Science Is Bad: Difference between revisions

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** 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, [[AI Is a Crapshoot]], things go south fast, and our heroes must pull the plug and save the day, but not before the sorrowful moments where Kirk faces the thought he may become obsolete. The scientist who designed the computer also turns out to be insane at the end, just to drive the point home.

* ''[[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 {{YMMV mileage may vary}} as to whether the accomplishments are worth the cost. This is especially obvious when comparing and contrasting Walter and Walternate; each crosses lines that the other will not. For example, Walter is willing to experiment on children while [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child|Walternate is not]], but Walternate is willing to trap people alive in amber while Walter is not.

** 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 [[YMMV|mileage may vary]] as to whether the accomplishments are worth the cost. This is especially obvious when comparing and contrasting Walter and Walternate; each crosses lines that the other will not. For example, Walter is willing to experiment on children while [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child|Walternate is not]], but Walternate is willing to trap people alive in amber while Walter is not.

* 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.