In Old World Blues, Science has Outpaced Ethics

Note: I'm warning you right now. I'm going to spoil the crap out of the Fallout: New Vegas DLC, Old World Blues.

Humanity is at all times the victim, the beneficiary, and the slave of Science. That's the take-home message in Old World Blues.

Here are the basics: you, as the courier, are the muscle for a group of science geeks who've taken the next logical step in the evolution of scrawny nerds – removing their brains from their bodies, suspending their gray matter in colored vats of goop, strapped to floating robots. They've seemingly locked themselves in a control room known as “The Think Tank”.

Unfortunately, they're the first faction the Courier comes across. They're the only force in the Big MT (pronounced Big Empty) research facility that isn't trying to actively kill you. From the onset, an alliance with The Think Tank is the only hope of survival. Too bad for the Courier, they're callous enough to send you on suicide missions, while “conducting tests” along the way.

It seems that the last “good” force in Big MT has also dispelled any pretense of scientific ethics as well. As these tests often put the Courier's life at risk, while forcing him to fend off all sorts of hostile monstrosities with deadly force.

It would seem that, in their absolute pursuit of knowledge, The Think Tank had to shed off any moral qualms. Bit MT is littered with failed and successful experiments. Things like the Lobotomites - humans who have had their brains replaced with Tesla Coils, just 'cuz. Or the Cazadores - enlarged, poisonous flies that have been the terror of many New Vegas players. Or the Dog-gun - a gun controlled by a surgically removed dog's brain.

There's a smorgasbord of unethical experiments going on in Big MT. Most of them completely out of control. In the words of The Think Tank, “The problems outpaced the solutions.” Every problem was solved through new scientific discovery, itself leading to a new set of problems.

There's something to be learned from that statement. Think of it this way: science is traversing its way through a huge mountain range, one that doesn't appear to have any end. Every time the peak of a new scientific breakthrough is conquered, we survey the land to figure out what else is out there. Every time, all we learn is that there are a dozen more mountains to climb than was originally thought.

Repeat this process for every summit science reaches, and the problems quickly out-pace the solutions.

In the Fallout universe, humanity has struggled with this conundrum and, as a result, nearly lost everything. Old World Blues teaches that it's easy for us to blame science every time a breakthrough leads to some horrible realization. Or worse.

In the wastelands, it's true that humanity has been the victim of scientific advancement - without new discoveries, there would have been no nuclear holocaust.

But humanity around New Vegas still benefits from science - to the point of complete dependance. There would have been no Mr. Handy, no tools for the advancement of society, no convenience. Even during the war, much of humanity survived by hiding inside the testament to its own needy relationship with science: the Vaults.

That neediness has left humanity enthralled to science.

Here, we see The Courier is the victim, beneficiary and slave of science. Instead of Nuclear Bombs, his apocalypse is much more personal – his heart, brain, and spine are all removed as part of an experiment that should have made him a Lobotomite.

Yet, he survived.

And he is the beneficiary of these new technologies, as the replacements installed leave him faster, stronger, and more capable of dealing with his harsh reality. Unfortunately, this also makes him a slave to Big MT, as he's left with no choice but to work for the cold, callous Think Tank – the very things responsible for his predicament. Had they any shred of ethics, The Courier would have never fallen into this.

In his (or her) case, the problems have undeniably outpaced the solutions. But, there's a way out. He has to search his conscience, test his convictions and survive the gauntlet of Big MT.

Much in the same way, Old World Blues says that science has to listen to its conscience, stick to its convictions, and survive the temptation of justifying anything and everything in the name of advancement.

Big MT is a premonition into a possible reality where “Ethics” is purely a word for the toolkit of the Wasteland's philosophers. It has the weight of a helium balloon – a stiff breeze could untether it, never to be seen again.

“It can be easy to see science as evil; technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes,” but the truth is Science is benign. It has no motivation. Much like a gun, scientific research is a tool. You can use it however you choose. If you want to kill everything in sight, that's your choice. If you want to use it to feed your family, you can do that too.

It's up to us to make sure the problems don't outpace the solutions.