Fleet's counterfactual was that using atomic bombs against Japan might have prevented a later use in Korea, where their effects could have been harder to study. Clarke accepted this as a theoretical question while objecting to raising it inside Hiroshima's memorial. Nearby visitors were reading accounts of children killed or injured by the bombing. The objection concerned the setting and audience for the argument, and left the counterfactual itself unresolved.
Notable Point · 2:05:39-2:07:45
Why an atomic-bomb counterfactual needs the right setting
An argument about hypothetical nuclear use in Korea became inappropriate when raised among visitors reading about Hiroshima's victims.