As far as I am concerned, the Doomsday Clock is simply a publicity stunt, a way for Leftist scientists to garner attention to their political agendas.
It has been sitting close to midnight for the last 30 years, in my memory. I suspect that it has always been at 11:30 or later.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 854 85.4%
Actually, the clock started out at 7 minutes to midnight back in '47. So if you think about it, 2 minutes in 60 years is not too bad. The clock actually was set to 2 minutes to midnight from '53 through '59. The furthest from midnight was actually after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the signing of the Nuclear Reduction Treaty. After the treaty, in '91, the clock was set at 17 minutes to midnight.
The clock has taken a "Pop culture" status. You can find it in books, television and music.
People already know things are bad or good before the clock moves, so I view this as more of a world politics poll more than anything. Read the reasons for the past movement as well as a nifty chart on the clock:
Source
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 863 86.3%
They moved the clock from six minutes to five minutes to midnight. All this talk with Iran and fighting nuclear bomb creation is making things seem really bad. I think we've been here many times before.
International Level: Specialist / Political Participation: 36 3.6%
Thanks to Trump, the Doomsday Clock Advances Toward Midnight;
Never before has the Bulletin decided to advance the clock largely because of the statements of a single person. But when that person is the new president of the United States, his words matter. Ref. Source 1l.
And how did these learned scientists settle on so close to midnight? Why is minutes and not hours? I think they did that for dramatic effect. The problem with dramatic effect is after a while it deadens the senses. Much like crying wolf over and over, when the wolf finally appears no one is listening.
I think this is akin to what's happening to the press now. The press on the right cried about President Obama for eight years and how he was dangerous and was going to end America as we know it. Ever action was scrutinized and then deemed dangerous for the Republic. Heck, there was eve conjecture on the right if he'd actually hand over power, like any same person would want to be President for more than eight years.
Now, the press on the left (I'm not sure there is much of a center left in the press) is screaming about everything Trump is doing. Every single act he does, tweet he tweets, or word he says is dangerous. If they keep this up they will inure Americans to their reporting as they scream danger and nothing happens. Then, if President Trump does do something dangerous nobody will be listening.
I agree with Abnninja, they've been saying this for so long that their clock has no real meaning anymore. No one can predict the future.
International Level: New Activist / Political Participation: 10 1%