History PlayingWith / AchievementsInIgnorance

** Therm has thought processes different from his peers, so he tends to try solutions that nobody else has thought of (or [[ViolationOfCommonSense would reasonably consider]]). As a result, it's only natural that the secrets to at least some things thought couldn't be accomplished are cracked by his unorthodox methods.

** Therm is aware of, and frequently exploits ''in-universe'' glitches.
** Therm achieves creates something grand and different in a new way because he wrongly thought something easily done was impossible.

* '''Zig-Zagged''': Therm can create impossible things and do impossible deeds because he doesn't understand that they're impossible, but then it is revealed that he does understand and is feigning ignorance. Then the others find that he isn't just feigning ignorance, but is in fact powering his achievements with ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve and is consciously ignorant, carefully keeping himself from new knowledge. But this revelation damages his ability to create, as he knows how he is capable of these feats and thus can no longer be capable of them. Then, someone [[EasyAmnesia hits him with a hammer]] and it's all back to normal.

** [[TheSmartGuy Alice]] gets [[Film/{{Amadeus}} Salieri]] levels of upset at Therm because the (extremely vile and ban-worthy barrage of insults regarding Therm's intellectual capacity) ''[[IdiotHoudini idiot]]'' can make physics his bitch just because he never read a freaking book. Even the things that just make sense - you don't need to be Sir Isaac Newton to know about gravity, all it takes is to trip.

** Alice and Bob were running away from Therm and destroy a bridge to prevent him from murdering them. [[HopeSpot They get about two seconds to breathe easy]] before Therm comes charging on the air through the chasm like a psychotic Road Runner and kills them both. Bob's LameLastWords are a puzzled [[ThisCannotBe "it can't be…!"]]

* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': The writer uses Therm's ignorance of our world's physics, chemistry, biology, etc. as {{foreshadowing}} that there's [[TheMultiverse a multiverse]] out there and he has crossed boundaries … and can get up to some weird business while he's here.

* '''Played for Drama''': Therm's reliance on his lack of or incorrect knowledge to accomplish things alienates him from Alice and Bob.

** "Someone should tell Therm you can't ride a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs T-rex]] while flying a rocket at the same time."

** Therm is taunted for his ignorance and decides to become intelligent by studying hard. Because of this, Therm loses what really made him special since he now understands limits of reality, and can't accidentally cross them.

** It's found that the education system needs reform, having put too much emphasis on rote memorization of rules and laws about how the universe works without allowing the space for critical thinking and analyzing ''why''. Said "rules" were intended to be just heuristics, not the hard-and-fast "this is how the universe always works" type, but had been useful shortcuts until now; but times have changed and they fit much less well than they once did. Ignorance of these rules opens new possibilities of study and the formulation of more "rules" that seek to explain everything, but those in turn have holes or gaps that allow people ignorant of ''those'' rules to achieve things that those rules say shouldn't be possible.

** Alice and Bob were running away from Therm and destroy a bridge to prevent him from murdering them. [[HopeSpot They get about two seconds to breathe easy]] before Therm comes charging on the air through the chasm like a psychotic Road Runner and kills them both. Bob's LameLastWords are a puzzled "it can't be…!"
** Therm may not know how the heck gravity works and that may be an influential factor, but this is just proof that [[HumanoidAbomination there is something very wrong with Therm]] and it is going to end badly for everybody if Therm has ignorance of other things like "thou shalt not kill"…
* '''Implied''': An HR person, interviewing Therm for a job application, tells him, "[[AsYouKnow Obviously you're very accomplished.]] But how did you accomplish so much?" Therm can only say, "Honestly, I don't know how."

** Alice and Bob were running away from Therm and destroy a bridge to prevent him from murdering them. [[HopeSpot They get about two seconds to breathe easy]] before Therm comes charging on the air through the chasm like a psychotic Road Runner and kills them both. Bob's LameLastWords are a puzzled "ItCannotBe…!"

* '''Played for Horror''': Thanks to his ignorance, Therm inadvertently does the impossible and summons an EldritchAbomination.

** "Someone should tell Therm you can't ride a [[TyrannosaurusRex T-rex]] while flying a rocket at the same time."

** Therm tries to do something. Not knowing it's impossible, he keeps trying and trying and trying and trying. He's getting nowhere.
* '''Enforced''': "You know what'd be funny? Someone not falling down a cliff, because they didn't know they were supposed to!"

** Only one thing can happen when Emperor Evulz [[ReminderOfImpossibility lectures Therm on gravity]] while he's ''standing above a pit of lava''.

** While Therm is standing midair, someone hands him a physics book.

* '''Untwisted''': He knew it was impossible ... according to the prevailing intellectual framework. But Therm comes from another school of thought, which finds that what he's doing is completely possible and entirely explicable.

* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': The writer uses Therm's ignorance of our world's physics, chemistry, biology, etc. as {{foreshadowing}} that there's [[TheMultiverse a multiverse]] out there and he has crossed boundaries ... and can get up to some weird business while he's here.

Back to '''Achievements in Ignorance'''.[[note]]Wow! ... How did you do that? That wasn't a real link![[/note]]

** Not knowing that the sets of integers are uncountable, Therm derives a countable representation of the integer sets. Upon analysis by those who know, a paradox in set theory is discovered: Set S_26374857349458475849837485748754858457840 both contains and doesn't contain 26374857349458475849837485748754858457840.[[note]]The standard proof that the sets of integers are uncountable is to construct the set containing ''n'' if and only if S_''n'' doesn't contain ''n''. That means that this new set differs from every set S_''n'' by at least one number.[[/note]]

** A character can't do something because he didn't realize it's possible.

** Not knowing that such a thing is (literally) inconceivable, Larry conceives of, and draws, a four-sided triangle.[[note]]It's [[TakeOurWordForIt never shown]] to the audience or readers.[[/note]]

** Therm is sent off to perform some task because of his ignorance of its impossibility, and the others make damn sure he doesn't find out it's impossible.

** It's found that the education system, which has put too much emphasis on rote memorization of rules and laws about how the universe works without allowing the space for critical thinking and analyzing ''why'', needs reform. Said "rules" weren't intended to be the hard-and-fast "this is how the universe always works" type but had been shortcuts that hitherto worked well enough to save time, but times had changed and they are no longer as good a fit as they once were. The ignorance of these rules opens up new possibilities of study and the formulation of more "rules" that attempt to explain everything, but those in turn end up having holes or gaps that allow those ignorant of ''those'' rules to achieve things that those rules say shouldn't be possible.

----
%%Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%* '''Untwisted''': ???
%%* '''Played for Drama''': ???

** Therm realizes that, because AchievementsInIgnorance are possible, that ''anything'' is possible. He instantly becomes a RealityWarper.

** The producers, directors, screenwriters, etc.: "We mustn't attack science or encourage anti-science thinking, by portraying scientists as ignorant of their subject, and having the scientific illiterate doing things or inventing things purely based on their ignorance."

** "Someone should tell Therm you can't ride a T-rex while flying a rocket at the same time."

** Therm is the most powerful warrior, not because he can handle his weapon, but because he can unlock his true potential whenever he wants to, and gets forced to move away from those he cares about because of this ability. They later find out that his ignorance actually had a reason for overcoming the limit, and bring him back so they can find out how to.

** The education system, which has put too much emphasis on rote memorization of rules and laws about how the universe works without allowing the space for critical thinking and analyzing ''why'', is found to need reform. Said "rules" weren't intended to be the hard-and-fast "this is how the universe always works" type but had been shortcuts that hitherto worked well enough to save time, but times had changed and they are no longer as good a fit as they once were. The ignorance of these rules opens up new possibilities of study and the formulation of more "rules" that attempt to explain everything, but those in turn end up having holes or gaps that allow those ignorant of ''those'' rules to achieve things that those rules say shouldn't be possible.

* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': The writer uses Therm's ignorance of our world's physics, chemistry, biology, etc. as {{foreshadowing}} that there's [[TheMultiverse a multiverse]] out there and he has crossed boundaries … and can get up to some weird business while he's here.

** Therm can do the impossible when he doesn't understand that it's impossible, because he doesn't know that Achievements In Ignorance are themselves impossible.

** AliceAndBob, the two other heroes, both [[EasyAmnesia hit each-other with hammers]] to forget about gravity and fly, after seeing Therm's ability.

** It is found that the education system was in need of reform, putting too much emphasis on rote memorization of rules and laws about how the universe works without allowing the space for critical thinking and analyzing ''why'' -- such "rules" weren't intended to be the hard-and-fast "this is how the universe always works" type but had been shortcuts that in previous circumstances worked well enough to save time but times had changed and they are no longer as good a fit as they once were. The ignorance of these rules opens up new possibilities of study and the formulation of more "rules" that attempt to explain everything, but those in turn end up having holes or gaps that allow those ignorant of ''those'' rules to achieve things that those rules say shouldn't be possible.

Back to '''Achievements In Ignorance'''.[[note]]Wow!.. How did you do that? That wasn't a real link![[/note]]

%%* '''Implied:''': ???
%%* '''Untwisted:''': ???
%%* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': ???

** Only one thing can happen when Emperor Evulz [[ReminderOfImpossibility lectures Therm on gravity] while he's ''standing above a pit of lava''.

** Only one thing can happen when Emperor Evulz lectures Therm on gravity while he's ''standing above a pit of lava''.

** Therm knows not only that it's impossible, but ''why''... And from there, figures out how to '''make''' it possible.

* '''Double Subverted''': After he says that, someone points out that its impossible to do something on virtue of awesomeness alone.

** Not knowing that the sets of integers are uncountable, Therm derives a countable representation of the integer sets. Upon analysis by those who know, a paradox in set theory is discovered: Set S_26374857349458475849837485748754858457840 both contains and doesn't contain 26374857349458475849837485748754858457840.[[note]]The standard proof that the sets of integers are uncountable is to construct the set containing ''n'' if and only if S_''n'' doesn't contain ''n''. That means that this new set differs from every set S_''n'' by at least one number.[[\note]]
* '''Zig Zagged''': Therm can create impossible things and do impossible deeds because he doesn't understand that they're impossible- but then it is revealed that he does understand and is feigning ignorance- until they find that he isn't just feigning ignorance, but is in fact powering his achievements with ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve and is consciously ignorant, carefully keeping himself from new knowledge- but this revelation damages his ability to create, as he knows how he is capable of these feats and thus can no longer be capable of them- then someone [[EasyAmnesia hits him with a hammer]] and it's all back to normal.

* '''Lampshaded''': "Big Bad's plan may be foolproof, but it's not Therm-proof!"

** Only one thing can happen when Emperor Evulz lectures Therm on gravity while he's ''standing above a pit of lava.''

** The producers, directors, screenwriters, etc: "We mustn't attack science or encourage anti-science thinking, by portraying scientists as ignorant of their subject, and having the scientific illiterate doing things or inventing things purely based on their ignorance."

** "If one doesn't understand the subject matter of what one is attempting to invent or achieve, one is simply trying random things one after the other, hoping to hit a bulls-eye. One won't even achieve the ordinarily possible, let alone the impossible."

** Education is deprecated; only the ignorant can achieve or invent anything new. [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour "Ignorance is Strength."]]

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

* '''Straight''': Therm can [[GravityIsAHarshMistress ignore gravity]] because nobody ever told him how it works.

** Not knowing that the sets of integers are uncountable, Therm derives a countable representation of the integer sets. Upon analysis by those who know, a paradox in set theory is discovered: Set S_26374857349458475849837485748754858457840 both contains and doesn't contain 26374857349458475849837485748754858457840.[[note]]The standard proof that the sets of integers are uncountable is to construct the set containing ''n'' if and only if S_''n'' doesn't contain ''n''. That means that this new set differs from every set S_''n'' differs by at least one number.[[\note]]

** "Someone should tell Therm you can't ride a T rex while flying a rocket at the same time."

** Gravity only affects those who already know about it, so there's no way to learn about it in the first place. As a result, there is no gravity.

* '''Defied''': While Therm is standing midair, someone hands him a physics book.