Rick & Morty S04:E02 “The Old Man and the Seat”

The Rick way to become a Super Engineer !

Is it possible to learn something from the character of Rick in the cartoon series “Rick and Morty”?

François-Xavier Briollais
magne.io
Published in
6 min readDec 19, 2021

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Rick Sanchez is a mad scientist, who has an amazing sense of humor and has no inhibitions. He is very smart and does not hesitate to show his abilities. However, he also has a negative side — a very strange personality, which can sometimes cause problems for him.

In the cartoon series “Rick and Morty” Rick Sanchez is the main character. This series is about his adventures with his grandson Morty Smith. The two go on various space travels in order to collect samples of alien DNA or simply to enjoy themselves. Rick’s adventures are often accompanied by alcohol consumption and sexual intercourse with different aliens .

The badass engineer

“Boom! Big reveal! I turned myself into a pickle!” — Rick

I will not claim that Rick is an ideal person. He is an alcoholic, he does not respect the law, he does not respect people’s feelings and so on. He is a bad man in many ways. However, there are some features of Rick that make him special and worthy of imitation.

It turns out that Rick is a super-engineer. This means that he has unique knowledge and skills that allow him to build various devices using available materials (the so-called “junk” or “garbage”) at hand. Many of his inventions are very useful for people who have them (although this does not happen always).

How to become an engineer the Rick way in 10 simple ( meaning : Hard ) steps ?

  1. Get a high IQ.
  2. Learn to think rationally and logically.
  3. Learn to use your brain.
  4. Do not be afraid of failure. Try, try again, and then again.
  5. Learn how to use available materials at hand (junk or garbage) for the creation of various devices.
  6. Be able to work in extreme conditions (in the desert or in space).
  7. Be able to survive in the most difficult situations and make others survive with you.
  8. Be an alcoholic and a smoker, but do not drink alcohol or smoke when you are working on something important for other people’s sake (Ie: do not drink alcohol when you are driving).
  9. Use your entire brain capacity, including both hemispheres of your brain (“left” and “right”).
  10. Do not forget that each person is unique, so be yourself!

The ultimate hacker way of doing things

“I’m a scientist; because I invent, transform, create, and destroy for a living, and when I don’t like something about the world, I change it.” — Pickle Rick

The main idea here is the ability to improvise and use the available tools. This is a very useful skill for engineers and scientists. We should be able to build prototypes of new devices using the materials that we have at hand. Sometimes, this ability is a matter of life and death.

In addition, Rick Sanchez learns new things at super-speed . He learns how to use a variety of weapons in a short time. Even the most complex weapons are easy for him to master. So it’s important to remember that it’s not necessary to spend years learning some skills or knowledge if you have true desire and will power. It’s enough just to start doing it.

It’s also important not to forget about your relatives and friends (unlike Rick Sanchez). Don’t lose sight of them because of your obsession with some ideas and goals. This is another important lesson that we can learn from Rick Sanchez.

In general, the main idea of the show “Rick and Morty” is that it’s not necessary to be perfect in everything. You don’t have to be a scientist or a genius to become a great person. The most important thing is to do everything with all your heart, without expecting anything in return.

A lot of people assume that if you want to become a successful engineer or scientist, you have to study very hard from childhood and go through many years of training and education. But this is not true! It’s enough just to start doing it now , no matter how much time you spend on learning new things. This is the main idea of the show “Rick and Morty”.

If you want to become a great person, you have to start doing it now , no matter how much time you spend on it. You don’t need to be perfect in everything, it’s enough just to do your best .

A lot of people are afraid of technologies and prefer to use only what they already know. But the real skill is not in using the same technologies that you’ve been using for years, but in changing your mind and trying something new.

Engineering is a poem and almost nobody knows it

“Sometimes science is more art than science.” — Rick

Rick Sanchez reveals the poetry in technologies, he always tries to solve difficult problems using completely new approaches. He doesn’t hesitate to try something that no one has ever tried before. He’s constantly thinking about how to change the world and technological progress, because he knows that it’s impossible to achieve anything good without taking risks.

A lot of people think that they have to choose between art and science, but this is a great mistake! The most important thing is not what you study, but how much energy you spend on doing something new and interesting. If you want to achieve great results in your work or studies, you should be ready for changes and constant self-improvement .

Who said engineering was no fun ?

“Have fun with empowerment. It seems to make everyone that gets it really happy.” — Rick

Rick knows how to have fun in his work , he doesn’t take himself too seriously and always tries to find some humor in everything that happens around him. He knows how to joke about his mistakes, which is the best way of learning from them.

More importantly, Rick is free from the burden of social norms. He is not afraid to do anything and break any barriers. He doesn’t care about the way other people think about him. This is another important lesson that we can learn from Rick Sanchez.

The main idea of the show “Rick and Morty” is that you shouldn’t be afraid to do anything, no matter what other people think about it . You don’t need to follow all social norms, you should be yourself .

Rick Sanchez cares only about himself and his family. He doesn’t waste his time on meaningless things or on judging other people who live their lives differently than he does. This is another important lesson that we can learn from Rick Sanchez.

Don’t be afraid ( never )

“To live is to risk it all; otherwise you’re just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules drifting wherever the universe blows you.” — Rick

If you want to become a great person, you have to start doing it now , no matter how much time you spend on it . You don’t need to be perfect in everything, it’s enough just to do your best .

In general, the main idea of the show “Rick and Morty” is that you shouldn’t be afraid to do anything, no matter what other people think about it . You don’t need to follow all social norms, you should be yourself .

But remember: in order to get respect from others, first of all, you must respect yourself.

You don’t need to be perfect in everything! It’s enough just to start doing it now .

Do you want to be a super engineer?

Then do it the Rick Sanchez way !

I hope that you liked this article and feel inspired to start doing something great! If so, share this article with your friends and subscribe to my blog! I’ll try to write more interesting articles in the future! :)

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François-Xavier Briollais
magne.io

Pattern analyst, system craftsmen. Usually annoyingly speaking about CS, systems, organisations and semiology. Art history senior lecturer