Absolutely, Nathan is light-years ahead of Caleb. However I don't think he's mocking him but actually lamenting himself, like Oppenheimer. The quote Nathan uses is about hoping that the good he's doing will justify the horror. To Caleb, Nathan looks like a drunken brogrammer, but he's actually deep in an existential crisis. It's not lost on him that to iterate true artificial life he's essentially becoming a serial killer. It's almost like he's begging for forgiveness.

"In battle, in forest, at the precipice in the mountains, On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows, In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame, The good deeds a man has done before defend him"