If the Government Knew That...

[cowiz]

... a 4 mile wide meteor was heading for impact in a major population area, should they tell the people?

If you tell, you run the risk of panic, rioting, looting, robbery, rapes et al. If you don't tell, then you can perhaps contain the problem. Would you save more lives by letting the people know, or would it be better to let the disaster come as a surprise to the people in the red zone?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Depends on the area. Some place like New York, with limited egress, would be a problem. Dallas, on the other hand, has plenty of exits. Just avoid the Interstates.

Warning would give the smart people a chance to hunker down, and drive the stupid people into the streets. Win-win.

[Pappa]

I think people would find out anyway, so it would be in the Government's best interests to announce it in the best possible way before some astronomers issued a press release.

[Shaker]

I think people would find out anyway, so it would be in the Government's best interests to announce it in the best possible way before some astronomers issued a press release.

Exactly. We're not in 1814 any more, Toto: news of that magnitude would be impossible to keep quiet for very long.

[cowiz]

I think people would find out anyway, so it would be in the Government's best interests to announce it in the best possible way before some astronomers issued a press release.

Exactly. We're not in 1814 any more, Toto: news of that magnitude would be impossible to keep quiet for very long.

Clinton is. Maybe we shouldn't tell him.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I think it would depend on a lot of factors, mainly what the expected damage is going to be and how much notice can be given.

If the damage was likely to be confined to a small area and was known about months in advance, I feel sure that there would be an announcement and evacuation plans. If it was expected to wipe out half the planet and they found out with a couple of days to go, the politicians would all be too busy getting themselves and their loved ones over to the other side of the world.

[Ian]

Define "the Government".
Here's a good rule of thumb: the likelihood of a major and embarrassing secret becoming public are directly proportional to the square of the number of people involved. This is how I know the moon landings weren't faked and the Bush administration wasn't secretly behind 9/11. Nobody would risk the consequences that come with th public disclosure of a conspiracy that big.
Some government agencies (uh, Congress just to name one) are leakier than swiss cheese. Secrets like that don't stay secret if a large and relatively diverse number of people know about it, especially when they have competing political agendas.
If it's just the President and a couple insiders at the National Security Council, maybe they could keep it under wraps. Otherwise no way... "the government" wouldn't be able to keep it a secret even if most of the people who knew about it wanted to.

Anyway - my answer is yes: even if only one person knew about it, he ought to tell people.

[AshtonBlack]

Yes, and an excellent post Ian.

[Sisifo]

A fact=impact versus an assumption=rioting don't leave room to hesitation. Address the fact, not the assumption. They should tell.

Err... Wait don't tell if it's falling in Dallas, Salt Lake City, Mecca, and Rome. They would blame you for delaying their joyful rendez-vous with their creator.

[AshtonBlack]

A fact=impact versus an assumption=rioting don't leave room to hesitation. Address the fact, not the assumption. They should tell.

Err... Wait don't tell if it's falling in Dallas, Salt Lake City, Mecca, and Rome. They would blame you for delaying their joyful rendez-vous with their creator.

Mecca certainly. That would be very funny. Rome.... hmmmm lot of nice things in Rome that have nothing to do with the Vatican. SLC... yeah flatten. Dallas? What about just telling the atheist groups to give them a head start.
Then you could tell the rest 15secs before it happens and say "Look Up."


Hehe... that's pretty evil. Nah, tell everyone!

[Trolldor]

Tell no-one, let them all die! Muahahahahaha!

[Faithfree]

Tell them - honesty is always the best policy.




Not wishing to be a pedant, but a "4 mile wide meteor" would basically wipe out half of a continent, so you'd need lots of time for an effective evacuation. "0.04 mile meteor" would be more like the city-buggering size.
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

[maiforpeace]

Not wishing to be a pedant, but a "4 mile wide meteor" would basically wipe out half of a continent, so you'd need lots of time for an effective evacuation. "0.04 mile meteor" would be more like the city-buggering size.
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

Indeed. I guess in that case our only option would be to launch ourselves out into space.

When I was a child, the big scare was nuclear attack. I was scared shitless about what that would look like. If devastation like this was so bad that I couldn't escape radiation poisoning, I would commit suicide and leave the resources for those people who might be able to survive.