I still enjoyed Those Old Scientists when I hadn’t yet watched Lower Decks, granted, I had watched TNG already and so just enjoyed it as TNG-era characters goofing around in the 23rd century.

In fact, after having watched Lower Decks, I don’t necessarily like how Boimler and Mariner are written in this episode - they feel a bit like their basic archetypes than the developed characters they were in the series.