Basic Trope: A scientist looks down on those who study or work in the softer sciences.
- Straight: Alice, a physicist, mocks Bob for being a sociologist.
- Exaggerated: Alice disdains every science that isn't physics. Even engineering, as she claims it "taints" physics with its practical applications.
- Downplayed: Alice is mildly distrustful of soft science.
- Justified:
- Alice works in a university under an oppressive government, and doesn't want students learning anything that could encourage them to think for themselves and question the status quo.
- Alternately, under said oppressive government, the social sciences are heavily distorted towards fascist ideals, and Bob is the one who wants to indoctrinate students.
- Alice was bullied and called a nerd in school by people who preferred the humanities over physics, so she now uses snobbery as a defense mechanism.
- Inverted: Bob, a sociologist, mocks physicist Alice because he thinks the hard sciences are useless.
- Subverted: Alice makes a snarky comment about Bob's sociology degree, but it turns out to just be friendly ribbing. She actually has a great deal of respect for his field of expertise.
- Double Subverted: Until he publishes a study so flawed that it taints her view of sociology.
- Parodied: Alice says people who study psychology need professional help.
- Averted: Alice doesn't look down on soft sciences.
- Lampshaded: "Alice is a nightmare to work with. She thinks degrees in anything other than STEM subjects are only useful as toilet paper."
- Exploited: Because Alice's disdain for philosophy means she never developed critical thinking skills, Carl scams her by using Logical Fallacies.
- Implied: When Bob mentions his job as a sociology professor, Alice looks down her nose at him.
- Enforced: "Bob needs an academic rival. How about one of those hard science snobs?"
- Invoked: Alice's parents give her excessive praise for her scientific skills throughout her education, turning her into an Insufferable Genius.
- Defied: Upon starting work as a professor and meeting types like this, Alice resolves to do everything in her power to keep an open mind and never become an elitist.
- Discussed: "I'm telling you, sociology degrees aren't useless." "Oh, I'll admit they have their uses. Cat litter box lining, for one."
- Conversed: "Maybe if there was more respect for the social sciences, they'd receive more funding and progress further."
- Deconstructed:
- Alice's failure to recognise how "soft" science is useful in everyday life causes problems. Her lack of sociological knowledge makes her unwittingly bigoted. Due to knowing nothing about philosophy, she falls for logical fallacies. Disregarding economics means she's terrible with money. And because she has so much disdain for psychology, she doesn't get help for her rampant narcissism, which negatively impacts her life as well as the lives of everyone around her.
- Alice drives away scientists in fields she disrespects, so when she's faced with a problem she can't solve with her physics expertise alone, she has nobody to turn to.
- Alice and other like-minded physicists paint other fields in such a bad light, less funding goes towards them, which negatively affects their progress and reliability.
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