Last week we read a piece called A Measure of Restraint by Chet Raymo. In this piece, Raymo, a science professor, discusses the "risks that are sometimes imposed by knowledge." In other words, he is warning scientists of the dangers of experimenting with something unknown. That weekend, I went to see the new Avengers movie and with Raymo's story fresh in my mind, I realized that Raymo's piece directly ties to Avengers: Age of Ultron's main plot.
Since the title is "Age of Ultron," it can be inferred that Ultron will be a huge part of the movie. Created by Tony Stark to save the world, Ultron was designed to prevent any threat the world faces. However, Ultron has artificial intelligence so he can think on his own. Seeing all the destruction people cause, he comes to the conclusion that the only way to save the world is to destroy it.
Tony did have good intentions, but as Thor says in the picture to the right, "this could have been avoided if [Tony] hadn't played with something [he doesn't] understand." He was so focused on the benefits of the Ultron program that he forgot about the "potential danger" this program can bring. The larger the benefits of a discovery the greater the danger. If Tony had a little "self-restraint," this whole crisis would have never happened. Of course this is a superhero movie so Ultron was defeated in the end. But if this happened in the real world, maybe not artificial intelligence but something equally as dangerous, there is no telling what would happen. This movie and Raymo's piece should serve as a warning to scientists that good intentions can lead to dangerous results if the consequences, as well as the benefits, of a discovery aren't considered. 