Both Leon and Reynold had achieved great levels of intelligence, but the main difference was their viewpoint on what was important enough in life to pour their intelligence into. Leon made decisions and took actions based on what the normal people could not see or understand, while Reynold was making decisions based on how he could save humanity. What they found to be important in life after their newfound intelligence was a huge deciding factor in how they would go about making decisions, especially when it came to their confrontation. I believe that the reasoning behind Reynold’s decision was based on his conflicting views with Leon. Reynold cared about humanity and had a set goal of saving it and Leon’s goals would have not only prevented his but would have also created great harm to the world. I believe that they had mutual respect for each other’s intelligence but they both knew that in order for either one of them to fulfill their goal, the other goal did not exist. They were also aware that because each one faithfully stood on completely different sides of their viewpoints, they knew neither one would have been able to change the other’s mind which left them with one choice which was that one of them would have to be eliminated.
If we look at this from a utilitarian perspective, they would have most definitely agreed with Reynold’s decision. In the utilitarian model theory, the right choice that should be supported is the one that results in the greater good for the greatest number. It is not about whether pushing intelligence limits is better or worse than saving humanity. It is about which choice will bring greater good in greater numbers. Reynold came to the decision that if he were to let Leon continue the path he was on, he would eventually be the cause of much harm to humanity. From a utilitarian perspective, letting one man continue living his life would result in the harm and pain of millions, or on the other hand, removing that one individual would save millions of people from harm and pain. For this reason, a utilitarian would most likely have agreed with Reynold’s reasoning. I do believe that Reynold would have found Leon’s perspectives to be too small and too meaningless. One reason I believe this to be true is that Leon had set his goals and views from an outside perspective. His goals were mainly based on things that he could learn about or learn to do. While he may have come across some incredible discoveries, everything was for his personal benefit, and he neglected to think about anyone and anything else. A very ego-centric mindset, which could have been perceived as selfish. I also believe that Reynold might have found Leo’s perspective too meaningless due to the fact that one could have perceived Leon to be wasting his newfound intelligence. Leon only says humanity is small, minded humans who could not see the patterns right in front of them, and rather than putting his new intelligence level to help them, he had a tunnel vision for what he wanted to create and accomplish.