It is a common theme in twentieth century moral stories about power that it comes with great responsibility and dire consequences if it is abused. In the nineteenth things were seen a little differently. Might made right. No person has ever had the kind of might that Robert and I possess. We can be anywhere, interfere with anything. We could give Marie Curie an iron apron, make Oppenheimer and Einstein a better offer than the US Government, chat with Galileo, give comfort to Alan Turing, or a slew of other things. We could meet every great mind that ever lived, learn all the secrets of the universe.
What a pity that Robert would have us waste eternity on Booker DeWitt. I agree with Robert on principle. We made an error and we have the means to correct it. We wronged Elizabeth gravely when we handed her to Comstock. Robert wants to fix the errors of the past by undoing the past. It is possible, but there are consequences. We have killed and interfered in countless worlds, finding some measure of success in foiling or destroying Comstock, but never successful in our stated goal. We are fools to believe that we understand the nature of time to tamper with it. Given enough time (and we have been) perhaps we could make better choices. The only way to learn is to keep sacrificing these men that we are trying to help.
It seems that more than science I am in the business of helping fools do foolish things with vast powers they don't respect.
