Character analysis on Senku Ishigami and why his scientific philosophy deviates from the "smart but cold protagonist" archetype.

[A THREAD - PART 1]
#DrSTONE2 #drstoneseason2

Let us begin by saying that Senku is not only smart, he is also a vocational scientist, thus all his decisions and thought process are set by this specific dogma.

Let as take as an example characters like Light Yagami (Death Note),Lelouch (Code Geass) or Norman (TPN)

Now, while it's true that these three characters,and all of those that fall under the smart trope category aren't necessarily emotionless; "logic" plays a big role during their decision-making in a majority of cases.

Which then begs the question, what type of logic?

And this is why Senku being a scientist is so important.

We are all familiar with the scientific method.
Senku observes a situation,tries to come up with a hypothesis to explain it ,then tries proving that hypothesis and finally reaches a conclusion and theory.

You may be asking well yes isnt this the logical process of every other smart character whether they estate its the scientific process or not?

And you're not wrong, scientific logic is based upon mathematical axiomes and observable truths and we all unconsciously partake in it.

But then why are Norman(i.e)and Senku different from eachother?

It's actually quite obvious, it's the same reason why Tsukasa and Senku are different in the first place.
Because Senku's philosophy is science.

Science can often get mixed up with utilitarianism.

Utilitarian thought, is an important part of science but ultimately the approach to science and engineering is completely human and can take many ethical approaches.

Science is the accumulation of human knowledge,it is knowledge itself,all gathered together with the intent of driving humanity into a brighter future.Passing information from generation to generation and keeping its flame alive through human curiosity.

Science was first used to adapt and evolve as a species, to overcome a situation. Science is born out of NEED.Humans could've lived as other animals still do,our bodies would've evolved to adapt or in the worst case our species would have come to an end like many before us.

We took a different route.Which can be seen in the episodes that shows post-petrification Senku survive from scratch.
Curiosity sparked innovation and the gears of humanities development slowly began moving forward.
Better life quality, thats the main goal.

But doesn't science rely on facts and ethics rely on opinions or subjective realities?
Well yes and no.
Science relies on facts when it comes to observing phenomena and give an explanation,but the application?
Enter ethics.
Science and philosophy have always evolved together.

Now I'm gonna be a bit nitpicky with Senku here.
Belief and science being two different things is a relatively recent development.
Kepler dedicated all his life to prove how the universe works following the perfectly reality created by God only to come to the opposite conclusion.

Science is also linked to faith.
Scientist due to their limitations as humans build theories upong past data to predict future phenomena.
Nothing stops the universe from changing how it functions or behaves suddenly.
Scientist need to have faith that it will remain the same.

By this reasoning, analyzing science just by its utilitarian purpose isn't accurate, society and ethics play a big role.
Which leads us back to our initial comparison.

When it comes down to it the different between each "smart character" is not their thought process but their ethics behind them.
Norman takes utilitarianism to the extreme becoming a martyr ,light does the same but only for personal gain.
Its the trolley paradox.

It goes as follows,you're in a trolley down 2 railways
Would you rather:
-Sacrifice one person tied on track A
-Sacrifice all the people that it takes
(X amount of people) tied on track B
-Crash the trolley and sacrifice yourself/everyone in it
The utilitarian answer would be A

However Senku does none of this.
His science doesn't allow any of these.
Senku would find a way to STOP the trolley in the first place.
Plan D

Of course when talking about his ethics im centered around the goal since some of his actions even if well-intended can be questionable.
But there's no doubt that Senku's science is anthropologically speaking; optimistic.He believes in human progress as the key to development.

A nice detail that I've always liked is how this philosophy clashes against Xeno's and why his character brings out this aspect of Senku.

While Tsukasa took a complete different route in terms of civilisation,both Xeno and Senku use science.Once more its their ethics what separates them.Xeno is what Senku could've become if his faith in humanity wasn't as strong.A misanthrope that takes matters into his own hands.

The constant difficulties in the modern world to accept scientific advances made him realize what modern society really wanted.The only way to advance elegantly through science as he sees is if he is leading.Theres a god complex at work here.Moreover Xeno is OK with casualties

In that sense he is more utaliaristic than Senku;yes, he cared for him as a mentor but Senku was a potential threat,one that needed to be taken care of if he wanted to achieve his goal as effectively as possible.The end justifies the means, machiavellianism vs Senku's optimism.

Because in the end Senku isn't emotionless,he just isn't verbal about it.
When Byakuya got him the lab, he helped him train and made the suit to help him become an astronaut.
He never doubted Yuzuriha or Taiju,he put a lot of trust in them to revive him even if he could've died.

While the Cola is presented as the reason Gen joined the KoS it is clear Senku would've helped Gen even if he knew he would go back to Tsukasa.
He helped Ruri even tho he could prepare against Tsukasa during that time.
He used food to boost morale
Everything he did,had some care.

Essentially Senku hides his affection through fake utaliarism saying its a way to trick peoe into becoming manpower.
Even when he purposefully tricks someone he is conscious of his impact and public opinion( i.e. Senku's and Gen hell scene)