wanna know why? YOUR nukes! You need to scrap ALL of @@COUNTRYNAME@@'s weapons of mass destruction, or we're all doomed. DOOOOOOMED!"

[EFFECT] launching nukes into space is considered the proper response against earthquakes

[OPTION 2] "Now hold on a minute," states the other seismologist, @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, sitting directly on top of the shattered glass. "That wasn't part of the plan. I apologize, @@LEADER@@, my partner in crim- I mean, uhh, SCIENCE, has stepped out of line. What really needs to happen isn't so drastic. Just cut back on military spending. Stop spending so much on destroying the planet, and, well, you won't destroy the planet!"

[EFFECT] military budgets are cut whenever a scientist wets their pants

[OPTION 3] One of the top-ranking officials in the military, @@RANDOMNAME@@ walks in. "Git these lame-brains outta here!" @@HE@@ says, as he sticks a note saying "KICK ME" onto the back of one of the seismologists. "Seismology, shmeismology, they don't know what they talkin' about! No birth...cake... no, EARTHcake, is gonna hit our great... err, what do ya call it, nation! Don't do nothin'! Arrest thems for fake... err... news! Our missiles are real safe, no world endin' here!"

[EFFECT] the government officially labels earthquakes"fake news"

[OPTION 4] "Let the scientists cook," says your campaign advisor, Walker Write, who currently appears to be under the influence. "We can manipulate this in our favor for the upcoming election. While we're out there breaking bad news to the world that an earthquake is going to destroy us all, you can save the day with some "miraculous" stunt. Doesn't even have to actually stop the earthquake as long as it gets you popular. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a perfectly good pizza on my roof and it's getting cold."

[OPTION VALIDITY] free elections

[EFFECT] "Super-@@LEADER@@" is a bestselling comic book series

[OPTION 5] "I have an idea. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Just kidding, you aren't," jokes Narc Suckerbird, CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc., as he pours himself a glass of what at first glance appears to be blood but turns out to somehow be lemon-lime soda. "This earthquake will open up a plethora of cave systems, allowing for the mass-harvesting of rare materials such as @@ANIMAL@@-stone and gold. We'll be RICH! All we have to do is slightly weaken our WMD tests so the earthquakes don't bring about our doom and whatnot."

[OPTION VALIDITY] capitalism

[EFFECT] earthquakes are a tool used to mine and craft valuable ores

[REFERENCES] The title is based on "Don't Look Up" but instead it's "Down" as earthquakes are in the ground, Option 1 is a reference to Kate Dibiasky's outburst in "Don't Look Up", Option 4 is a "Breaking Bad" reference, Option 5 is a reference to how Peter Isherwell in "Don't Look Up" planned to break down the comet to retrieve the rare materials inside, "CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc." is a reference to Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg from Epic Rap Battles of History, the effect for Option 5 is a reference to Minecraft.

[INSPIRATION] The 2021 film on Netflix known as "Don't Look Up"

[TITLE] Don't Look Down

[DESCRIPTION] Two self-proclaimed "well-renowned seismologists" have entered your office claiming they have found evidence of an upcoming 4.3 magnitude earthquake in a nearby ocean caused by @@NAME@@'s constant WMD testing. While this normally wouldn't be an issue for you, the tectonic plates happen to meet right over a submerged supervolcano, capable of causing an apocalyptic eruption.

[VALIDITY] Nations with WMDs

[OPTION 1] "We have to do something, or we'll all going to die!" says one of the seismologists, @@RANDOMNAMEFEMALE@@, as she slams her fist on your desk so hard it shatters your glass of water on the other end. "Every single country on this planet will be affected or even destroyed! And you wanna know why? YOUR nukes! Any day now, one of them will cause an earthquake, setting off the supervolcano and destroying us all! Just look down, you can SEE the ground beginning to shake! You need to scrap ALL of @@NAME@@'s weapons of mass destruction, or we're all doomed. DOOOOOOMED!"

[EFFECT] nukes are launched into space to defend against volcanoes

[OPTION 2] "Now hold on a minute," says the other seismologist, @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, sitting directly on top of the shattered pieces of sharp glass. "That wasn't part of our plan. I apologize, @@LEADER@@, my partner in crim- I mean, uhh, SCIENCE, has uh, misspoken. What really needs to happen isn't so drastic. Just cut back on military spending. If you don't want to destroy the planet, just stop spending money on its destruction!"

[EFFECT] top military officials live in fear of scientists who wet the bed

[OPTION 3] One of the top-ranking officials in the military, @@RANDOMNAME@@ walks in. "Git these lame-brains outta here!" @@HE@@ says, as @@HE@@ sticks a note saying "KICK ME" onto the back of one of the seismologists. "Seismology, shmeismology, they don't know what they talkin' about! No birth...cake... no, EARTHcake, is gonna hit that soup... err, what do ya call it, vol-cane-o! Don't do nothin'! I ain't lookin' down and the ground ain't shakin'! DON'T LOOK DOWN! DON'T LOOK DOWN! DON'T LOOK DOWN!"

[EFFECT] seismic activity is illegal propaganda

[OPTION 4] "Let the scientists cook," says your campaign advisor, Walker Write, who currently appears to be under the influence. "We can manipulate this in our favor for the upcoming election. While we're out there breaking bad news to the world that a volcanic eruption is going to destroy us all, you can save the day with some "miraculous" stunt. Doesn't even have to actually stop the volcano as long as it wins us the election. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a perfectly good pizza on my roof and it's getting cold."

[OPTION VALIDITY] free elections

[EFFECT] "Super-@@LEADER@@" is a bestselling comic book franchise

[OPTION 5] "I have an idea. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Just kidding, you aren't. You're not thinking that at all," jokes Narc Suckerbird, CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc., as he pours himself a glass of what at first glance appears to be blood but turns out to somehow be lemon-lime soda. "There's money to be had here. My informants have informed me with information that this earthquake will open up a plethora of previously inaccessible deep cave systems, allowing for the mass-harvesting of extremely rare and valuable materials such as @@ANIMAL@@-stone and gold. We'll be RICH! As for the volcano, we'll take care of it. All you have to do is sign this 391-page contract. Don't bother reading it, I'm sure you have more important things to do."

[OPTION VALIDITY] capitalism

[EFFECT] earthquakes are officially classified as a useful tool in games to assist in the mining and crafting of ores

[REFERENCES] The title is based on "Don't Look Up", Option 1 is a reference to Kate Dibiasky's outburst in "Don't Look Up", Option 4 is a "Breaking Bad" reference and is based on how in "Don't Look Up" the President is more worried about the midterm elections than impending doom, Option 5 is a reference to how Peter Isherwell in "Don't Look Up" planned to break down the comet to retrieve the rare materials inside, "CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc." is a reference to Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg from Epic Rap Battles of History, Narc Suckerbird is a soundalike for Mark Zuckerberg, the effect for Option 5 is a reference to Minecraft.

[INSPIRATION] The 2021 film on Netflix known as "Don't Look Up"

[TITLE] Don't Look Down

[DESCRIPTION] Two self-proclaimed "well-renowned seismologists" have entered your office claiming they have found evidence of an upcoming 4.3 magnitude earthquake in a nearby ocean caused by @@NAME@@'s constant WMD testing. While this normally wouldn't be an issue for you, the tectonic plates happen to meet right over a submerged supervolcano, capable of causing an apocalyptic eruption.

[VALIDITY] Nations with WMDs

[OPTION 1] "We have to do something, or we'll all going to die!" says one of the seismologists, @@RANDOMNAMEFEMALE@@, as she slams her fist on your desk so hard it shatters your glass of water on the other end. "Every single country on this planet will be affected or even destroyed! And you wanna know why? YOUR nukes! Any day now, one of them will cause an earthquake, setting off the supervolcano and destroying us all! Just look down, you can SEE the ground beginning to shake! You need to scrap ALL of @@NAME@@'s weapons of mass destruction, or we're all doomed. DOOOOOOMED!"

[EFFECT] volcano preparation steps include launching nukes at the sun

[OPTION 2] "Now hold on a minute," says the other seismologist, @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, sitting directly on top of the shattered pieces of sharp glass. "That wasn't part of our plan. I apologize, @@LEADER@@, my partner in crim- I mean, uhh, SCIENCE, has uh, misspoken. What really needs to happen isn't so drastic. Just cut back on military spending. If you don't want to destroy the planet, just stop spending money on its destruction!"

[EFFECT] top military officials live in fear of scientists who wet the bed

[OPTION 3] One of the top-ranking officials in the military, @@RANDOMNAME@@ walks in. "Git these lame-brains outta here!" @@HE@@ says, as @@HE@@ sticks a note saying "KICK ME" onto the back of one of the seismologists. "Seismology, shmeismology, they don't know what they talkin' about! No birth...cake... no, EARTHcake, is gonna hit that soup... err, what do ya call it, vol-cane-o! Don't do nothin'! I ain't lookin' down and the ground ain't shakin'! DON'T LOOK DOWN! DON'T LOOK DOWN! DON'T LOOK DOWN!"

[EFFECT] seeing a natural disaster is a felony

[OPTION 4] "Let the scientists cook," says your campaign advisor, Walker Write, who currently appears to be under the influence. "We can manipulate this in our favor for the upcoming election. While we're out there breaking bad news to the world that a volcanic eruption is going to destroy us all, you can save the day with some "miraculous" stunt. Doesn't even have to actually stop the volcano as long as it wins us the election. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a perfectly good pizza on my roof and it's getting cold."

[OPTION VALIDITY] free elections

[EFFECT] "Super-@@LEADER@@" is a bestselling comic book franchise

[OPTION 5] "I have an idea. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Just kidding, you aren't. You're not thinking that at all," jokes Narc Suckerbird, CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc., as he pours himself a glass of what at first glance appears to be blood but turns out to somehow be lemon-lime soda. "There's money to be had here. My informants have informed me with information that this earthquake will open up a plethora of previously inaccessible deep cave systems, allowing for the mass-harvesting of extremely rare and valuable materials such as @@ANIMAL@@-stone and gold. We'll be RICH! As for the volcano, we'll take care of it. All you have to do is sign this 391-page contract. Don't bother reading it, I'm sure you have more important things to do."

[OPTION VALIDITY] capitalism

[EFFECT] video games classify earthquakes as a "mine and craft" tool

[REFERENCES] The title is based on "Don't Look Up", Option 1 is a reference to Kate Dibiasky's outburst in "Don't Look Up", Option 3 is a reference to the anti-comet theorists in "Don't Look Up", Option 4 is a "Breaking Bad" reference and is based on how in "Don't Look Up" the President is more worried about the midterm elections than impending doom, Option 5 is a reference to how Peter Isherwell in "Don't Look Up" planned to break down the comet to retrieve the rare materials inside, "CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc." is a reference to Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg from Epic Rap Battles of History, Narc Suckerbird is a soundalike for Mark Zuckerberg, the effect for Option 5 is a reference to Minecraft.

[INSPIRATION] The 2021 film on Netflix known as "Don't Look Up"

[TITLE] Don't Look Down

[DESCRIPTION] Two self-proclaimed "well-renowned nuclear scientists" have entered your office claiming that they believe further WMD testing in a nearby ocean could potentially cause an earthquake at somewhere around 3.5 to 4.5 magnitude. While this kind of claim normally wouldn't have reached your desk, the scientists also claim the tectonic plates happen to meet right over a submerged supervolcano, capable of causing an apocalyptic eruption, and also somebody left the door unlocked.

[VALIDITY] Nations with WMDs

[OPTION 1] "We have to do something, or we'll all going to die!" says one of the scientists, @@RANDOMNAMEFEMALE@@, as she aggressively slams her fist on your desk so hard it shatters your glass of water on the opposite end. "Every single portion of @@NAME@@ will be affected or even destroyed! And you wanna know why? YOUR WMDs! Any day now, one of them will cause an earthquake, setting off the supervolcano and destroying us all! Just look down, you can practically SEE the ground beginning to shake! You need to scrap ALL of @@NAME@@'s weapons of mass destruction, or we're all doomed. DOOOOOOOMED!"

[EFFECT] natural disaster preparation includes launching WMDs at the sun

[OPTION 2] "Now hold on a minute," says the other scientist, @@RANDOMNAMEMALE@@, wiping the broken glass onto the floor. "That wasn't part of our plan. I apologize, @@LEADER@@, my partner in crim- I mean, uhh, SCIENCE, has uh, misspoken. What really needs to happen isn't so drastic. Just cut back on military spending. If you don't want to destroy the planet, just stop spending money on its destruction, and everything will be alright-"

[EFFECT] top military officials live in fear of "end of the world" doomsayers

[OPTION 3] "WRONG," interrupts Ronald Stump, the resident elderly man who seems to have a rather odd obsession with interrupting people. "These dang kids and their 'natural disaster' baloney! It's all 'supervolcano' this and 'sir please stop golfing it is four in the morning you need to go to bed how did you even get past security' that! What in tarnation are they talkin' about? Science schmience, it's all malarkey, I tells ya! In fact, they should be punished for spreading this fake news! I REFUSE to look down, and you should, too! Don't look down! Don't look-" he suddenly falls asleep, his head tilting towards the floor as if to look down.

[EFFECT] natural disasters are illegal

[OPTION 4] "Let the scientists cook," says your campaign advisor's neighbor's dog's great uncle's brother's owner's father, Walker Write, who currently appears to be under the influence. "We can manipulate this in your favor for publicity. While your team is out there breaking bad news to the world that a volcanic eruption is going to destroy us all, you can save the day with some "miraculous" stunt. Doesn't even have to actually stop the volcano as long as it makes you popular. What could a supervolcano do anyway? Now if you'll excuse me, there's a perfectly good pizza on my roof and it's getting cold."

[EFFECT] "Super-@@LEADER@@" is a bestselling comic book franchise

[OPTION 5] "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, @@LEADER@@? Just kidding, I know you aren't," jokes Narc Suckerbird, CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc., as he pours himself a glass of what appears to be liquid @@CURRENCYPLURAL@@. "There's real good money to be had here. My informational informants have informed me with informative information that an earthquake in that ocean could open up a plethora of previously inaccessible deep cave systems, allowing for the mass harvesting of rare and valuable materials such as @@ANIMAL@@-stone and gold. We'll be RICH... er. As for the volcano, we'll... take care of it. All you have to do is sign this contract. Don't worry, it's only 527 pages long! Probably shouldn't bother reading it though, I'm sure you have more important things to do, like giving us a 'federal grant' for a completely unrelated volcano-themed amusement park I've been planning."

[OPTION VALIDITY] capitalism

[EFFECT] earthquakes are considered a superior mining tool

[REFERENCES] The title is based on "Don't Look Up", Option 1 is a reference to Kate Dibiasky's outburst in "Don't Look Up", Option 3 is a reference to the anti-comet theorists in "Don't Look Up" and also somewhat of a light-hearted parody of a certain politician, Option 4 is a "Breaking Bad" reference and is based on how in "Don't Look Up" the President is more worried about the midterm elections than impending doom, Option 5 is a reference to how Peter Isherwell in "Don't Look Up" planned to break down the comet to retrieve the rare materials inside, "CEO of Knowing What You Think, Inc." is a reference to Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg from Epic Rap Battles of History, Narc Suckerbird is a soundalike for Mark Zuckerberg.

[Baggieland]

Can earthquakes be predicted? Testing nukes will probably create seismic activity, but that would be because of testing nukes, not Mother Nature.

The correct macro is @@NAME@@ not @@COUNTRYNAME@@.

[Gonswanza]

Can earthquakes be predicted? Testing nukes will probably create seismic activity, but that would be because of testing nukes, not Mother Nature.

The correct macro is @@NAME@@ not @@COUNTRYNAME@@.

Well, this is NS, but technically... Yes? Ish? Not with absolute certainty.

And nuke testing does create shockwaves that travel through the earth, further adding to the (flawed) science bit that's played upon reliably.

That aside, it seems solid to me, though the capitalist option would need a socialist option to round out the question, granted, I can't really think of an alternative. Not that's it's absolutely needed, of course.

And Option 4 seems like it could be valid regardless of whether or not one can vote, if the option text is changed to make it lean less into politics and voting and more into general popularity (ergo, "we can manipulate this in your favor to boost your popularity, dear leader!-")

[Trotterdam]

I would expect a nuke detonated near the ground to cause an immediate earthquake in the vicinity, not do nothing immediately but set up something simmering underground that will cause an earthquake several weeks later.

Even if it does, I doubt the earthquake will be of apocalyptic proportions, especially compared to other effects of the nuke.

[Floofybit]

14.2 magnitude earthquake?

[Gonswanza]

I would expect a nuke detonated near the ground to cause an immediate earthquake in the vicinity, not do nothing immediately but set up something simmering underground that will cause an earthquake several weeks later.

Even if it does, I doubt the earthquake will be of apocalyptic proportions, especially compared to other effects of the nuke.

Near, on, or underground.

That's how seismologists can detect nuclear tests and then determine yield from the vibrations... Combined with data from aircraft designed to sniff out select radioactive isotopes.

[Australian rePublic]

Can nukes cause earthquakes that big?

[Zanderlock]

A Magnitude 12 or above would destroy the planet sooooo.. Maybe make it a 10

[Andronya]

Can nukes cause earthquakes that big?

More than likely not, an earthquake that strong (and prolonged) would be close to apocaliptic, and although nukes are pretty damn scary... they aren't really at that level.

[Daekong]

Can nukes cause earthquakes that big?

More than likely not, an earthquake that strong (and prolonged) would be close to apocaliptic, and although nukes are pretty damn scary... they aren't really at that level.

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a earthquake, im pretty sure it was only like a 11 mag.

[Hahqsthqstan]

14.2 magnitude earthquake?

This is NATIONSTATES®, kiddo

[Floofybit]

14.2 magnitude earthquake?

This is NATIONSTATES®, kiddo

But come on... There's limits

[Australian rePublic]

Can nukes cause earthquakes that big?

More than likely not, an earthquake that strong (and prolonged) would be close to apocaliptic, and although nukes are pretty damn scary... they aren't really at that level.

When it comes to apocalyptic consequences of nukes, earthquakes aren't top of mind

[Gonswanza]

More than likely not, an earthquake that strong (and prolonged) would be close to apocaliptic, and although nukes are pretty damn scary... they aren't really at that level.

When it comes to apocalyptic consequences of nukes, earthquakes aren't top of mind

This is nationstates. Throw logic out the window. If the answer to an issue is human sacrifice to avoid a future meteor strike, this issue seems quite rational by comparison.

[Australian rePublic]

When it comes to apocalyptic consequences of nukes, earthquakes aren't top of mind

This is nationstates. Throw logic out the window. If the answer to an issue is human sacrifice to avoid a future meteor strike, this issue seems quite rational by comparison.

You're nuking meterorites? You never said that

[Trotterdam]

That's how seismologists can detect nuclear tests and then determine yield from the vibrations...

Yes, I know that nukes can cause artificial earthquakes.

My point is, if you need to be a seismologist to notice the earthquake, it can't be that big of an earthquake.

[SherpDaWerp]

When it comes to apocalyptic consequences of nukes, earthquakes aren't top of mind

This is nationstates. Throw logic out the window. If the answer to an issue is human sacrifice to avoid a future meteor strike, this issue seems quite rational by comparison.

That's not quite how that works.

Part of the issue writing guides say that issues should have "verisimilitude", which just means internal consistency. This means sometimes unreasonable things happen, but they remain within the boundaries of NS's model. Your human-sacrifice-meteor-strike thing would work because speakers are allowed to be fallible and suggest strange solutions. Human sacrifice doesn't actually change the outcome, it's just proposed as a solution to the problem. The fact that the meteor then doesn't hit @@NAME@@ is because NS issues can't destroy your nation - that's an out-of-character detail of the game. Maybe the meteor was never going to hit @@NAME@@ anyway and your predictions were wrong.

In other words, human sacrifice is suggested because speakers are people who can suggest all manner of strange solutions, and it works because otherwise we'd be deleting your account. It's a very wild-and-out-there solution, but it's still internally consistent with the rules of NS.

14.2 magnitude is not internally consistent. It's not physically possible - an earthquake of that magnitude would release over 11 million times as much energy as the largest earthquake ever recorded*. It's enough energy to be approaching an appreciable fraction of Earth's gravitational binding energy! It's presented in the description as an objective fact, but if anyone had credible evidence of a 14.2 magnitude earthquake they'd be pouring money in to leaving Earth, not trying to stop the impending apocalypse.

Also, while I'm not up-to-date on environmental science, I don't believe there are any earthquake predictive methods even approaching 20% accurate, and most of them operate on an hours-to-minutes timeframe, not long enough for any WMD-based policy change to be effective. And finally, as has been mentioned before... WMDs don't really cause future earthquakes. They may cause shockwaves that register on seismographs when they detonate, but they wouldn't setup future earthquakes.

For Lansaka, I don't really think this premise is workable as an NS issue, unfortunately. Your writing is still solid, but I wouldn't personally recommend writing issues based on disaster movies. They're fun to watch, but they don't really fit the NS universe.

*using the Richter scale, which I'm aware is outdated. AFAICT, energy-for-moment-magnitude tends to actually be significantly higher than energy-for-richter-magnitude at high magnitudes, so if you're using the modern measurement, we're talking about even more energy!

[Lansaka]

A new draft has been made! Please let me know what you guys think

[Australian rePublic]

Why would they choose that one spot, knowing there's a techtonic boundary there?

[Daekong]

I do like this new Draft pretty well, but it still needs a little more work.

[Floofybit]

My West Coast self ain't scared of a 4.3 earthquake

The number is much more believable now

[Lansaka]

My West Coast self ain't scared of a 4.3 earthquake

The number is much more believable now

I almost tried doing a reversed scenario where the nukes would set off the volcano which would in turn cause an 11.3 earthquake "previously thought to be scientifically impossible" but a supervolcano starting that kind of earthquake would just be an apocalypse causing another apocalypse... lol

[Daekong]

My West Coast self ain't scared of a 4.3 earthquake

The number is much more believable now

Maybe Nation is inexperienced with the earthquakes, and infrastructure would easily collapse or break.

[Lansaka]

My West Coast self ain't scared of a 4.3 earthquake

The number is much more believable now

Maybe Nation is inexperienced with the earthquakes, and infrastructure would easily collapse or break.

It's not the earthquake itself that Nation is afraid of, it's the supervolcano that could erupt as a result

[Daekong]

You should have this issue only be gor nations who have the WMD Policy.