The Science… & Art of Rick… & Morty

Applied Genius From A Guy Whose Doesn’t Give A $^!*

Rick & Morty has just begun its third season on Adult Swim (or the Cartoon Network after dark). It is the animated adventures of one Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty Smith. The show is hysterical, irreverent, nihilistic, and often profound — in a we weren’t really trying sort of way.

Rick, or more specifically Rick C-137, is the smartest man in the multi-dimensional universe (at least according to all the other Ricks). He is a scientist, dimension traveler, and alcoholic who lives in his daughter’s basement. Well, not actually his daughter… he abandoned his real daughter on a world he accidentally populated with killer insect zombie things.

Each episode, he and his grandson Morty travel to strange dimensions, meet strange people, and often kill them. Along the way, they interact with numerous other dimensional incarnations of themselves and their family. And each week, Rick educates Morty on the real workings of the multi-verse -or- emotionally scars him in sadistic fashion (depending on your perspective).

Rick Believes In Science… & Application

Rick is not an academic. It is a fact that is forcefully confirmed just minutes into the pilot episode as the opening credits roll. Rick’s rant, we learn as the season and series progresses, is true to character, if a bit crass and rough around the edges.

“I’ll tell you how I feel about school, Jerry: it’s a waste of time. Bunch of people runnin’ around bumpin’ into each other, got a guy up front says, ‘2 + 2,’ and the people in the back say, ‘4.’ Then the bell rings and they give you a carton of milk and a piece of paper that says you can go take a dump or somethin’. I mean, it’s not a place for smart people, Jerry. I know that’s not a popular opinion, but that’s my two cents on the issue.”

In later episodes, Rick continues to educate Morty on the intersection between science and art.

“Sometimes science is more art than science, Morty. A lot of people don’t get that.”

Rick is a scientist, but he is also an inventor and an engineer. He is an explorer and an experimenter (with little remorse for his subjects). To Rick, science is action, not philosophy.

Rick Is A Creative… & A Networker

Rick sings. He parties. He speaks multiple languages. He has a vast network across multiple dimensions. Rick recognizes that there is more to life than numbers…

“Wubba Lubba Dub Dub”

Rick Keeps It Real… & Disdains Pretense

Rick doesn’t have a fancy title. He is not trying to impress anyone. It is not Dr. Rick or Rick Sanchez, PhD. He doesn’t even acknowledge he is Rick C-137. He is just Rick.

With Rick, there is no pretending. For better or worse, he keeps a distant and sterile objectivity to the universe. Except when he doesn’t, but then he invents a creative excuse for how he actually was but Morty is just too stupid to understand.

Rick: Boy, you’re really gonna flip your lid over this one.

Morty: Oh, w-wh… what is it?

Rick: It’s a device, Morty, that when you put it in your ear, you can enter people’s dreams, Morty. It’s just like that movie you keep crowing about!

Morty: You’re talking about Inception?

Rick: That’s right, Morty! This is gonna be a lot like that, except y’know, it’s gonna me-beh… make sense.

Morty: Inception made sense!

Rick: You don’t have to try and impress me, Morty!

Rick is a blue collar elitist. He is above pretense and care. He makes his way through the universe with his sleeves up, his hands dirty, and his mind on outcomes and decisions, not title and image.

Watch Rick & Morty it is entertaining and thought provoking — two things we highly embrace around here. For more on others with Mad Genius, consider: