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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends! Well, I say there are some things we don't '''want''' to know! Important things!"''
|'''Ned Flanders''', ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''}}
Writers are not scientists.
The antagonist (almost always either [[Mega Corp|corporate]] or military/government
In the end, the scientist will be [[Karmic Death|destroyed by his own creation]], the heroes will be proven right, and through their efforts the world will be saved from the horror of science. Sometimes the theme is softened by the presence of [[The Professor]] among the heroes who represents a more reasonable take on the science involved.
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This can often come off as a bit hypocritical, particularly when dealing with speculative fiction, as you get an [[Anvilicious]] message of [[Fantastic Aesop|"everything we have so far is good, but we should stop now."]]
Nearly every [[Robot War]] story is based off of this (except the ones where everything was all right, until humanity [[Humans Are
For obvious reasons, this is played down in series starring a [[Science Hero]], heroic android, or [[Robot Buddy]], such as in some anime. It's more likely that there will be a (still obvious) distinction between good and bad scientists. This is usually played up if the heroes are [[Phlebotinum Rebel
Note that not every work with a [[Mad Scientist]] or a threat borne of science falls under this; it's only the case where [[These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|Messing With Things You Ought Not To]] is blamed for the problems.
The trope rarely makes a distinction between [[Science
Frequently overlaps with [[Green Aesop]]. May be paired with [[Industrialized Evil]].
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If the writer is sincere in their belief that [[Technology Is Evil]], they may thrust the characters into a situation ([[Closed Circle]], [[After the End]], etc.) where they must survive without [[Scavenger World|(most of) the technology]], and take the good with the bad; compare [[Space Amish]]. The inverse of this is a [[Cozy Catastrophe]], where the heroes are able to get General Motors, police and [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished|hair salons]] up and running again only a few months after [[America Wins the War]], with [[Throwaway Country|similarly unfortunate]] implications on the [[No Endor Holocaust|opposite end]] [[Space Whale Aesop|of the spectrum]], implying that the writer believes in the [[Status Quo Is God|Status Quo]]. [[Zeerust]] can have a similar effect if an otherwise futuristic (or even [[Informed Attribute|"dystopian"]]) technocratic society bears a curious resemblance to [[Write What You Know|when it was written]] and problems the society was experiencing at the time.
Any time this trope shows up, you are very likely to find [[Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]] in its wake (and the work will be taking the Romanticist side). Related tropes include the [[Mad Scientist]], [[
See also the [[Scale of Scientific Sins]] as well as [[Ambition Is Evil]]. Not to be confused with [[Do Not Try This At Home]] when Science is Dangerous, cause yeah, [[Straw Man Has a Point|sometimes it is.]]
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* The [[Aesop]] of the [[Anime]] ''[[Blue Gender]]'' is that humanity should never have advanced beyond an agricultural society.
* Same for ''[[Earth Maiden Arjuna]]''.
* ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of
* The main conflict presented in ''[[Steamboy]]'' is: that though scientists try to help the world there will either be [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|people who want to use it for profit]] or people who want use it for war. The protagonist's father is under the belief that science can save the world, the grandfather believes he is going too far, and the protagonist is neutral and just wants to make sure London doesn't get destroyed.
** In the end, though, the moral of the story feels less like '
== Comic Books ==
* [[Lex Luthor]], [[Superman]]'s archenemy, has long been a barometer of the great bogeyman of the era: from the 30s through the atomic age, as a mad scientist he played on readers' fears of science run rampant. (Later, he'd be a corporate shark in the '80s and a corrupt politician at the turn of the millennium.)
** Though from the [[Silver Age]] until the [[Crisis
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140209100811/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1295:qthe-only-hero-protecting-you-from-scienceq&catid=36:stupor-powers-index&Itemid=38 Hoverboy: The Only Hero Protecting You From Science!]'' It should be noted, however, that Hoverboy is merely an [[Stealth Parody|elaborate hoax.]] Probably.
* Subverted by the [[Those Wacky Nazis|obvious Mengele analogue]] in a [[Badass Normal|Boba]] [[Star Wars|Fett]] comic, in which Fett accepted a challenge to wipe out the crew of a <s> Nazi</s> Imperial <s> flying concentration camp</s> genocide ship. The Mengele-wannabe is asked by his boss what experiment he's doing; Wannabe admits, "I gave up all pretense of science long ago. I do this for pleasure."
** [[Knights of the Old Republic (Comic Book)|Thousands of years earlier]] in ''Star Wars'' history, there was a Mandalorian [[Mad Scientist]] named Demagol who conducted cruel experiments on captured Jedi and on children (including ''his own daughter'') in an effort to imbue future generations of Mandalorian warriors with the ability to use [[The Force]]. His name was later adapted to "demagolka", the only word in the Mandalorian language for "war criminal".
* [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Reed Richards and Doctor Doom]] can be viewed as symbolizing technology's potential for good or evil, depending on who is wielding it and for what purpose.
** Reed's a perfect example, as he's often protrayed as the most cold and calculating of the [[Fantastic Four]]. For instance, during the [[Civil War (Comic Book)|superhero civil war]], he designed an extradimensional prison camp to hold his fellow superheroes because cold logic told him that forced superhuman registration was the only way to avoid an armageddon-level disaster. None of the less scientifically-minded members of the team could stand to be a part of it, and Sue - the conscience of the team - eventually convinced him that it was better to essentially be nice and hope for the best than to be mean for a good reason.
* The [[Archie]] ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (
== Fan Fiction ==▼
* In ''[[Half Life Full Life Consequences]],'' the "Combines" come from science and outer space. And science also makes {{spoiler|Gordon Freeman}} tricked and live and strong and big. However what the fan fiction calls "science" is debatable, since in many cases, it is referred to as a tangible object.▼
▲* In ''[[Half Life: Full Life Consequences]],'' the "Combines" come from science and outer space. And science also makes {{spoiler|Gordon Freeman}} tricked and live and strong and big. However what the fan fiction calls "science" is debatable, since in many cases, it is referred to as a tangible object.
== Film ==
* Inverted in ''[[Avatar (
** The movie does ''not'' suggest that humans should shift back to hunter-gatherer culture like some supporters and detractors believe. In fact, the supplementary material is pretty adamant that scientific advancement is the only way to rescue Earth from its miserable state, and that research from Pandora is vital to this progress. The message is that aboriginal peoples should not be forced to adapt modern lifestyle against their will, and that horrible consequences caused by environmental exploitation can't be fixed with more exploitation.
* The original ''[[The Fly]]'', contrary to popular belief, wasn't so much this trope than 'Science must not be approached with carelessness'. It even compares it to a 'great adventure'. In [[David Cronenberg]]'s remake, this motif is absent altogether: just because it went disastrously wrong ''once'' doesn't mean that teleportation is irredeemably evil.
** Though the original still features the scientist destroying the machine at the end, rather than seeing that it works fine if people aren't careless like he was.
* Completely turned around by ''[[Darkman]]'', who, admittedly, was hideously deformed in a [[Freak Lab Accident]], but the accident in question was caused by [[The Mafia]]. When things are going bad, he reminds himself, "I'm a scientist!"
* The documentary ''Expelled'' [[
* Inverted by ''[[The Beast
* In the [[B
* Averted in the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' in which sane scientist Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer ultimately kills Godzilla at the end. Of course, Serizawa is also very careful ''not'' to let his invention fall into the wrong hands by [[Heroic Sacrifice|dying alongside Godzilla]] and [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|burning all papers that contain information on the device]].
** He's only concerned about the wrong hands in the American version. In the original Japanese version, Serizawa makes no distinction between right hands and wrong hands, saying that humanity's destructive nature will cause the Oxygen Destroyer to become our very undoing if ''anyone'' gets ahold of the device.
** ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'' retroactively questions the use of the Oxygen Destroyer by revealing it led to flesh-eating microbes that can strip organic matter immersed in water in seconds. These evolve into car-sized monsters spewing beams that disintegrate materials that possess oxygen molecules. And finally, ''these'' combine into, quite naturally, a flying Kaiju monster with a beam weapon that can kick Godzilla's ass
*** The monster verges on raising the radiation levels of the entire planet beyond what life could survive. It also questions whether the doctor's sacrifice was actually heroic as the Oxygen Destroyer was, compared to other methods, less likely to destroy cities or attempt to exterminate the human race.
** Played straight in ''Godzilla VS Biollante'' in which genetic engineering causes the birth of a giant Godzilla-Rose hybrid monster (Biollante) with a human female soul. On the other hand, the scientists creating the Anti-Nuclear Bacteria is an aversion since it actually is one of the few things that can stop Godzilla. Despite the hero's fear that it will create another monster.
** Generally played straight with almost any Godzilla movie that explains the eponymous monster's origins or his reason for attacking. Most often he is the result of the testing of nuclear weapons, which is also the source of his [[Turned Against Their Masters|hatred of humankind]].
* ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' inverts this. The reformed Dr. Frankenstein is forced by evil [[Mad Scientist]] Dr. Pretorius to return to his old ways. The twist: Early on, Pretorious shows us his collection of tiny humans in glass jars, practically announcing that he's Mephistopheles. To this, Frankenstein replies, horrified, "This isn't science!" Here, sane Science Is Good, and has standards, but Magic Is Bad.
* ''[[Event Horizon]]''. At one point the inventor of the gravity warp drive (which turns out to be a pretty evil warp drive) proclaims: "Captain, there's no danger... It's contained behind three magnetic fields, it's perfectly safe!" Oh science, what are you like?
* In ''[[G.I. Joe:
* The 2002 film version of ''[[The Time Machine]].'' Near the start of the movie, the protagonist's friend asks him whether humanity's progress will ever go too far; the protagonist replies, "no such thing."
** He later has to admit that he was wrong—when, in the future, he sees ''the Moon shattered into little pieces'' [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale|by atomic bombs]]. Earlier, when the protagonist returned to the past to try and save his girlfriend, she was killed by a malfunctioning automobile (just as the protagonist stopped being fascinated with it because it was "just a machine," and not worth taking his attention off of his love).
* ''[[Nine (Animation)|Nine]]'' averts this. Science is what created the construction robot, but it was the government and military that put it to evil use. The scientist who created the robot then {{spoiler|sacrificed his own soul so that life, in some fashion, could carry on.}}▼
** In the distant future, the Eloi are peaceful, good people with very primitive technology; the evil, ugly Morlocks have an industrial society [[Beneath the Earth]]. They also have a [[Big Bad]] with a giant brain who is especially good at engineering, and at being evil.
* Dr. Carrington in ''[[The Thing From Another World (Film)|The Thing From Another World]]'' is a complete moron who continues to insist in the face of increasingly overwhelming evidence that the alien the base is dealing with is an intelligent and peaceful being, and repeatedly endangers everyone's lives trying to communicate with it.▼
** And in the climax of the movie, the protagonist destroys the industrial Morlocks—by blowing up his machine in their lair (commenting on its loss with, again, "it's just a machine"). The only positive portrayal science or technology get in the film is with the generally helpful [[Projected Man|holographic librarian]] (who [[Ragnarok Proofing|somehow survives hundreds of thousands of years]] and is shown reading books to children at the end). But his main function is to keep memories of the past (and, presumably, its follies) alive, not to represent, or aid, progress.
* In ''[[Rocky IV]]'' the cold, emotionless Russian boxe Ivan Drago is shown training in a cartoonishly high-tech facility that measures his every exertion while government technicians look on, meanwhile vituous American Rocky trains on a farm by cutting down trees, lifting bales of hay, and running with a yoke on his shoulders. Guess who wins.▼
▲* ''[[
▲* Dr. Carrington in ''[[The Thing
▲* In ''[[Rocky IV]]'' the cold, emotionless Russian
* The American folk tale of John Henry tells of the man's victory in a hammerin' race against a steam-powered hammer. He wins, but the effort kills him. He dies with the old-fashioned hammer still in his hand.▼
== Literature ==
* This is ''not'' the point of ''[[Frankenstein]]''. In the novel by [[Mary Shelley]], the point of the story is that Frankenstein brought a creature into the world and allowed it to turn to evil by treating it like a monster. However, this ''is'' the point of just about every film adaptation of the story, which almost always deliver an [[Anvilicious]] [[An Aesop|Aesop]].
** With the surprising exception of the [[Mel Brooks]] parody ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'', in which the eponymous scientist succeeds where his ancestor failed by accepting his creation like a loving father. When a group of his colleagues recoil in horror at the creature, he admonishes them "We are not children! We are scientists!", and the only real flaw in his creation (its permanently child-like, limited mind) is fixed by ''another'' scientific procedure, which Frankenstein risks his life to carry out.
** Stephen Jay Gould wrote one essay as a good-natured correction to people who thought ''Frankenstein'' was based around
* [[Jonathan Swift]] rams this Trope down the reader's throat in the Laputa chapter of ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''. The rulers are tyrants [[Politically Incorrect Villain| (and chauvinists)]] who respect only science, but it has made them [[The Caligula| incompetent rulers]]; while they are fond of mathematics, astronomy, music and technology, they fail to make practical use of their knowledge. For instance, buildings in Laputa are poorly built and the clothing doesn't fit because they take measurements with instruments such as quadrants and a compass rather than with tape measures. Their physical conditions [[Evil Makes You Ugly| have degenerated too]], depicted as becoming so lost in thought that they do not move unless an attendant strikes them with a "bladder"; many of their heads have become stuck reclined to one side, and they often suffer from strabismus: one eye turns inward and the other looks up "to the zenith". They don't even know that their wives [[Your Cheating Heart| are adulterers]] who are using their husbands' lack of attention to carry on affairs with the more loving servants. Even worse, they've had a negative effect on their subjects. Not only are Lagado and Balnibarbi poverty-stricken, the governor of the former visited Laputa once, and was inspired to build the Academy of Projectors, where completely worthless projects are endlessly pursued. Ironically, the governor of Balnibarbi is likely the most lucid man in the chapter, and one of the few characters Gulliver meets in the entire novel with any common sense. Of course, Swift was using this chapter to mock - [[Satire| among other things]] - the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society absurd inventions of the Royal Society.]
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern|Pern]]'' novels, some of the natives regard the newly rediscovered supercomputer as evil and try to destroy or discredit it, either through superstition or fear of change. The planet was originally settled by people who only wanted to leave their ''dependance'' on technology behind, not to form a Luddite civilization. In time this meant they lost all but the most basic stuff needed for survival, and because of this they suffered. It was eventually ''returning'' to the technological state which saved them, when they found AI which gave them access to all the tech the colonists planned on having, but lost.▼
* Many works of [[H.P. Lovecraft]] express this Trope, showing Lovecraft's own distrust and fear of technology and lack of understanding of technological concepts. For example, "Cool Air" is about a doctor who has kept himself alive (as a walking corpse) using air conditioning (which was new at the time of writing) while in "The Color of Space" (written around the time infrared and ultraviolet light had recently been discovered), weird and unearthly colors are a sign of a slumbering [[Eldritch Abomination]].
▲* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern|Pern]]'' novels, some of the natives regard the newly rediscovered supercomputer as evil and try to destroy or discredit it, either through superstition or fear of change. The planet was originally settled by people who only wanted to leave their ''
** Given the AI is dropped in as a near-literal [[Deus Ex Machina]], and the new technology is rammed down the throats of the populace by a small group who've already developed a reputation for ruling by fiat because they saved the world and they know best.
* [[
* ''[[Oryx and Crake]]'' has more than a hint of this.
* Every book by [[Michael Crichton]], [[Misaimed Fandom|a good deal of which got a lot of people interested in science]]. Crichton himself averts this trope in that he was a big ''proponent'' of science and more science education. Chrichton's point is generally more along the lines of science is good if used for something like feeding people or helping the sick, i.e. something benign and obvious. But like anything one must also have the common sense to use it with ''restraint''. Being "pro-science" is one thing, not having the two brain cells needed to stop and say "Gee, I wonder if something could go wrong if we genetically engineer dinosaurs?" is another.
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* In the novel ''[[Feed]]'' by M.T. Anderson, having essentially an internet hookup directly into your brain lets you look up anything instantly, so no one ever bothers to really learn or remember anything, becoming imbeciles with the attention span of gnats.
* This is one of the main messages of ''Ceremony'', along with [[Unfortunate Implications|"White people are evil beings created by witcherey to destroy the world'']]
* ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]],'' has a touch of this. [[
* Although most of his later novels were much more pro-technology, [[Jules Verne]]'s early novel ''[[Paris in The Twentieth Century]]'' portrays a cold, sterile future where artistic and humanistic pursuits have been all but abandoned in favor of technology as an answer to all human problems. The main character, a poet, can find neither work nor sympathy, and {{spoiler|dies starving in the streets}}.
* This tends to be a characteristic of many Stephen King novels, including his magnum opus (the [[The Dark Tower]] series). We have
** The Great Old Ones from the Dark Tower series, who are explicitly described as being "deceived by the false light of science", replacing the magic with their own imperfect science and technology, then killing themselves off with weapons that leave the world a polluted, ruined mess.
** [[The Plague|The superflu]] from [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Stand]]''. which escapes a government lab and kills off 99.4% of the world's
** Flagg is specifically described by [[
{{quote|
'''[[The Mentor|Glen
* In the words of Jean Baudrillard in ''The Procession of Simulacra'', "Science never sacrifices itself. It is always murderous." Keep in mind that he didn't think science was inherently bad, despite that quote.
* In the last ''[[Empire From the Ashes]]'' book, the world religion of the planet Pardal centers entirely around the suppression of scientific progress, [[Cargo Cult|while at the same time worshiping an ancient defense computer as the voice of God]].
* In the [[
* Most movie versions of H.G. Wells' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' (as stated in the Film section) emphasize the evils of technology versus a pastoral existence, but neglect his central thesis: [[Aesop|the alienation of the working class resulting in an elite that neither knows nor cares how the comfort in which it lives is produced]]. Wells, a socialist, was not arguing against technology but against the exploitation of the working class in Victorian England. Indeed, most of Wells' body of work, especially ''The Shape Of Things To Come'', is very ''pro''-science and technology, focusing more on how humanity must mature socially in step with its scientific progress.
* In [[Aleksandr Mazin]]'s ''[[Time For Change]]'' duology, nature itself follows this trope, with catastrophes striking out against many types of scientific research in a seemingly unrelated manner. For example, the first recorded catastrophe was a massive tsunami that flooded New York. The link was an attempt by NASA to see if it is possible to give birth in orbit. After that, the International Committee for Prevention of Illegal Scientific Research (AKA Aladdin) is created in order to enforce the ban. They recruit the scientists and soldiers and equip them with the latest technology allowed by law. They become so powerful that only a few nations can go against them, including Russia, China, and possibly US.
** In the second novel, ''The Morning of Judgment Day'', the Chinese defy the ban and launch a manned mission to [[The Red Planet|Mars]]. During a historic speech televised throughout the world, another catastrophe hits, causing any Chinese-speaking person listening to the broadcast to go deaf. The protagonist's father parallels this to the Tower of Babel part of [[The Bible]], where man attempts to reach the heavens, and suggests that humans may have to stay on Earth for good.
* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: The book show us both sides of this question: In almost all the book, [[The Professor]] Aronnax, a [[Wide
* The second and third ''[[Dinotopia]]'' books were quite [[Anvillicious]] about this, although it should be noted that they were more anti-technology than anti-science, since the protagonist himself was a scientist (although more of a naturalist, really).
* [[The Tripods]] used this,but as a pretense of the antagonists rather than an actual theme of the work. The Masters gave the appearance that they blamed science and technology for humankind's evilness, thus pushing humanity back to the middle ages with the Caps. (ie sending the
▲== Live Action TV ==
* A recurring theme in the ''[[Outer Limits]]''. It is the basis for the plot of many (though not all) of its episodes.
** A prominent episode involves a trial in the [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] United States, which has forsaken technology and banned teaching science under the penalty of death. A 20th century scientist develops [[Time Travel]] and goes to the future only to be arrested for breaking the ban. She goes before the [[Supreme Court]] and argues to repeal the ban, as a plague will wipe out most of humanity in the near future if technological research is not restarted. Another time traveler arrives to argue for the opposite, as humanity's expansion to the stars will eventually cause us to piss off an advanced alien race and lead to our destruction. In the end, they send the second time traveler to the past and agree to repeal the ban, only for the second guy's fusion bomb to activate and wipe out Washington, DC.
* In ''[[
* [[Joss Whedon]] has said the idea behind the Initiative from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' was to create a conflict between science and magic, and when that happens, of course, magic eventually kicks science's ass. The Initiative goes on recon to study the habits of vampires and captures them so they can do further tests, all to [[Doing
* ''[[
** ''[[Star Trek:
** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager
** Averted in Roddenberry's novelization of the first [[Star Trek:
** In TOS, [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] Sam Cogley's speech in "[[Star Trek
** The TOS episode "The Ultimate Computer" is a great example of this trope, combined with a little [[Ludd Was Right]]. The Enterprise is testing a brand-new computer that could automate starships completely, making crews and captains all but obsolete. Of course, [[
* ''[[Fringe]]'' seems to take a stance of science being both bad ''and'' good, since its used to both cause ''and'' help solve the Freaky [[Mystery of the Week]]!
** The [[Gray and Grey Morality]] of the show seems to imply that science can accomplish good things, but at the cost of other good things, and the scientist's
* While the ''[[Stargate]]'' series mostly avert this, the ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' episode "Trinity," wherein McKay finds an abandoned Ancient experiment to produce limitless energy, it's repeatedly suggested that he is getting in over his head (The Ancients did not complete the program, and it went rather wrong). Despite constant protestations that this is a field they are simply not ready for, McKay continues. In the end he ends up destroying a Stellar System. While the episode plays the aesop straight, a later episode has a solution to the problems from the first time, and the attempt is assisted by an Asgard, the most technologically advanced race who will talk with humanity.
** Well, five sixths of a Solar System. It's not an exact science.
* On an episode of ''[[CSI]]: NY'', this trope is used to demonize the science of Genetics. It starts off with a supposed dead man being stolen from the back of the van that was bringing it to the morgue. Then the body is dumped in the river, fished out and then found to be alive... brain dead, but alive. They find their way to a genetics research lab that's making goats produce silk in their milk and rats grow ears on their backs. The scientist in charge explains the benefits of it (silk in bulk, replacing a lost body part) but the cops just remark about how weird it is and when they leave remark that it's wrong. The main character going so far as to say progress was great, "but should've stopped."
** Turns out the genetics lab induced human hibernation on the victim, which the victim was involved in voluntarily and by accident the vic took too much of the mixture they created too fast. He ran out choking and collapsed. They stole him from the van thinking he was alive, thought he was dead when they couldn't revive him and dumped him before they got in more trouble for their unethical experiments. When confronted by this news the head scientist can only remark about his delight that it worked and lists off all the benefits like prolonged space travel and how he will be famous.
** The second suspect tries to tell the cops how putting them away will "shut the door on the future" as [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|no one else knows the formula but them]], but to the cops the complicated issue is simple, they committed attempted murder (even though they thought the guy was already dead) and are going to jail. It's not "robot apocalypse" or "mutant monster" worthy, but it still denotes the same thing: science is weird... and bad.
* ''[[Eleventh Hour]]'' generally runs on this trope, as should be expected of a show about a duo that takes down people who apply new technology unethically. However, it does at times depict the potential good that can be done with stem cells, genetic engineering and the like.
* Most of the new ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' avoids this, but the finale takes a great big swerve into [[Writer
* An episode of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' featured Stephen interviewing the author of a book about robots and AI. The author pointed out that the West is largely wary of AI (see ''[[
** Stephen often says things like "I'm no fan of science," but seemed entirely keen on one specific form when hearing about a superlaser that concentrated laser beams into a small area to produce the temperatures and pressures of a star:
{{quote|
''(Cue rain of black balloons and a big "WE HAVE OUR OWN DEATH STAR" sign flashing in the foreground)'' }}
* An inversion in an episode of ''[[Sliders]]'' the gang ends up sliding to a world where all new technology was banned after the end of World War 2. This world's version of Quinn was killed by polio, and they convince Quinn's dad that technology is not bad and would have saved his son. He helps them to repair their timer with his dead son's illegal technology. Of course, the local Evil Corporation decides to steal the timer as they have been creating technology in secret so they can corner the market once the ban is lifted.
* Dark Science Empire Deathdark, the villain group of ''[[Dai Sentai Goggle Five]]'', revolve around using science for evil things. It's also informed that they helped the invention of sword so it can be used to kill. Ouch.
* ''[[Lost]]'' played with this trope with Dharma Initiative being the "we will do it no matter what" side. Taken to the logical conclusion in season's 5 finale {{spoiler|where they continue to drill over a pocket of electromagnetic energy, although they know that in-universe EM is a [[You Fail Physics Forever|bad, explosive thing]]}}.
== Music ==
* The entire ''01011001'' album by the metal opera group [[Ayreon]]. See the song "Unnatural Selection" for a particularly [[Anvilicious]] example.
* [[System of a Down]]'s "Science" is entirely devoted to explaining in detail how
* [[Styx]]'s album ''Kilroy Was Here'' includes some brief diatribes, not against science per se, but against technology:
{{quote|The problem's plain to see
Too much technology
Machines to rule our lives
Machines dehumanize.|''Mr. Roboto''}}
* The opening lines of the Aquabats song "The Cat with Two heads" are as follows:
{{quote|
Modern Man then continues, Continues to expand,
But what happens when man creates Something oh so Wrong?
Then Nature bites back in BIG WAY! Good heavens, what have I done?? }}
* The song [https://web.archive.org/web/20120720083216/http://www.justsomelyrics.com/1897771/Red-Guitars-Good-Technology-Lyrics Good Technology] by Red Guitars doesn't necessarily condemn technology, but does lampshade its absurdities and moral ambiguities. The last verse sums it up:
{{quote|
There's lots of leisure time to sit and work it out
There's a TV show I've got to see
Good, good, good, good, good, good technology
Good technology }}
* Played first at straight, but later averted in Sepultura's ''Biotech Is Godzilla''.
{{quote|
Like all technology, it's in the wrong hands
Cut-throat corporations don't give a damn
When lots of people die from what they've made }}
* The song "La concubine de l'hemoglobine" ("The concubine of Hemoglobin") by French rapper MC Solar: unbridled science entails war and wholesale destruction:
{{quote|
egale science de l'inconscience (equals science of the unconscious)
Elle se fout du progres mais souhaite la progression (it cares not of progress but wishes the progression)
De tous les processus qui menent a l'elimination (of all processes that lead to elimination) }}
* Nitin Sawhney's piece "Street Guru" features some random dude's bitchy platitutes over various things in modern life. On technology:
{{quote|
* Zager & Evans "In The Year 2525."
* "Cursed Be Iron" by Turisas appears to condemn ''iron-working'', but is probably a metaphor for military technology or the missaplication of technology. It includes the demand that iron "[[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe|Come and view thine evil doings]]/ And amend this flood of damage", seemingly avoiding the idea that science or technology are ''inherently'' bad.
* "White Coats" by New Model Army appears to fit this trope, although it can be interpreted as criticisng science when practiced without foresight or ethics, particularly given that it was written during an apparently self-destructive [[Cold War|US-Soviet nuclear arms race]]- "Those last few days at Jonestown ain't got nothing on this ".
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
▲* The American folk tale of John Henry tells of the man's victory in a hammerin' race against a steam-powered hammer. He wins, but the effort kills him. He dies with the old-fashioned hammer still in his hand.
== Radio ==
* Subverted in a strange and depressing sort of way by Arch Oboler's ''Lights Out'' radio short [http://thethunderchild.com/RadioDrama/LightsOut/TheChickenHeart.html "Chicken Heart"] (as made famous by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vPimtcK3-A Bill Cosby]); the scientist responsible for creating the spreading, cancerous blob of chicken muscle knows exactly how to stop the monster, but he can't get the authorities to [[Cloverfield|drop the hammer]] in time or with enough force. {{spoiler|If only they'd known about the monster-retardant properties of Jell-O.}}
== Recorded and Stand Up Comedy ==▼
▲== Stand Up Comedy ==
* Parodied by comedian Patton Oswalt in his standup routine where he lambasts science for allowing a couple in their sixties to conceive due to it being horrifying, Ending with the line "Hey, we made cancer airborne and contagious. You're welcome. We're science, we're all about could, not should". This, however, is an exception in that quite a few of his other routines exalt the virtues of science and progress, however.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Magic:
** Averted by other characters, however - Tocasia, Jhoira of the Ghitu, Venser of Urborg, Slobad of Mirrodin, and Arcum Dagsson are all extremely talented artificers, and all are unambiguously heroic. Urza was more...[[Anti
* [[White Wolf]]'s ''[[
** In ''Werewolf'', the PCs are basically shapechanging super-powered eco-terrorists.
** The Glass Walkers, a technophiliac tribe of the Garou Nation are held in contempt by most of the rest of the tribes, and called "urrah". And towards the end of the gameline, it shifted so fault for the world lay more heavily upon the Weaver, who was the one who drove the Wyrm mad and has plans to calcify all reality. The Glass Walkers are regarded by the other Garou tribes as hopelessly naive about the Weaver.
** In ''Mage'', it's not so much that technology is bad as it is that people are taught that technology is the only way; in this world, [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|reality is what people believe]], and believing there's no such thing as monsters or magic goes a long way to protect humans from the aforementioned shapechanging super-powered eco-terrorists and other supernatural beings out to victimize humanity. Unfortunately, this leads to [[Utopia Justifies the Means|giving up creativity and magic]]. Happily, as a counterexample proving that Science itself is not bad, we have the [[Weird Science|Etherites]] and [[Playful Hacker|Virtual Adepts]], and most members of the Technocratic Union (the main antagonists) are perfectly decent people who just happen to be on the wrong side from the players' point of view.
** ''[[
** The [[Broken Aesop]] of the entire [[
** In the ''[[
** The fanmade ''[[
* Kicked in the balls by ''[[Cthulhu Tech]]:'' the main reason why humans have a fighting chance is because science found a way to make Magitek and [[Humongous Mecha]].
{{quote|
* Settings where [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]. Of course, most of these worlds are [[Cyberpunk]] [[World Half Empty|dystopias]], so they often feature the
* ''[[SLA Industries]]'', where it's probably impossible to count all the examples of "SLA tries to solve their problems by engineering a new breed of super-monster, but it goes nuts and [[Turned Against Their Masters|turns against them]]".
* ''[[
* In ''[[
* In the original ''[[Dungeons
* Parodied in ''[[Paranoia (
== Theatre ==
* Steve Reich's "video opera" ''Three Tales'', an [[Author Filibuster]]-filled work that centres around the crash of the airship Hindenberg, the nuclear test at Bikini Atoll, and Dolly the cloned sheep.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'' inverts this as technology is neutral and it's actually ''magic'' that's screwing with the natural order.
* Frequently a side plot of many ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games, though never played straight.
** Subverted in ''[[
*** It's also the reason that the Al Bhed are ostracised from society; they've always made heavy use of machina, and are the only ones to speak out against the idea of the [[Appeal to Tradition|summoner's pilgrimage]], though this is mainly because of {{spoiler|the fact that the process ends up in the death of the summoner for what would only be a quick breather from Sin's malice}}.
** ''[[
* Played with in ''[[Okami]]'', where {{spoiler|[[God of Evil|Yami, God of Darkness]] is implied to be the originator of Technology and is basically a [[Humongous Mecha]] (albeit with a squishy core resembling that of a fishbowl)}} as well as the fact that the demons Lechku and Nechku are robotic owls. However, Waka's Tao Warriors use [[Magitek]] computers and the Moon Tribe apparently do have some access to advanced technology. In fact, helping a mechanic with his research will give Amaterasu the power to summon lightning. Ultimately, it seems that Science and Evil don't exactly go hand in hand.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'' the most prominent case is Doctor Lesko, a wannabe [[Mad Scientist]] who {{spoiler|created the fire ants that destroyed Grayditch}} in an experiment [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]. Despite this, the game makes it clear that Lesko is merely careless, not evil, and [[Science Hero|science-oriented players]] have the opportunity to lecture on him on proper experimental procedure.
** The ''[[
** In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', Veronica, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel and a potential companion is frustrated that the Brotherhood only cares about recovering and preserving specific technology from the pre-war days, such as [[Powered Armor]] and [[Energy Weapons]], but not develop new technology or find alternate uses for the stuff they have. Only one Elder insists on alternate avenues of research but his ideas are dismissed as insanity, mostly because he is the only Elder to gain his position via the Scribe route instead of Paladin.
** The New California Republic has scientists working round-the-clock trying to solve their power, food, and water problems.
** This is also one of the teachings of Caesar, who believe that technology led to the decadence of the old world, prohibiting any weapons that do not require infantry and medicine beyond tribal remedies (stating that those who depend on such are weak and deserved to be culled). {{spoiler|Of course, [[Hypocrite|Caesar himself has an Auto-Doc for his brain tumor and is willing to take Arcade Gannon as a physician]].}}
* ''[[Crystalis]]'' takes place 100 years after a nuclear war ends civilization. Since then, the people have abandoned science in favor of magic.
* Similar to [[Fan Nickname|"SatAM"]] ''[[Sonic
* ''[[Doom (
* While not exactly played straight in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'', the technology actually ''does'' have the unintended side effect {{spoiler|of summoning the Adephagos.}} As it turns out, in-universe, {{spoiler|all technology is actually powered by ''[[Nightmare Fuel|the souls of the Entelexeia, solidified and broken into fragments.]]
* This is Myria's viewpoint in ''[[Breath of Fire]] III''.
* There are good scientists in ''[[City of Heroes]]''. They're just constantly over shadowed by people like [[Mega Corp|Crey]], [[Those Wacky Nazis|the 5th Column, The Council]], and [[Playing
** There's also the enemy group called the [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Resident Evil]]: Science and evil are like best pals in the Resident Evil universe. Most, if not all, the troubles in the series are caused by groups of power hungry scientists who think it's a novel idea to use the T and G-Virus to create unstable monstrosities with a likelihood of things going wrong being above 105%. There is not one good scientist in the entire series and major villains like Albert Wesker and Alexia Ashford are the results of genetic engineering to create the ultimate super-being.
** Doubly so by the fact that the scientiests who started the research and are responsible for all the horror, are also the founders and owners of the company, so they can't get away with the usual "the man used my work for evil" excuse.
* While [[Spore]] doesn't go so far as to outright call science bad, it is notable that the Scientist archetype's special ability is the Gravity Wave, which instantly [[World
* In ''[[Alpha Centauri]]'', the science-based faction of the University of Planet has an increased number of drones due to 'unethical research'. The fundamentalist faction also rails against the (unrighteous) use of technology, though their leader Miriam is not a Luddite, rather fearing that humanity will lose control of their creations.
{{quote|
* In ''[[
* ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' 3 Tia and Jack were both orphaned in war for the technology of their home. They want to use Meteor G to destroy all the worlds technology.
== Web Original ==
* Technology articles on ''[[Cracked.com]]'' tend to fit the form, "Seven ways X Scientific Advancement Can Kill You" or "Eight More Animals That Can Horribly Kill You." Since ''Cracked'' is an entertainment site first and a news site fifty-seventh, it makes more sense this way.▼
* ''[[Ink City]]'' has attracted plenty of scientists, including [[Jimmy Two
** [[Pokémon|Mew]] believes that all science is inheritly evil, and that scientists are [[Complete Monster|soulless monsters]]. Due to this, she sees nothing wrong with [[Cold
==
* Brutally satirized in the [
▲* Technology articles on ''[[Cracked]]'' tend to fit the form, "Seven ways X Scientific Advancement Can Kill You" or "Eight More Animals That Can Horribly Kill You." Since ''Cracked'' is an entertainment site first and a news site fifty-seventh, it makes more sense this way.
▲* ''[[Ink City]]'' has attracted plenty of scientists, including [[Jimmy Two Shoes|Heloise]], [[El Tigre|Dr. Chipotle Jr.]], [[Megamind]], [[G La DOS]] and [[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Caroline]]. There are also characters who want to use science to analyze and control the unpredictable residents, like [[Aeon Flux|Trevor]].
▲** [[Pokémon|Mew]] believes that all science is inheritly evil, and that scientists are [[Complete Monster|soulless monsters]]. Due to this, she sees nothing wrong with [[Cold Blooded Torture|subjecting them to]] [[A Fate Worse Than Death]].
▲* Brutally satirized in [http://dresdencodak.com/2009/09/22/caveman-science-fiction/ this] ''[[Dresden Codak]]'' strip.
** Now has a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEChG1DKGvY live action version]!
* This sentiment is expressed by minor characters in ''[[
** In fairness, "sparks" and "science" are very much not the same thing. Sparks tend to be brilliant and crazy scientists (or, in one notable case, a brilliant and crazy social scientist), but there are also numerous non-spark scientists. Scientific progress would continue without sparks, it would just slow down.
* ''[[No Black Plume]]'' frequently parodies this, including a six-part series entitled "Science Will Ruin Your Life".
* ''[[Minimum Security]]'' is a very hard, left-leaning environmentalist comic that
== Western Animation ==
* Practically every episode of the first season of ''[[
* Dr. Blight from ''[[Captain Planet and
** Having said that, one Planeteer Alert encourages viewers to learn more about science, since science can be used for good.
* Parodied in ''[[The Simpsons (
** Another episode showed a similar mob set to burn Principal Skinner at the stake for insisting that the earth revolves around the sun.
** In the episode "Bart's Comet", when the eponymous comet burns up in Springfield's polluted atmosphere instead of destroying the town as predicted, Moe shouts "Let's go burn down the observatory so this never happens again!" Cue the angry mob.
* Delightfully parodied in any episode of ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' where they feature B-Movie star Oxnard Montalvo. ("The crawling spleen has grown an opposable thumb!")
* Averted in the [[Fan Nickname|"SatAM"]] ''[[Sonic
** The Roboticizer wasn't even ''his.'' Uncle Chuck invented it as a means of keeping people with terminal illnesses alive until a cure could be found, or even as a means of eliminating amputation. Of course, when Robotnik came to power, guess who was the first one to get thrown into the Roboticizer...?
** Sally Acorn, co-protagonist, [[
* Averted with [[Gadgeteer Genius|the Mechanist]] in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. It's true that he is pretty much destroying all the original architecture of one of the last Air Nomad temples to provide modern conveniences to his fellow refugees who now live in it, and manufacturing weapons for [[The Empire|the Fire Nation]], but he is actually portrayed quite positively (and the whole weapons manufacturing thing was due to Fire Nation forces threatening violence against his people, which they later carried out).
* Played straight in an episode of the computer animated ''[[The Garfield Show|Garfield]]'' series. The first half of the episode features Odie digging up a dinosaur bone, only to have the local museum threaten to get a court order evicting them from their home because "science is more important" the second part of the episode features a cleaning robot gone mad.
* In the ''[[
* While ''[[The Avengers:
* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' parodies this trope in "Tick vs. The Proto Clown", in which a scientist who loves clowns theorized that a ''bigger'' clown would be even funnier, and his creation is now terrorizing The City.
{{quote|
'''Scientist:''' [[Gone Horribly Wrong|I know that... now...]] }}
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTdzCAGH3lU Invention of Love]'' has [[Steampunk]] technology in a "too much of a good thing" sense. Mechanical horses? Awesome! A house full of appliances? Convenient! A polluted city without any natural flora or fauna? Throwing away the rose your true love gave you when it wilts ''[[Up to Eleven|and building a mechanical replacement]]''? ...not so much.
== Real Life ==
* Everything can be bad, if misused. Usually, [[Averted Trope|science is good]].
** Which makes this trope especially ironic, given that people expressing this belief often utilize quite a bit of science and technology.
* Many social justice bloggers think that science is "colonialist" and "white people's power" and talk about how people using science to decide on what the world is like is oppressive, [[Hypocrite|even as they type on their laptop with their high speed internet connection]].
* Any worker who has lost his job to a machine and then worried where his children's next meal will come from is understandably likely to express [[Ludd Was Right|this sentiment]]. Of course, the engineer that designed the machine and the technician operating and maintaining it, both which can now stop worrying about where their children's meals will come from, tend to have the opposite sentiment.
* Socrates once grumbled that, as ''writing'' became a more universal skill, people would become forgetful because they could simply write things down.
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** But there is also data to suggest that taking notes aid in retention of knowledge. So, who can say?
* Similarly, obesity is becoming a problem as physical labor becomes less necessary, while the nutrition (including fat) density of food goes up and hyperstimulants act on humans' in-built desires and cause them to eat more.
* This is a primary view of the Anarcho-Primitivist movement, and John Zerzan especially, who condemns ''writing and abstract thought'' as among other things, they lead to, you guessed it, technology and science. "Technology" simply means tool-making, something humans (and chimps, and crows...) do by nature, so [[Humans Are
** For those of you wondering what Zerzan ''does'' approve of, his ideal is basically one of acting on little more (''if'' more) than immediate desire and instinct. Not to mention a way of experiencing one's environment that's open to its
** It's also worth noting that many anarcho-primitivists don't abjure tools, in the sense of objects utilized and/or modified for a very specific task (q.v. crows), and (more importantly) not requiring specialization. The sort of technology they think has no place in a viable society is the sort that requires just such specialization (and, by corollary, relinquishing of anything ''else'' you could do for the people...even if you yourself ''initially'' sought to abjure the other tasks to fine-tune that one goal, apparently). This basically means anything more complex than a kayak, bow, or fishing weir. Science is Bad here because it tempts one towards that which requires mandated labor division.
* It bears repeating that in fictional works, as in real life, science and technology are often treated as interchangeable, though they are not. Often a criticism of a particular application of a technology, or of its social repercussions, but may not be a criticism of the scientific method of study and problem solving - but are grouped under the anti-science label anyway - either by mistake or as an attempt to discredit the criticism. As mentioned above, Luddism was more a social/political movement focusing on the role of industrialization on labor displacement and working-class oppression, than a pure [[Irrational Hatred]] of technology (in modern popular usage, the context is edited out, and "Luddite" basically means primitive and reactionary).
** On the same note, efforts to point out bad science can also get shoved under the anti-science label, for the same reasons.
* Theodore Kaczynski, [
* One of the many things the Khmer Rouge killed people for was being educated. They wanted a technology-free society, and they pretty much got
* [[Nicolas Gomez Davila|Nicolás Gómez Dávila]], the Colombian philosopher, believed [http://don-colacho.blogspot.com/2010/01/technique-technology.html wholeheartedly] in this.
* [[
** Taoism, as with all ancient advice, is very vulnerable to misinterpretation. The flowery wordplay and metaphors of the ancient sages if anything only make it more-so. However, the underlying message is basically just Ockham's Razor, which isn't particularly anti-science NOR paradoxical. What Taoism is against is redundant complexity.
* There is a little bit of [[Fridge Horror]] when you realize that science actually needs conflict to develop. Most of the major advancements mankind made were either made for war initially, or put to use in war later. One real life example was [[World War 2]], where the horrible acts by the Nazis and Japanese actually advanced medical science, and we probably would not have nuclear power plants or sources of energy if it were not for the atomic bombs. These are only two examples on a very long list.
* This became all but an acknowledged policy of the American Republican Party in the post-[[Donald Trump|Trump]] era, born in part out of Trump's initial refusal to acknowledge the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] as anything but a "liberal hoax" and later turning practically all measures intended to help slow the disease into tools of a cultural and political war against the Middle and Left. This inevitably merged with pre-existing anti-vaccine and Fundamentalist Christian anti-evolution groups, as well as expanding a growing party antipathy toward education in general (for example, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/10/gop-lawmaker-said-us-should-get-rid-colleges-being-liberal-breeding-grounds Tennessee state senator Kerry Roberts in 2019 declaring he wanted to shut down colleges and universities in his state for being "liberal breeding grounds"]), until the Republican party was openly courting fringe groups whose tenets made them useful for supporting party goals.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Power At a Price]]
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