I see Flowers for Algernon more as a tale of social relations regarding people on extreme IQ positions. The book would be less tragic without the "hammering down", but I don't think it would be better. We are all prone to a decrease in mental capabilities as time passes, so that part of the book makes it more relatable to me.

> It is a lesson for scientists about not messing with god-given realities

Maybe by comics standards, but not really. I mean, it is not like they had decades of research and experiments, and that sort of thing doesn't seem the kind of breakthrough you can make quickly. While fiction, I think it is a tad bit more like real science than comic books science