A More Peaceful Universe

 BioWare: because you need a doctorate to be that awesome.

Discussion of Mass Effect 2 is long overdue, I feel, but a general review is hardly necessary. It's a fantastic title, improving over its predecessor in every way, including the emotional intensity of its story. As with Dragon Age, the main plot is disappointingly simple, involving an unambiguously evil bad guy with an unambiguously evil horde of minions, but the journey is much more potent and engaging than the destination might lead you to assume. Also there are explosions and murder simulation, which is rarely a bad thing.

Spoilers ahead: I'd like to share another anecdote, as I did with Dragon Age, because I so enjoy an opportunity to test my philosophical ideas. The tale involves the 'loyalty mission' of one Mordin Solus, scientist salarian, who had a hand in optimizing a devastating biological weapon called the genophage, which has rendered an entire species nearly sterile. It was used against the krogan, whose brutality and aggression rendered them a galactic threat, and functions by reducing the viability rate of krogan pregnancies. No krogan are killed by the genophage, but so few are born that the species can no longer pose any large-scale threat due to the lack of numbers.

While on the mission, the player learns that a potential cure for the genophage has been created, and must decide whether the research data should be saved or destroyed. Mordin is opposed to the cure: he feels guilty about his role in the disease, but believes it a necessary evil. The krogan, if allowed to repopulate, would once again pose a great threat to the galaxy at large, likely resulting in innumerable deaths, krogan and otherwise. Even if cured, the krogan aren't likely to just start behaving nicely out of gratitude - reciprocal altruism does not turn off their aggressive survival instincts, nor is it generally effective on a species-wide level (not every krogan would care to reciprocate).

One might argue for saving the cure to reinforce a kind of social contract that all species will respect the welfare of all other species, but Galactic Peace, much like plain old World Peace, is a bit of a pipe dream. Regardless, concern for the health of the species is misplaced: the fate of the species does not directly affect the happiness of its members. The genophage does not harm any living krogan (except to crush the dreams of those interested in parenthood, which isn't many), whereas a strong krogan population poses a threat to the welfare of many individuals across many species. As long as we act under the assumption that the krogan area a danger, then curing the genophage is a bad idea regardless of how you approach the issue.