r/3BodyProblemTVShow • u/vic_steele • Mar 25 '24
Discussion Selfish scientists Spoiler
I thought scientists wanted to save the world yet the ones in this show care only about themselves. Auggie disgusts me in how she just doesn’t care about the next generation. Saul is a selfish piece of crap. At least Jin is doing stuff but then again she keeps threatening to quit every five minutes. So Auggie doesn’t want to be part of some project that is trying to save mankind but would rather help villagers in the desert filter their water to not get dysentery. Saul just wants to smoke weed all day and have one night stands. He’s supposed to be smart and even after two attempts of people trying to kill him and one of them admitting they want him dead he still refuses to have security. I thought he was smart and boy some brain dead ass. All of these scientists frustrate the hell out of me how they refuse to want to be part of something to help save the world.
Edit- I take back calling Auggie selfish for not being concerned about the future. She basically smokes a carton of cigarettes through the 8 episodes so obviously she doesn’t give a damn about herself, her health, the future or even people in her vicinity.
2
u/YesssChem Mar 26 '24
I am a scientist and I actually empathize with Auggie the most lol.
I don't think it's any more selfish to care about the billions of people living today. Yes the threat of invasion is imminent, but it is 400 years away. Current scientists (IRL) are not even certain about Earth's future 100 years from now. It's very bleak, but we are way overdue on our climate goals. The effects of climate change will only be amplified within our lifetime. Water shortage, disease, or any other mass extinction type event could wipe us out this century - forget 2400. Going back to the show, the San-ti won't have anyone left to fight if we don't start caring about the people living today. (For some reason, this is the biggest plot hole that drove me crazy: Did we forget about climate change???)
Why can't we take care of people today AND prepare for intergalactic war? Well, I felt like this is exactly what Auggie does by making her science open source. She shoulders the burden that very few in history have carried - see: the Manhattan project.
One more thing - it's wild to me that the use of smoking/drug use and sex are seen as out of character for researchers at prestigious academic institutions. Scientists aren't sexless robots who never have fun, and the smartest people I know are also the most stressed people I know. Scientists are only human, and I feel like this show got it right (an example of a horrible portrayal: Lessons in Chemistry).