What Measure Is a Non-Human?/Live-Action TV/Star Trek: Difference between revisions

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*** In the court and then again in the custody dispute over Lal, everyone seemed to ignore the obvious point that Starfleet has never otherwise granted rank or medals and commendations to ''property''. Or, that if he ''were'' property, Starfleet wouldn't have any real claim to ownership of him (they didn't make him, they simply found him and turned him back on after his creator/father was forced to abandon him during a disaster).
*** In the court and then again in the custody dispute over Lal, everyone seemed to ignore the obvious point that Starfleet has never otherwise granted rank or medals and commendations to ''property''. Or, that if he ''were'' property, Starfleet wouldn't have any real claim to ownership of him (they didn't make him, they simply found him and turned him back on after his creator/father was forced to abandon him during a disaster).
* The ''Next Generation'' episode ''The Quality of Life'' dealt with it as well. A scientist invented "Exocomps", droid-like multipurpose tools with sophisticated AI. Occasionally an Exocomp would start to exhibit odd behavior, such as disobeying commands that would put it in danger. This leads Data to suggest that the Exocomps are becoming self-aware. Their inventor disagrees and wants to erase their memory and start over. The episode treats the question seriously and concluded that there was no easy answer.
* The ''Next Generation'' episode ''The Quality of Life'' dealt with it as well. A scientist invented "Exocomps", droid-like multipurpose tools with sophisticated AI. Occasionally an Exocomp would start to exhibit odd behavior, such as disobeying commands that would put it in danger. This leads Data to suggest that the Exocomps are becoming self-aware. Their inventor disagrees and wants to erase their memory and start over. The episode treats the question seriously and concluded that there was no easy answer.
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' explored the rights of the holographic doctor, including his right to have a say in his treatment. In one episode, rather than delete months of his memory (and personality), Janeway eventually allowed him to work through psychological problems that could have kept him out of Sickbay for weeks or even months -- despite the risk this might pose to the crew. Janeway had initially decided to just reboot the Doc, but changed her mind upon talking to Seven of Nine. When Janeway pointed out that the Doc was more like a replicator than a human, Seven pointed out that she, too, being Borg, was composed of parts not unlike the replicator, and wondered whether Janeway would eventually override her free will as well.
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' explored the rights of the holographic doctor, including his right to have a say in his treatment. In one episode, rather than delete months of his memory (and personality), Janeway eventually allowed him to work through psychological problems that could have kept him out of Sickbay for weeks or even months—despite the risk this might pose to the crew. Janeway had initially decided to just reboot the Doc, but changed her mind upon talking to Seven of Nine. When Janeway pointed out that the Doc was more like a replicator than a human, Seven pointed out that she, too, being Borg, was composed of parts not unlike the replicator, and wondered whether Janeway would eventually override her free will as well.
** In one episode of ''Voyager'', the Doctor had written a novel and submitted a draft, pre-editing, that the publisher thought was delightfully salacious in the way it seemed to impugn the Voyager crew, and promptly started distributing. The Doctor sued to have it stopped; the publisher argued he couldn't sue because he wasn't a person. This editor was waiting through the entire episode for someone to look through Starfleet's records and discover that an artificial being that has intelligence that can improve itself, have sex, and express itself artistically ''is'' a person, because Data was found to be so in the ''[[Did Not Do the Research|second season]]'' of ''The Next Generation''. This was done again with polymorphic tools called Exocomps that were proven to have gained low-level intelligence and were excellent problem-solvers. Admittedly, ruling that the Doctor was a person would open the door to ruling the same for Mark I EMHs all over the Federation, who had by then been consigned to manual labor; meanwhile, there was only one Data. It gets even less justifiable when you consider that the Doctor is essentially a [[Projected Man|Projected Android]].
** In one episode of ''Voyager'', the Doctor had written a novel and submitted a draft, pre-editing, that the publisher thought was delightfully salacious in the way it seemed to impugn the Voyager crew, and promptly started distributing. The Doctor sued to have it stopped; the publisher argued he couldn't sue because he wasn't a person. This editor was waiting through the entire episode for someone to look through Starfleet's records and discover that an artificial being that has intelligence that can improve itself, have sex, and express itself artistically ''is'' a person, because Data was found to be so in the ''[[Did Not Do the Research|second season]]'' of ''The Next Generation''. This was done again with polymorphic tools called Exocomps that were proven to have gained low-level intelligence and were excellent problem-solvers. Admittedly, ruling that the Doctor was a person would open the door to ruling the same for Mark I EMHs all over the Federation, who had by then been consigned to manual labor; meanwhile, there was only one Data. It gets even less justifiable when you consider that the Doctor is essentially a [[Projected Man|Projected Android]].
*** [[Squick|Wait, the Doctor and Data can ''have sex''?!]]
*** [[Squick|Wait, the Doctor and Data can ''have sex''?!]]
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*** The EMH-II asked the Doc to upload those modifications to his database before leaving. Quite why the solid projection of a computer programme designed purely to be a doctor would be so keen on sex that he'd ask for a {{spoiler|penis to be added}} 20 minutes after being [[Squick|turned on]] for the first time is never made clear.
*** The EMH-II asked the Doc to upload those modifications to his database before leaving. Quite why the solid projection of a computer programme designed purely to be a doctor would be so keen on sex that he'd ask for a {{spoiler|penis to be added}} 20 minutes after being [[Squick|turned on]] for the first time is never made clear.
** Also, all other holograms. If the world recognizes the fact that the Doctor achieved full sentience after being left running for long enough, suddenly using a [[Projected Man]] the way all the TNG-era Treks do becomes the stem cell debate times a thousand. Using them as novel characters (let alone ''combat practice'') would be right out. As such, Starfleet recognizing the Doctor as a person is never going to happen. Ever. Interestingly, it ''does'' seem that your average Trek hologram can become sentient if given the chance: Just ask not only the Doctor, but the hologram Hirogen prey from ''Flesh and Blood,'' the woman we thought was Dr. Zimmerman's daughter until Deanna found she couldn't read her, Vic Fontaine, Professor Moriarty, and on and on. ''Trek'' hologram use is ''serious'' [[Moral Dissonance]]. And, since [[AI Is a Crapshoot]], it bites them in the hindparts enough that such use goes beyond [[Genre Blindness]] and into [[What an Idiot!]] territory.
** Also, all other holograms. If the world recognizes the fact that the Doctor achieved full sentience after being left running for long enough, suddenly using a [[Projected Man]] the way all the TNG-era Treks do becomes the stem cell debate times a thousand. Using them as novel characters (let alone ''combat practice'') would be right out. As such, Starfleet recognizing the Doctor as a person is never going to happen. Ever. Interestingly, it ''does'' seem that your average Trek hologram can become sentient if given the chance: Just ask not only the Doctor, but the hologram Hirogen prey from ''Flesh and Blood,'' the woman we thought was Dr. Zimmerman's daughter until Deanna found she couldn't read her, Vic Fontaine, Professor Moriarty, and on and on. ''Trek'' hologram use is ''serious'' [[Moral Dissonance]]. And, since [[AI Is a Crapshoot]], it bites them in the hindparts enough that such use goes beyond [[Genre Blindness]] and into [[What an Idiot!]] territory.
** Carried even further, the right to vote was mentioned inside the episode. The Federation quite sensibly has no desire to extend suffrage to an easily-replicated computer program that can be given whatever personality, desires and values the programmer wants it to have (not to mention have its Ethics directory deleted with a push of a button). For what it's worth, the final decision is a bit of a subversion of the usual outcome: the court decides that the Doctor is ''not'' legally a "person". However, in a [[Pound of Flesh Twist]] twist, although the court declines to rule on whether he qualifies as a "person", he ''does'' qualify as an "artist", and therefore is granted ownership rights to his holonovel anyway. There have been instances of respecting non-Doctor holograms, though, such as Janeway putting the ship at risk to save the holographic town of Fair Haven. Except that the town's achievement of self-awareness was treated as a malfunction to be fixed--a malfunction specifically caused by running too long, the usual cause of sentient holograms.
** Carried even further, the right to vote was mentioned inside the episode. The Federation quite sensibly has no desire to extend suffrage to an easily-replicated computer program that can be given whatever personality, desires and values the programmer wants it to have (not to mention have its Ethics directory deleted with a push of a button). For what it's worth, the final decision is a bit of a subversion of the usual outcome: the court decides that the Doctor is ''not'' legally a "person". However, in a [[Pound of Flesh Twist]] twist, although the court declines to rule on whether he qualifies as a "person", he ''does'' qualify as an "artist", and therefore is granted ownership rights to his holonovel anyway. There have been instances of respecting non-Doctor holograms, though, such as Janeway putting the ship at risk to save the holographic town of Fair Haven. Except that the town's achievement of self-awareness was treated as a malfunction to be fixed—a malfunction specifically caused by running too long, the usual cause of sentient holograms.
*** Who says all holograms are created equal? The Doctor is obviously very powerful and sophisticated, but a combat practice hologram could be little more "intelligent" than an AI bot in a video game--a completely unliving set of routines with no consciousness or sensations.
*** Who says all holograms are created equal? The Doctor is obviously very powerful and sophisticated, but a combat practice hologram could be little more "intelligent" than an AI bot in a video game—a completely unliving set of routines with no consciousness or sensations.
*** Entire story arcs are dedicated to analyzing the status of holograms... and never really reach a satisfactory conclusion. Janeway actually breaks the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] and buys off a [[Planet of Hats|entire race]] of [[Egomaniac Hunter|Egomaniac Hunters]] with hologram technology; they refine and develop the technology so the holograms feel pain, fear and rage. This makes [[AI Is a Crapshoot|AI a crapshoot with loaded dice]]; they [[Robot War|rebel and start killing every one of them they can find]]. The Doctor sympathizes with them, but a [[Moral Dissonance|truly disturbing conversation]] ensues where the "flesh and blood" characters blithely discuss modifying their programs in ways that could only be performed on organics via brain surgery. The Doctor defects, and it looks like a [[Wham! Episode]] awaits... then they [[Debate and Switch|render the whole plot moot]] by showing that the rebel holograms have gone [[Colonel Kilgore]]; they kill organics to "rescue" holograms no more intelligent than tricorders, then strand the hunters on a toxic moon to hunt them down themselves. They're rescued, the Doctor is forced to eat crow, and one of the "nice" hunters decides to pretend he's dead and "fix" the holograms.
*** Entire story arcs are dedicated to analyzing the status of holograms... and never really reach a satisfactory conclusion. Janeway actually breaks the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] and buys off a [[Planet of Hats|entire race]] of [[Egomaniac Hunter]]s with hologram technology; they refine and develop the technology so the holograms feel pain, fear and rage. This makes [[AI Is a Crapshoot|AI a crapshoot with loaded dice]]; they [[Robot War|rebel and start killing every one of them they can find]]. The Doctor sympathizes with them, but a [[Moral Dissonance|truly disturbing conversation]] ensues where the "flesh and blood" characters blithely discuss modifying their programs in ways that could only be performed on organics via brain surgery. The Doctor defects, and it looks like a [[Wham! Episode]] awaits... then they [[Debate and Switch|render the whole plot moot]] by showing that the rebel holograms have gone [[Colonel Kilgore]]; they kill organics to "rescue" holograms no more intelligent than tricorders, then strand the hunters on a toxic moon to hunt them down themselves. They're rescued, the Doctor is forced to eat crow, and one of the "nice" hunters decides to pretend he's dead and "fix" the holograms.
* In a [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/In_a_Mirror%2C_Darkly Mirror Universe] episode of ''[[Enterprise]]'', this trope is played with to an almost sadistic degree. The viewers get to see the crew torture an insect-like Tholian by lowering the temperature in its prison cell to uncomfortable depths. (Tholians naturally exist at extreme levels of heat and pressure.) To really drive it in, we get a close-up view as the creature explodes. What makes it worse is that the Tholians are fighting against the Federation and [[Humans Are Bastards|their cruelty towards non-humanoids]] in this Universe (for the record, there's ''no'' closeup as a helpless humanoid Gorn gets shot half a dozen times). Given the lurid special effects during the torture scene, this became a deeply [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] for many.
* In a [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/In_a_Mirror%2C_Darkly Mirror Universe] episode of ''[[Enterprise]]'', this trope is played with to an almost sadistic degree. The viewers get to see the crew torture an insect-like Tholian by lowering the temperature in its prison cell to uncomfortable depths. (Tholians naturally exist at extreme levels of heat and pressure.) To really drive it in, we get a close-up view as the creature explodes. What makes it worse is that the Tholians are fighting against the Federation and [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|their cruelty towards non-humanoids]] in this Universe (for the record, there's ''no'' closeup as a helpless humanoid Gorn gets shot half a dozen times). Given the lurid special effects during the torture scene, this became a deeply [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] for many.
** It's the [[Mirror Universe]]. It's ''supposed'' to have the [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] regarding aliens.
** It's the [[Mirror Universe]]. It's ''supposed'' to have the [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] regarding aliens.
** Since the crew are ''villains'' in the [[Mirror Universe]], ''nothing'' they do is an [[Aesop]]. As for the producers being less willing to show human(oid) giblets than an alien shattering... the fact ''is'' that [[Most Writers Are Human]] and most viewers as well, and it would have been more disturbing to most (if it got through the censors at all.) A [[Gorn]]-filled<ref>[[Gorn]] as in the trope, not the lizard guys</ref> horror series is something ''[[Star Trek]]'' does not aspire to be; it's got ''enough'' of a [[Star Trek/Nightmare Fuel|Nightmare Fuel page]] as it is! In-universe, the mirror crew treats humans, [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]], and [[Starfish Aliens]] as being exactly the same - easily disposed of.
** Since the crew are ''villains'' in the [[Mirror Universe]], ''nothing'' they do is an [[Aesop]]. As for the producers being less willing to show human(oid) giblets than an alien shattering... the fact ''is'' that [[Most Writers Are Human]] and most viewers as well, and it would have been more disturbing to most (if it got through the censors at all.) A [[Gorn]]-filled<ref>[[Gorn]] as in the trope, not the lizard guys</ref> horror series is something ''[[Star Trek]]'' does not aspire to be; it's got ''enough'' of a [[Star Trek/Nightmare Fuel|Nightmare Fuel page]] as it is! In-universe, the mirror crew treats humans, [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]], and [[Starfish Aliens]] as being exactly the same - easily disposed of.
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