Blinded (with Science?)

[itmeanscourage]

Furious, flustered and frightened, Isamu didn’t stop running until he’d reached the plaza. Out of breath, he sunk down behind one of the larger walls.

“Of all the… it is preposterous. That is what it is…” he huffed to himself, trying to gather his thoughts. “If I were actually collecting data without consent, or in direct violation of consent, that would be one thing… but a meta-analysis? A review of pre-existing literature? How can anyone object to that on ethical grounds?!”

Someone had, though. And that someone happened to be his brother’s girlfriend. Of course, it was not a question of if Minoru would find out about an argument heated enough to make the Anthean’s eyes glow. Just a question of when.

But at the moment, Isamu wasn’t even thinking about that.

“Is curiosity, in and of itself, a crime? If learning something new is satisfying or even pleasurable, does that automatically make it as reprehensible as getting high?” He pondered loud enough for any passersby to hear him. “Is science, simply because it requires empirical evidence, ideologically unethical? Where, between theory and practice, is that line drawn and who, if anyone, has the right to decide when it is crossed?!”

Comments

[dr_fringe]

"You respect these scientists but clearly reject thier view on consequences by ignoring your own ability to cause consequences that you won't want?" Walter was trying to follow along through upsetting himself over his own work.

"I don't imagine you were talking about something as simple as a wheel when you upset the person... I've forgotten thier name... but using comparisons that are exaggerated to ridiculous states to ignore someone else's experience doesn't speak of someone who values nor respects thier fellow scientists."

Walter has been on both sides of this conversation. He has been the young man who wouldn't listen and now, sometimes he is the experienced scientist no one else listens to, how the tables have turned.

"You should open your mind before someone else, or something dreadful, opens it for you." The dark cloud he feels sometimes, the despair, is slowing his rate of speech. "I hope for your sake, and everyone around you, when you learn of consequences for selfish curiosity that the universe, universes, are kinder to you than they have been to me for mine."

[itmeanscourage]

“The point I was attempting to make, just now, is that a great many consequences are unintended, unpredictable even after careful consideration is made and all necessary checks and balances are adhered to.” Isamu clarified. “I am aware that the offensive argument was over far deeper issues than a wheel, but the hyperbole is valid. Should we, as scientists make no progress, no discovery at all, for fear that something we think, say, create or do should have even the slightest potential for a negative consequence to someone else? Could you honestly have predicted what occurred in your world at the time you were researching? Without the gift of hindsight?”

That was not a challenge. It was a sincere question.

When his frustration subsides, he’ll probably feel guilty about triggering Ziggy, or even some if the things he said and the harsh tone in which he said them. But Isamu could not understand taking blame for things he was not responsible for.

[dr_fringe]

"No! You ignore the consequences and responsibility because you believe, inside, that you won't feel them." Walter is not backing down. "This other person, you said they were upset, yes? Obviously, they see the consequences. I had many people in my life angry with me for the same reason, I didn't care because I saw myself as invincible, free of consequences. I never saw that thier anger was fear, for themselves and for what would happen to me."

Walter breathes heavily. "Yes, I suspected there would be consequences, for myself, for other people. Any good scientist should extrapolate out to know the consequences of thier work. Thought experiments, yes? We can always imagine impacts but usually ambition and feelings of superiority convince us that we don't need to or that it isn't important compared to our desires."

Walter is talking about his own youth as much as general commentary at this point but then he has a question. "This person you upset, have you considered what they see? Not for you the scientist, but as an observer without any fame or benefit from your thought?"

[itmeanscourage]

His eyes narrowed as he stared back at the older man. “No! I am not ignoring the consequences, nor all of the responsibility! Only responsibility for that which cannot be reasonably extrapolated from current data without the gift of something akin to prophecy or future sight!”

And that, surprisingly, was where the defensive outburst stopped. Isamu’s eyes suddenly widened in shock.

“Which… which he has…” he stuttered a moment. “The individual with whom I had this argument. That is an ability which he and other members of his species has. It was the topic which spurred the example hypothetical experiment to explore what regions of the brain are active during said visions compared with senses of sight and hearing…”

Isamu was quiet. He was thinking, and not just about Walter’s experience. He was, in fact, doing what the other scientist suggested. He was trying to put himself in Ziggy’s shoes. (As best a human ever could.)

He didn’t say it, but he and Ziggy had had multiple scientifically-minded conversations over the time they’d both been in the Nexus. Sometimes the Anthean happily assisted with experiment design, volunteered ideas, or consented to participate. Other times, Ziggy was highly defensive or angry. It honestly varied. Perhaps it depended largely on what was on the Anthean’s mind at the time. Perhaps Isamu was just trying to impose order on something that was inherently chaotic. After all, Ziggy kept trying to tell him that he could never understand how an Anthean’s mind worked.

Eventually, he replied, “I… I admit I do not fully understand how, but I… must have literally terrified him… quite possibly on multiple levels which I lack the ability to perceive or understand.”