you think "well, there are smart people at the top, they probably won't allow a nuclear war"
you open a biography of remarkable people
you read:
When RAND proposed a counterforce strategy, which would require SAC to restrain itself from striking Soviet cities at the beginning of a war, Power countered with:
Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards. At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win!
Where do we end up when we save the world?