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Resolved: Lt. Commander Data Is Not a Person
Star Trek is a frequent topic of conversation at Ricochet, and with a new Trek feature film and new Television series impending, it’s a topic which once again merits some discussion.
At its finest, Star Trek is much less space opera than it is high-concept science fiction which explores philosophical issues using the trappings of space travel as a backdrop. I have several thoughts that I’d like to get people’s take on.
Since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the ninth episode of season 2, of The Next Generation called The Measure of a Man.
In this episode, The Enterprise arrives at a star base whereupon a Starfleet researcher, Commander Bruce Maddox, insists that Data accompany him to essentially be disassembled and studied in order to be copied. In due course, Data would be reassembled, his memories restored and be free to continue his service to Starfleet.
Data refuses to have what is at best, a speculative mechanical procedure performed on him, and when ordered to undergo it, he resigns from Starfleet in protest.
Much high courtroom drama ensues when Riker (prosecution) and Picard (Data’s defense) are pitted against one another by a Starfleet magistrate to argue for or against the idea that Data is Starfleet’s property, and thus has no right to decline being taken apart.
Various tests are undertaken to demonstrate that Data is a man-made machine and not human – for instance, he displays unnatural strength, is able to calculate tremendously large numbers and can retain vast quantities of information. Data is synthetic, and Riker pointedly demonstrates this by removing one of Data’s limbs and then switching him off.
Shocked at Riker’s ruthlessness, Picard retreats to the counsel of barkeep Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg… come on, it was the late 80’s) who hands Picard the key to winning any argument: comparing a situation you don’t like to slavery and then changing the subject from the matter at hand.
Guinan’s contention is that, if allowed to have his way, Maddox would essentially be copying Data into a whole race of androids (a race of Datum?) which would have been the equivalent of “disposable people” or “slaves” belonging to the Federation, being sent on various dangerous missions (replicate some Red Shirts!) or as an inexhaustible supply of soldiers.
The second part – the changing of the subject – is where Picard’s argument goes far off the rails. The Captain challenges the court to show that Data isn’t sentient after showing that Data is both intelligent and self-aware. Aside from the absurdity of being forced to prove a negative (the burden of proof should always lie with the party making extraordinary claims) which the Magistrate should have rejected on the grounds of Popperian unfalsifiability there are other issues at hand as well.
First off, even though Data is a cunningly devised human simulacrum designed to allow humans to interact with him in a natural fashion, he nonetheless lacks the capacity to experience emotions. While surely the Lt. Commander could pass the Turing Test he also equally lacks the ability to form emotional bonds or experience love, which are critical features of the human experience.
Second is the question of whether or not Data is actually even alive. While there are plenty of examples of life that we can point to which are unusual (even in a galaxy as diverse as Star Trek’s) it’s hard to argue that Data actually fits into any of those categories. Life at its most granular level is a self-perpetuating chemical reaction. Even viruses are not considered to be living organisms while bacteria are. By comparison, Data lacks many of the features of even a simple paramecium.
He cannot replicate himself, and did not lose such ability through age or damage. He is capable of being dismembered and reassembled with little consequence, as is put on display multiple times. Also, unlike sentient biological entities he exhibits the limited ability to transfer his consciousness into a new body, meaning he cannot suffer biological death. Even the normal cessation of mental activity which would define brain death or the end of consciousness for biological entities is defied by Data. If Data is alive, he certainly displays characteristics far outside of the normal parameters of what is considered “life.”
Lastly there is the human component to be considered. In “The Measure of a Man” it is ultimately decided that Data is not Starfleet property and has the ability for self determination. Data makes the decision that he will not undergo Commander Maddox’s procedure and continues with Starfleet. It’s hard to tell how many lives this decision ends up costing the Federation.
For instance, when the Federation ultimately engages in war with the Dominion, think of the possibilities: perhaps they could have warships crewed mostly by autonomous androids. Even if each Datum had 75% of Data’s capabilities this might be a bonus because they would have most of the capabilities but correspondingly less sense of self and therefore follow orders unflinchingly but make combat decisions flawlessly. This robot army would represent a massive strategic advantage to the Federation against the Founders without facing the ethical dilemmas of sending humans or other sentient beings into battle. What is dead can never die, after all.
So, it is resolved. Not only is Lt. Commander Data not a person… he isn’t even alive. Under that heading, the Federation should have copied him to the best of their abilities to save the lives of those who could die.
Published in General
Anybody want any toast?
This notion has always struck me as a mathematical conceit, no less sensational than infinite monkeys eventually typing the dictionary. Roddenberry premised Star Trek on technology (or math in action) overcoming all barriers, first racial and then all the way to sentience. But then the Borg came and good/evil was back (metaphysics?). We are so used to continued progress in short periods of time that a brain understanding (and perhaps replicating) itself seems logical with time and guided chance. My brain is telling me, “Nope.”
We can’t even settle on appropriate definitions for consciousness or awareness, much less the big ones of reason and creativity. A computer uses algorithms, which presupposes an understanding of how to solve a problem. Our inability to define these things indicates to me that the brain’s understanding of itself is inherently limited, so a valid conclusion is we cannot hope to replicate one.
… which brings it back around to Data. The Star Trek writers absolutely muddied the water by giving Data some parts of humanity and holding back others. I call that cheating, but it makes for some interesting stories. At the end of the day though, Data isn’t human because the Data they describe cannot exist.
It’s a fancy toaster. If it weren’t unique they would have dozens in the lab being tested for improvements.
I find it interesting that you refer to the toaster with a masculine pronoun at the same time you recognize it is not alive or a person.
And one failure, among many, in Star Trek is that human life is more important than alien or machine life. We might respect alien life but it never trumps ours.
I might have said this before, but I figure Starfleet actually pays (and pays well), but humans decide generally not to take their pay, at least not in the TNG era. Considering how much of Starfleet is human, and how much of the costs of most any endeavor is labor (much more so with replicators and easy fusion and matter-antimatter energy sources), and you realize that Earth is indirectly subsidising the defense of the entire Federation, just by being idealist snots.
Of course, not every human refuses their pay. Dr. Crusher pays for stuff with her account, and I don’t think Quark takes Federation money, but yet what are all those Starfleet people (humans mostly) gambling and paying him with? And then there’s the Bolians, who have both a bank (with a branch on DS9) and greedy abusive capitalists, and yet are obviously in the Federation, being probably the most common aliens in Starfleet after the Vulcans. When Jake cajoles Nog into buying the baseball card, he says that he doesn’t have money because he’s human, not because he’s Federation.
I explain these problems away as the protagonists simply being ignorant of economics. I mean, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell from watching the goings on of a US Navy ship what kind of society the United States is, and you wouldn’t expect the captain of such a vessel to necessarily be more informed about economics than the average American. And, we all know how poorly the average American understands economics.
And explaining away the inconsistencies and inaccuracies in SciFi shows is half the fun. Maybe 3/4.
No, it’s just space opera, even at its finest, which is a low bar.
I am so in agreement with Majestyk on this one. I’ve thought so since undergrad days.