Donnie DIDN'T build a machine to make smart people
From the perspective of a scientist and a brief look at the cognitive biases a scientist might experience.
Hi, today I woke up wanting to analyze one of the funniest episodes of Rottmnt (in my opinion), the one centered on Donnie, “Mind Meld” where Donnie ends up turning his brothers into versions of himself.
I believe the episode demonstrates how the emotional biases that arise during scientific research can end up affecting the final result, yielding something completely different from what was expected.
Donnie feels frustrated because his brothers don’t take the mission—which is so important to him—seriously, leading him to build a machine to reprogram their minds so they’ll be smarter.
Here we have Donnie’s first mistake: he decides to build the machine while caught up in a storm of emotions—anger and frustration—which undoubtedly clouded his judgment during the construction process. Emotions can cause you to overlook important details during research; it’s not that scientists work without any emotion, but it’s always wise to analyze your findings with a clear head before jumping to conclusions.
Second mistake: the likelihood that Donnie set himself as the sole benchmark for intelligence. He has no other data or points of comparison regarding what an intelligent person should be like, which, in science, affects the perception of the actual results that may occur. It’s not that every intelligent person acts like Donnie; it’s that Donnie only used himself as a point of comparison.
Third mistake made: not testing his invention before using it on his brothers. As soon as Donnie finishes his machine, he puts them inside and activates it, without first checking if the machine does exactly what he wants it to do. In science, it is necessary to verify and validate scientific research before confirming it or applying it in any scenario.
The result? The machine does make his brothers smarter, but it slowly turns them into him.
At first, everything seems to be going well; the brothers seem more focused, use their skills masterfully, and complete the mission.
However, that night, the brain enhancement Donnie gave them begins to take effect rapidly, altering their characters and personalities. The next day, the brothers are already speaking in phrases Donnie would say, seem to share his interests, and even dress just like him.
And this becomes obvious at the end of the episode, where Donnie, to defeat his brothers, ends up using their own fears against them. The brothers now resemble him so much that they overthink things and feel the same terror toward beach balls.
Among the cognitive biases that Donnie exhibits in the chapter are:
Validity illusion bias: He overestimates his own ability to find a solution to the problem with his siblings.
Experimenter bias: Donnie unconsciously influences his analysis by immediately labeling his siblings as foolish and ignorant.
Anchoring bias: Immediately assuming his invention was a success before seeing how it plays out over time.
One last interesting comment on this. Donnie specializes in technology and machinery, where data and results are easier to control. When you venture into the field of studying people and their behaviors, the data and results can be more varied and unpredictable, because living beings won’t always conform to your hypotheses. Believe me, I’ve been in both types of studies 😅
That would basically be my analysis of the chapter from the perspective of my own experience in the field of research. I hope you enjoyed this nerdy post I put together ☝🏻🤓
