Cultural representations of both mad scientists and evil magicians abound, as shown in the following twenty minute playlist. But why? What do scientists and magicians have in common? Why is there a part of us that fears them? If knowledge is power, is knowledge dangerous? Does the average person feel excluded in some way from both scientific and magical expertise? And what should we be wary of in the 21st century as we continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and redraw the line that separates what is possible from what is impossible?
Genius and magic are both very powerful tools. It all depends on how you use them. The media portraits them as evil more often than not because it makes for a good story. Most people don't wanna watch a show about how a scientist finds the cure to cancer. People want to watch a scientist crack the human genome to create a monster with unbelievable power. And, to be honest, evil magic is cooler than good magic.
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