Line #65 Main/BreakTheScientist


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10	->''One engineer begins to laugh, seemingly unable to stop. Another weeps. The tears scorch his face like kettle-water. A third frantically tries to write down what you said, but gives up when her third pen combusts in lavender flame. "This changes everything," a grease-stained engineer whispers. Later, his colleagues catch him out back, burning his collected volumes of the Transactions of the South Wales Institute of Engineers.''
11	-->-- ''Videogame/SunlessSea''
12
13	So, we all know that [[ComicStrip/TheFarSide every time you show dinosaurs and cave-people together]] in the same era [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology a palaeontologist cries]]. Probably not literally, of course. You'd have to be fairly unstable to be brought to tears just because some TV show took some artistic liberties. After all, [[MST3KMantra it's just a show]]...
14
15	However, if a scientist or other expert saw this kind of defiance of the laws of the universe taking place ''right in front of them'', it's likely that they would be [[HeroicBSOD a bit]] [[FreakOut shaken up]].
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17	''All those years of careful study and research suddenly proven wrong...'' ''[[BigNo NOOOOOOOOOO!]]''
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19	This trope occurs when the expert in question is a character in the work who becomes upset that their reality is blatantly defying the laws of nature, physics, etc. This may manifest as actual crying, UnstoppableRage, or even a [[HeroicBSOD nervous breakdown]].
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21	Often PlayedForLaughs as a form of LampshadeHanging- the author is demonstrating that, yes, they know perfectly well that it doesn't make sense, and are giving the viewer a gentle reminder [[MST3KMantra not to take it too seriously]].
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23	If the professor is already aware of the existence of other magic, aliens, etc, then his disbelief is [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Atheism]] or ArbitrarySkepticism if he'll believe in some paranormal/supernatural stuff, though not others. Often happens to the AgentScully.
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25	Compare ThisCannotBe, another trope about characters being confounded after seeing something that proves them wrong. Contrast AdmiringTheAbomination, when the Professor is pleased rather than alarmed at a sudden scary turn of events because it's proved him ''right''.
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27	----
28	!!Examples
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30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* Reed Richards of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' does this all of the time, which is itself an incredible source of FridgeLogic, given that [[RubberMan he can stretch and bend like he's made out of goddamn Silly Putty]]. More specifically, he can deal with comic book super-science -- ''[[DoesNotLikeMagic magic]]'' continues to confound him.
34	* This angers Homer of all people in ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' when Professor Frink uses his latest device to [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome grant Homer increased intelligence]]. He rails on the impossibility of dinosaurs co-existing and fighting humans while watching a BMovie, much to Bart's surprise.
35	* "An Insult to Science" from ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' #57 features a professor whose profession is unmasking false mediums. He stumbles directly into a ghost story. He takes the insult with astonishing dignity.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
39	* In ''Fanfic/ChallengeOfTheSuperFriendsTheEnd'', Lex Luthor repeatedly underestimates [[EldritchAbomination the Benefactor]]'s claims of ruling an entire universe, reasoning that the distances would be just too great. Apparently, such claims are true.
40	* In ''Fanfic/DawnComesOnTheSunsetSea'', CAN researchers are ''not'' coping well with Westerosi society evoluting in a quasi-identical way to Earth. One is [[INeedAFreakingDrink outright drinking onscreen]] while several others suffer nervous breakdowns.
41	* In ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Harry takes the revelation of the existence of magic in stride, because once he realises that [[MagicAIsMagicA magic follows certain rules]], he realises that he can [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic apply the scientific method to reconcile it with the known laws of physics]]. Nevertheless, he has a mild freak-out when contemplating the ShapeshifterBaggage of Professor [=McGonagall=] turning into a cat.
42	-->''"You turned into a cat! A ''SMALL'' cat! You violated Conservation of Energy! That's not just an arbitrary rule, it's implied by the form of the quantum Hamiltonian! Rejecting it destroys unitarity and then you get FTL signaling!"''
43	* In ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40k'', Ritsuko suffers a serious blow to her sanity after repeatedly witnessing Shinji playing RealityWarper with his AT-field wizardry and psyker abilities without finding ANY scientific explanation for it. She learned to cope via ranting and publishing scientific papers on the latest proof-by-Evangelion that physics don't work; the hate-mail keeps her going.
44	* In the [=Anime/Addventure=] thread "Switching Places/Eva", [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Ritsuko]] has this reaction to Manga/{{Ranma\|OneHalf}} and his habit (which most of the rest of the cast has picked up) of calling the Angels "{{kaiju}}".
45	* In ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'', Dragon occasionally longs for a nice corner in which she would sob over sanity's demise. It mainly happens right after she witnesses various sorcerous phaenomena or the Orks' utterly absurd constructs.
46	* In the final chapter of ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6575772/1/Yabba_Dabba_Joes Yabba Dabba Joes]]'', a paleontologist working on Sue the T-Rex's skull before she goes on display goes into a temporary brain shutdown when he pulls a nine-millimeter bullet out of a pockmark on Sue's jaw.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
50	* "WesternAnimation/RocketByeBaby" has a professor giving a lecture in which he refutes the existence of [=UFOs=] and LittleGreenMen. Just as he's laughing at the very idea, a FlyingSaucer with a baby green Martian flies in and hovers before his face for a few moments, causing the laughter to turn into tears.
51	[[/folder]]
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53	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
54	* A benign version would be Ellie and Alan's miniature freakout the first time they see a dinosaur in ''Film/JurassicPark1993''. They're more broken by the sense of awe than anything else, and a few minutes later Alan is observing the movement patterns to confirm one of his theories.
55	-->''"They ''do'' move in herds."''
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Literature]]
59	* In Creator/TedChiang's story ''[[http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/ Division by Zero]]'', a mathematician tries to commit suicide after she [[spoiler:proves that arithmetic is inconsistent and that through formal mathematics, one can make any two numbers equal each other]].
60	* The short story "Flashes" by Creator/RobertJSawyer is about most of the scientific community of Earth being broken ''en masse'' by a broadcast of the Encyclopedia Galactica that claims that aliens have disproved many of Earth's established scientific theories. [[FridgeLogic Why the scientists are not trying to repeat the aliens' experiments is not discussed in the story]].
61	* ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' pits geologist Otto Lidenbrock (who clings to a [[HollowWorld Hollow Earth]] theory) against our narrator, Otto's nephew Axel (who knows that [[ScienceMarchesOn Science Has Marched On]] and that the Earth is heated from the inside, and thus that the journey makes absolutely no sense and will inevitably end in heat suffocation), who is forced to change his mind.
62	* In ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', Ponder Stibbons has some difficulty adjusting to the idea that the deserted island he and the rest of Unseen University's senior faculty are trapped on is actively supplying them with the means to live. Further, he's pretty disillusioned to learn that evolution isn't a wonderfully elegant self-driving force, but is driven by an inept god like everything else on the Disc. However, what ''really'' pushes him beyond the breaking point is learning that said god doesn't regard ''humans'' as the pinnacle of evolution for their sapience, but instead assigns that role to '''cockroaches''' for their durability.
63	* In ''Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem'', several scientists commit suicide when the data collected by particle accelerators appear to be completely inconsistent, due to Trisolaris' [[spoiler:sophons.]]
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong The Husbands of River Song]]", the Doctor [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretends]] to be utterly shattered by how (his own) TARDIS's BiggerOnTheInside nature defies all laws of physics. Mentioned here for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ga6CwyKvr8 how much]]'' he hams it up.
68	* This is actually a plot point quite often in ''Series/{{Fringe}}''. In a season 3 episode, Walter is confused and upset when the densest element (Osmium) is used by another scientist (who stumbled upon it and has no idea why it's doing this either) to make people float in the sky. Yes, it makes no sense. As it turns out, this lapse in the laws of physics is a sign that our universe is about to collide with another one and destroy them both.
69	[[/folder]]
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71	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
72	* ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' has Null Mysteriis, an academic organization devoted to [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic the scientific study of supernatural creatures and phenomena]], believing that things like [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]], and [[FunctionalMagic mages]] all have rational, scientific explanations. Problem is, they live in the ''[[TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness World of Darkness]]''. [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on the GM]], either they're correct, and [[ScienceMarchesOn science simply hasn't advanced to the point where study of the supernatural is possible]], or [[DoingInTheScientist they have it all wrong]], and the supernatural completely defies all attempts at explanation. Understandably, this tends to drive more than a few Null M. scientists insane.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Video Games]]
76	* One of the planet travel guides in ''VideoGame/{{Tyrian}}'' reads "Many a scientist comes here after retirement to watch all their fundamental mathematical theorems fall apart as they watch the landmasses floating in apparent defiance to their life's work."
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Webcomics]]
80	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
81	** A professor who [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-10-04 starts crying]] whenever the laws of physics are [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-10-11 violated]] hard enough. Whether he's actually present or not!
82	** There's also a high school physics teacher [[ShoutOut named]] "[[Webcomic/{{Nukees}} Mr. Bleuel]]" who gets rather peeved when he spots one of his students floating down the hallway out of habit.
83	* Referenced by Vaarsuvius in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0754.html this]] ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' comic after watching a morbidly obese dragon manage to fly.
84	-->'''Vaarsuvius:''' I should avoid casting any spells tonight, if only to give the laws of physics time to cry alone in the corner.
85	* The Infinite Summation Honeybee Professor in ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' gets upset whenever the characters abuse the properties of [[PortalPicture windows]] in order to generate matter or discharge energy -- although that's partly because if it's done badly, it results in infinitely massive or infinitely dense objects and nasty things happen.
86	* Deliberately invoked in [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/science-advisor this]] ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' comic, in which the volume of tears cried by a scientist is used by writers to gauge how inaccurate they are.
87	* [[http://skin-horse.com/comic/todays-comic-790/ Luckily for Dr. Lee in]] ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', the ancient, mystic order of notaries has a special couch just for scientists.
88	* In one ''Webcomic/{{Something of that Ilk}}'' comic, one man's refusal to believe in physics, and subsequent flying off, leaves the physics professor utterly speechless.
89	* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[https://xkcd.com/298/ #298]] shows a scientist understandably shocked when Black Hat shoots lightning from his hands and hovers in the air, all while explaining that science doesn't actually work.
90	-->'''AltText:''' For scientists, [[AllJustADream this can be the hardest thing about dreams]].
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Web Originals]]
94	* This is what happens in ''Literature/FunnyBusiness'' when a group of computer scientists learn of Jeanette's godlike powers. Tom is so shaken up by this that he goes on a lengthy rant about how useless his profession is if there exists a being who can ignore the laws of physics at will. It's not exactly "crying in the corner", but the effect is the same.
95	* ''Website/TVTropes'': On this very wiki, we have the articles SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying, SomewhereAHerpetologistIsCrying, SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying and SomewhereAnEntomologistIsCrying.
96	* In ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'', poor, ''perfect'' Carlos seems to be a victim of this.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Western Animation]]
100	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
101	** Homer has this reaction after Lisa ([[BeyondTheImpossible somehow]]) makes a PerpetualMotionMachine in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E21ThePTADisbands The PTA Disbands]]". The scene ends with Homer calling Lisa to him and angrily shouting "In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!"
102	** The curator for the Jebediah Springfield museum from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E16LisaTheIconoclast Lisa the Iconoclast]]" was so dismayed upon finding evidence that Jebediah was actually a vicious pirate that he stole and hid the evidence to stop others from knowing the truth.
103	** Lisa Simpson when the family goes to Africa and see [[WhaleEgg a rhinoceros hatch from an egg]] in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E17SimpsonSafari Simpson Safari]]".
104	--->'''Lisa:''' Wait, rhinos aren't born from eggs!\
105	'''Homer:''' What did you just see, Lisa?\
106	'''Lisa:''' I know, but--\
107	'''Homer:''' ''What did you just see?!''
108	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': In the GrandFinale movie "[[Recap/TransformersPrimeTVMBeastHuntersPredaconsRising Predacons Rising]]", when [[spoiler:Unicron-possessing-Megatron reanimates Predacon bones as Terrorcons]], Shockwave -- the Decepticons' MadScientist, who [[TheSpock always thinks with logic]] -- is absolutely [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness horrified]] due to how illogical their mere existence is.
109	-->'''Shockwave:''' It defies logic...
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Real Life]]
113	* This actually has happened to a lesser extent with rival theories. One notable example was Fred Hoyle whose steady state theory was discredited once sufficient evidence was more accurately explained by the Big Bang theory. After it was proven, Fred Hoyle still wasn't in favor of it because he saw a universe with a finite beginning as bad due to the fact that it meant that the universe would also have a finite ending. (Admittedly, cosmologists have [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_inflation come to something resembling Hoyle's Steady State]] [[RightForTheWrongReasons for other reasons]].)
114	* Ancient Greek philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras was allegedly so disturbed by the concept of irrational numbers (numbers which cannot be expressed as a fraction), that he ordered his students not to divulge their existence under threat of death. The discoverer of irrational numbers, possibly Hippasus, is said (possibly apocryphally) to have been sentenced to death by drowning.
115	[[/folder]]
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