My wife and I are rewatching The Next Generation and just finished Measure of a Man, the episode in season 2 in which Data’s personhood is legally debated and his life hangs in the balance.
I genuinely found this episode infuriating in its stupidity. It’s the first episode we skipped even a little bit. It was like nails on a chalkboard.
There is oodles of legal precedent that Data is a person. He was allowed to apply to Starfleet, graduated, became an officer and rose to the rank of Lt. Commander with all the responsibilities and privileges thereof.
Comparing him to a computer and the judge advocate general just shrugging and going to trial over it is completely idiotic. There are literal years and years of precedent that he’s an officer.
The problem is compounded because Picard can’t make the obvious legal argument and is therefore stuck philosophizing in a court room, which is all well and good, but it kind of comes down to whether or not Data has a soul? That’s not a legal argument.
The whole thing is so unbelievably ludicrous it just made me angrier and angrier. It wasn’t the high minded, humanistic future I’ve come to know and love, it was a kangaroo court where reason and precedent took a backseat to feeling and belief.
I genuinely hated it.
To my surprise, in looking it up, I discovered it’s considered one of the high water marks for the entire show. It feels like I’m taking crazy pills.
Hot take. But put it in the context of the year it was aired, not today. Star Trek (and sci fi in general) was suffering from being perceived as “blue babes and laser guns”.
This episode was thoughtful if taken as standalone. And TNG really was about taking the episodes more or less independently. The season long story arcs and such didn’t exist. People weren’t binge watching. So the world building was less important than the specific hypothetical moral quandary of the week. Like, they are almost like Asimov short stories with a shared cast.
It wasn’t until a few years later that serialized TV even really became a thing – Twin Peaks probably was the first here, but Babylon 5 would have a good claim (and DS9, Buffy, and others were coming together then too). So the style of storytelling on TNG S2 is different.
Divorce the story from Star Trek and the setting and evaluate it as a sci fi ethical quandary. And in that framework, it is a remarkable episode.
Also, Brent Spiner played it well :)
I think that’s a terrific argument and it is always wise to contextualize it in history.
We have absolutely been binging which certainly gives it a different feel, but I would argue even as a standalone episode it was poorly written if superbly performed.
There are ideas that could have been played with in a way that respects the setting. Perhaps another computer attempting to join Starfleet, but it looks like a box rather than a person and asks Data to argue its personhood.
I don’t know. I’m not a writer and I’m just spitting an idea off the top of my head, but I think there’s a place for internal consistency within a narrative regardless of when it was written.
(This is vague enough that I don’t feel spoilers are necessary)
Perhaps another computer attempting to join Starfleet, but it looks like a box rather than a person and asks Data to argue its personhood.
They kind of had that exact opportunity in Discovery. But instead of an entire courtroom episode, it was more of a forced arbitration scene :(
I don’t mind spoilers—but use spoiler tags if necessary—what do you mean?
Discovery S2-5 Spoiler (Zora)
Discovery encounters an ancient, sentient sphere which uploads its 10,000 years or so of knowledge to the ship’s computer. The data eventually merges with the ship’s AI and becomes sentient. She names herself Zora and wants to join Starfleet.
Which would easily have led into an updated version of “Measure of a Man”, but the whole subplot was basically resolved in a scene and a half that basically amounted to an interview.
The only handwave is that they’re almost 1,000 years in the future at that point, so sapient AI rights may have advanced considerably in the interim and an interview may have been all that was necessary?
That’s too bad. Anything involving sentience and how we evaluate it is so fascinating and it absolutely could have been more interesting than that.
That was one of Discovery’s main problems. It was always on the cusp of doing/becoming something awesome, but could never, ever manage to stick the landing. Often cools ideas, terribly executed and/or realized. Very frustrating.
There is an episode later where Data defends the rights of a less-human-looking artificial life (the one with exocomps), though no courtroom scenes.
I think most star trek episodes can be torn apart pretty easily - I actually enjoy pointing out errors while I watch. But it’s good drama and themes with fun characters in an optimistic future, which is still a rarity decades later.
And TNG really was about taking the episodes more or less independently.
This era was also the high water mark for syndicated TV which really drove the episodic format. Viewers couldn’t be guaranteed the show would air on the same channel or even the same timeslot. So long form serial TV were really rare.
It wasn’t until a few years later that serialized TV even really became a thing – Twin Peaks probably was the first here, but Babylon 5 would have a good claim (and DS9, Buffy, and others were coming together then too).
Soap operas were doing serialized storytelling for decades before your examples. Maybe not good serialized storytelling, but still.
Batman ended every episode with a cliff hanger. Sometimes literally hanging batman off a cliff. Then they’d resolve it within the first 10 seconds of the next episode.
Soap operas were incredibly addictive. Some of them have thousands of episodes.
There’s still an important distinction: JMS likened Babylon 5 to a novel for television. It had a defined beginning, a middle, and an end, conceptualized that way from the start of development.
Yes, soap operas are serialized television, but totally open-ended. The producers of Dallas didn’t plan for J.R. Ewing to get shot as part of the series arc; they didn’t even plan him as a main character. A lot of soap operas have a very throw-it-against-the-wall feel. My grandmother was a Days of Our Lives watcher, and stuck it out even through the alien abduction storyline. Other people I know would stop watching for even years at a time, then come back and pick up whatever new storylines were then current.
I mean no disrespect to soap operas, as they give lots of people years of enjoyment. TNG itself was largely episodic, but had some soap opera elements, following evolving relationships among the crew which were carried through. But that’s still not the novel-for-television concept.
Yes there were soap operas. But was anyone doing it in prime time? Another commentor mentions how syndication was big at the time. Also you did have the concept of a “mini series” which was a popular term at the time, which implied the distinction.
There were prime-time soap operas. Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, just to name a few.
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Just because you got away with breaking the law for decades, doesn’t mean you weren’t breaking the law and the law can’t be applied today.
That notion is rather well addressed in Strange New Worlds s2e2 Ad Astra Per Aspera
Amazing episode
Just because you got away with breaking the law for decades, doesn’t mean you weren’t breaking the law and the law can’t be applied today.
i mean it could tho. That’s why every lawyer answers “it depends”
Eh, soap operas had been doing serialised TV for decades before the 80s and 90s. And if you look to outside of the US, in the UK serialised TV was extremely normal, and had been for decades - ever since TV started, really. And even before that it was common in radio plays.
What bothered me most about this ep is that Riker is forced to act as some kind of prosecutor. And he’s like no, I won’t do it. And she’s like you better do it, and to the best of your ability yada yada or else I’m gonna something something. Like how is she gonna know if he does this to the best of his ability. Why wouldn’t he just completely blow it? Or at least in some plausible attempt at an effort. What was she gonna do then, have another trial for Riker for being a bad fake lawyer? Is the concept of conflict of interest not a thing in future robot court?
“You didn’t even try to turn him off!”
“I am literally incapable of doing that.”
The court thing mandates that high ranking officers are to assume the different positions needed for trial. His duty was to be the prosecutor at that moment. Not doing that could’ve been grounds for a court martial. Imagine him doing that for a murder case for someone else, totally ignoring the rules. There is no difference between a murder case and Data’s case. It would also lead to a mistrial. Sooo he would skirt his duty risking his career and nothing would change in the end - Data would probably have a new trial anyway.
Edit: there is the glarinf issue - a conflict of interest.
This is such a weird way to look at the world. “It must be this way because there are rules that say it must be that way and if we don’t follow the rules than the rules say we must fuck the career of anyone not following them.” Completely ignoring that these are rules that were made up by people with the intent of creating a capable and fair system and if the rules are bad, they can and should be changed.
Plus if you can’t find anyone to argue a position, maybe it’s a sign that that position doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on. It also doesn’t say anything good about Riker who was willing to risk his friend’s future and freedom to argue a position he strongly disagreed with because his career was at stake.
It’s standard in any command structure. Be it military or civillian shipping or something. You maybe can voice an opinion, but you are expected to do what is asked anyway.
It’s not that the position doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Defense lawyers will defend guilty people too and they will get them the best deal possible, and even let them walk if that’s what they can do. Grab a room of people who aren’t defense attorneys, and nobody would do it.
Also IIRC it was said in the episodes that it needs to be a high ranking officer. Hence Riker and Picard. There was a huge conflict of interest, but duty goes first.
I mean… yeah, the episode isn’t as focused on procedural detail, and I do live for legal process minutia, but I can fill in the blanks just fine and suspend disbelief.
I mean, the question being raised is whether Data has been operating as a person willingly joined Starfleet or as salvaged equipment. If Data had been roaming around on his own and then applied to join Starfleet I’d be more nitpicky, but he was found and turned on by Starfleet and he seems to have been in the system since, so I can see the question of how to categorize him coming up retroactively. Especially in retrospect, since we eventually get undeniable confirmation that AGI is very much possible within their normal gear.
I mean, for the record, by the time Voyager comes around we know that they have protocols to use holographic AIs to substitute in for key personnel, so if you can have a “EMH” slot in for an officer you can have a piece of salvaged machinery operate with a rank and then reassign it to a different role… unless that entity has personhood. It IS a sci-fi as hell concept, but a valid one in-universe.
Me, I would have very much enjoyed Noonyien Soong arguing whether he still owns Data and learn what is legal salvage in Starfleet territory but for the sake of 90s network TV I can see “Is this android truly a life form” being the approach to a Trek episode. And thematically… well, I can’t get through the Goldberg and Stewart scene about slavery without tearing up. It isn’t just how good they both are, it’s the “oh, crap, they’re saying the thing” element to it, too.
Of course that means Starfleet straight up condoned slavery later, as per Star Trek Picard season 1. I would gladly remove all of Picard from lore at this point, but nope, officially Starfleet had legal proceedings to determine that Soong androids are people and to remove their autonomy is akin to slavery and then went ahead and did it anyway.
Picard sucks and is the worst Star Trek thing ever, is what I’m trying to say. Yes, way worse than anything in Discovery. Including season three.
Voyager had it’s own “Measure of a Man” episode a la the EMH in Season 7, episode 20 “Author, Author”. A lot of the same themes were there. But what has bothered me for years is at the end of the episode, it’s implied that there is a number of EMH units that have been “reading” the Doctor’s holonovel, and building a resistance.
This was never explored in any future Star Trek, was it? It wasn’t talked about in Picard or Lower Decks. And Picard had the whole AI plot line.
Hey, you want to hear a spicy take?
Discovery is the one piece of Trek that fixes their dumb AI nonsense.
By the time they are in the post-postapocalypse future they introduce at least one Soong android who is just… hanging out, being a guy. Not even a particularly nice guy. So at least there is that.
It really bothered me that they didn’t even mention the doctor, what with seven of nine being there and the ai plotline. But after watching more of Picard, I’m glad they didn’t and especially glad they mostly steered clear of ds9.
So as someone who never watched Picard, its a skip?
Oh, please skip it. I watched the first season and I wish I could erase that experience from memory.
Red Letter Media did some youtube videos on all the Picard seasons, you’re much better off just watching them talk about it than actually watching Picard itself. Season 3 is supposedly better, but still not great.
Picard is destroying, it doesn’t add. It should’ve never been made.
Picard was fumbled hard overall.
They had some concepts that could’ve been deeply interesting, such as [SPOILERS] a dead Borg Cube in Romulan space, being studied by the Romulans, and looking for Bruce Maddox, the scientist who wanted to study Data in Measure of a Man (S1), Q dying and wanting to engage with Picard before he goes (S2), but they did a really bad job.
Season 3 is a lot better. A lot of the sound and cinematography is great, it feels more like a Star Trek film than a TV show in terms of how it’s presented. That in itself isn’t a good thing or a bad thing, but I personally liked it.
It’s a bit fan-servicey - there were times when I liked that, but also times I rolled my eyes. I’d say Season 3 is worth watching, and you’ll either like it or you won’t. Thankfully, the show pretty much resets itself for season 3, and you don’t really need any info from Seasons 1/2 going into it.
In S3 Picard and Bev Crusher at one point sit down to ponder whether to torture or execute a prisoner and decide to go for it.
Yeah, no. It’s not AS bad… but it’s bad.
Season 2 can absolutely be ignored entirely going into season 3, which is good because season 2 is complete garbage. And that annoys the hell out of me because it’s the one with Q, Guinan, and even a brief appearance of Wesley.
I watched, and really enjoyed Season 1, even with its flaws. I started season 2, and turned it off after I think an episode. I don’t know if they changed writers or what, but something about it was just too stupid. If I remember correctly, they brought back some person that died, or someone did something unforgivable in season 1 and then they’re back on the squad for… reasons? I dunno, it was so jarringly stupid I stopped watching a show based entirely on my favorite Star Trek captain. If your show, about Picard, turns off hardcore TNG fans… then, what are you even doing?
Though I’ve heard that season 3 is good multiple times now, so perhaps I’ll try to reengage
You should watch season 3. The only things to know about season 2 is that they wrote off all but 1 of the new characters, and that it’s entirely unimportant for season 3.
yeah, each season is pretty much self-contained, but it helps to have watched the previous ones the new characters so you can appreciate their story arcs.
True. Although half the new characters were scrapped, or had their storylines ignored.
Picard’s two Romulan… maids? Estate managers? went nowhere and disappeared
Space Legolas went nowhere and disappeared
Soji went nowhere and disappeared
Raffi is there still, but her entire story arc got scrapped I believe? They were going for a “I’m a recovering addict and I want to reconnect with my son and his pregnant spouse”, and then it just completely disappeared as a plot line.
Seven is there, but I think you can go into S3 and just think “oh, Picard and Seven know eachother. I guess that makes sense actually.”
It certainly helps to have seen the previous seasons, you’re right. I’m pretty sure they reference that Picard is technically an android once, which would be a wtf moment if you’ve not seen season 1.
The final season of Picard is terrific. The others are not so good. But you kind of have to watch the others to understand some of the things in the final season.
It’s mostly just a TNG reunion though.
If the last season of Picard is terrific, then Star Trek Nemesis is peak cinema.
…or we just don’t share an opinion about a TV show.
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Hmm for the sake of discussion, it could be such that that legal tribunal was calling into question all of that history. Just because a “crime” (in this case a misclassification) occured and was propagated for many years doesn’t mean it is correct tomorrow.
The point of the episode was the kangaroo court. It was that data had served as a valid, meaningful, human-like member of the staff for years, and all that was at risk. It does the very star trek thing of highlighting real world issues, in that people all over the world suffer from kangaroo court style judicial-injustice, and Picard’s achievement is that much more impressive given the hill to climb. (Corruption)
Even in a seemingly idealistic futurist-future, injustice can arise, and minorities can be swept up in the mess. The federation is not perfect, and this episode is a crystal clear example of it’s potential faults. (Executives with opinions trump up proceedings to bring about their own goals, essentially corrupt bureaucracy wrapped in judicial procedure)
With many of the recent supreme court rulings that have ignored or outright destroyed precedent, I could easily see a situation like you described. Somewhere offscreen a ruling had been made and this is the fallout.
This is one of the better responses. Well said.
You are not taking crazy pills, its premise does suffer when watched with a “critical eye” (i.e. thinking about it even a little).
The reason it’s remembered so fondly (imho) is two fold. It is one of the first “thought provoking” episodes. And the first couple of seasons were… not the best to put it mildly.
edit: admittedly, I do enjoy it, but I really have to turn my brain off to do so.
Honestly, the validation means the world to me. The performances were all top notch and I get the idea they’re going for, but how they went there was so painful and contrived.
lol, no kidding. Even watching it as a kid my first thought was, “the fate of Data’s rights can be determined in an impromptu court session with bridge crew acting as lawyers!? Shouldn’t they have… real courts for this?”. At the time I didn’t consider the limitations of the show of course, and I do think the willingness to tackle high concepts was what made the show so special. But damn did the limitations show in this one.
Especially back then, people made exceptions for scifi shows bc even remotely good ones were in such short supply. Also the limitations were quite severe - for funding, for each episode having to fully wrap up by its end and therefore be almost entirely self-contained (except season-bridging 2-parters with cliffhangers stitching them together), and even then people might end up rewatching them in a different order later on, before e.g. VCRs existed and started becoming more common.
Though in many more ways than one, not only irt that, it is one of the better shows of all time. Certainly in comparison with the large majority of its successors.
The whole point of this episode is to challenge the viewer to think about the arguments. That’s all. Is it stupid as far as realism? Yeah it kinda is. But is it a subject matter many of the viewers at the time of it airing were thinking about? No.
I imagine the idea the writer had was “let’s challenge what the viewer thinks and/or feels without them knowing”. There’s a lot of that in ST throughout the years and I, for one have always been here for it.
It’s not the best episode, but it’s certainly not the worst.
I think voyager did it a little better with The Doctor, at least there was a reason why he was in the crew and was accepted as a person, but legally he was not
Better to be stuck in the Delta Quadrant than stuck at home scrubbing conduits I guess…
Every Star Trek episode involving a trial shows that the way Starfleet conducts its justice system is incredibly stupid.
The Menagerie, Measure of a Man (and like 3 other TNG episodes), Ad Astra Per Aspera, that DS9 one where the Klingons want to extradite Worf… all stupid.
The only one you can’t really blame for being stupid in this regard is Voyager, because they always have the “we aren’t in the Alpha Quadrant” excuse to fall back on.
There must be something to their judicial system, taking Voyager as the example, clearly as soon as they are beyond the reach of Federation justice captains turn into genocidal war criminals in very short order.
I mean… they’re genocidal war criminals inside the system.
Sisko sure was.
The important thing is that he could live with it
Janeway murdering Tuvix was a cliff for me. Couldn’t come back from that, no matter her moral equivocating.
I think it’s so funny that people are so pissed at her about Tuvix and just ignore the fact that she essentially tried to wipe out Species 8472. But that’s okay because they’re “the bad guys.” Every last one of the trillions of them.
As someone who grew up on TNG, and Picard, I just never found Janeway to embody any of the qualities of a Starfleet Captain, as they had been outlined. She lacked the essential intellectual curiosity that was supposed to be the bedrock of exploration.
So I can chalk it up to the writers, but that’s still an L for the series, as a whole.
I agree, janeway was straight up a bad captain. I can dismiss some of it as being stranded, but she barely towed the starfleet line.
*just fyi, the idiom is you toe a line, as in step up to the line.
Maxwell too
He’ll probably invoke some kind of godhood defence. The federation is pretty fucked up in general.
Trek writers really revel in the idea that the Federation and Starfleet are actually super flawed and not a utopia at all.
Which is a little annoying honestly.
they grew up with the idea that their country was a “shining city on a hill” and that ideal was shattered. they want to put it into their fiction, and they got hired for star trek. the federation is the “shining city on a hill” equivalent in star trek. At least that’s what I’m taking from it.
That’s because Star Trek is sometimes a show about introducing basic philosophy and ethics to American nerds who genuinely could not and often still do not grasp the idea of giving at least theoretical personhood to someone that wasn’t biological.
Just ask half of this community what they think about Fallout 4 synths if you don’t believe it.
Yeah this is just an excuse to talk about the mind-body problem. I like it.
I fervently disagree. I think you can view it in a very optimistic and utopic way.
When confronted with his friend’s sentience and individuality being questioned, Captain Picard chose to debate on the basis of data being a person and deserving rights. Sure you could’ve just said that data was a person because Starfleet accepted him. But does that specifically extend to all androids or beings in similar circumstances? I think it’s a good character moment for Picard that he chooses to argue on the basis that star fleet is better than stripping away someone’s agency. And he wins too. Ultimately the federation comes to agree with that view point. Thats why it is a utopic society. Because when faced with a moral dilemma they didn’t simply choose “technically legally correct” they chose “morally right”.
You forgot that it was starlet that created the need for this legal argument in the first place.
If the judge was truly moral; this trial would never have happened. If starfleet was moral, the docheberger that wanted to dismantle data would never have been a member.
Also the other best defense would have been to ask docuheberger to prove he’s not just a machine, and crusher explain in intricate detail how they can reassemble Ryker’s brain. And reattach Ryker’s limb after Warf rips it off.
(Okay, so maybe I don’t like Ryker.)
Yeah they encountered something new in the universe and they had to decide on what to do. They decided to do the moral thing for moral reasons. Starfleet isn’t a utopia but it’s utopic because of instances like this where the right thing is done for the right reasons.
The fact they had a trial to determine data’s personhood and that it was agonizingly close, that they were actually considering denying it.
If they were truly moral, the question would have never come up; or Maddox and the general would have been slapped down with a scathing “don’t be evil”.
Also, at that point data was hardly new- he’s been in starfleet for 20+ years in which Data earned his place as a decorated Lt. Commander.
In any case, this isn’t even a question for a starfleet court - this would fall under civil purview, and even hearing the trial is a miscarriage. (Also the IFP courts probably have some sort of test that doesn’t require destructive testing. Details.)
Yeah sitting down and discussing all viewpoints before coming to consensus is clearly beneath Starfleet. They should just automatically know the right thing to do (which is obvs what I think is right) and clearly a interplanetary civilisation wouldn’t have any sort of conflict of interest/opinion.
Obviously the guy suing should understand data is clearly a person despite being a new ‘unique’ form of life in the universe that they have never interacted with before. Like come on are you telling me everyone in the federation hasn’t watched tng and become emotionally attached to the characters like I have.
Stoopid episode 0/10
Yeah sitting down and discussing all viewpoints before coming to consensus is clearly beneath Starfleet. They should just automatically know the right thing to do (which is obvs what I think is right) and clearly an interplanetary civilisation wouldn’t have any sort of conflict of interest/opinion.
Except that’s not what’s happening here. This is a criminal trial under military/starfleet law to determine if Data has the right to refuse.
This isn’t some arbitration hearing this is a criminal trial. Remember, they came and ordered him, Picard tried to stop it and failed so Data resigned his commission.
Maddox’s argument is that a toaster doesn’t get to do that. (Conveniently ignoring that toasters aren’t commissioned officers to begin with.) it’s prima facie an attempt to coerce data into doing research that will almost certainly kill him; for dubious scientific benefit.
Obviously the guy suing should understand data is clearly a person despite being a new ‘unique’ form of life in the universe that they have never interacted with before. Like come on are you telling me everyone in the federation hasn’t watched tng and become emotionally attached to the characters like I have.
Fascesiousness aside, yes. That’s exactly what should have happened.
Remember that thing called the Prime Directive? several core bits would simply not work without some definitive test as to who or what has personhood and who or what doesn’t.
Maddox’s position has the same level of standing as the recent Florida case against newspapers, where the judge responded “It’s the 4th Amendment, idiot.”
Even further there’s 20+ years of Data passing as a person so well that no one before The Jackass ever questions it. Almost like, because he meets the criteria in the same way that Jackass or Picard or Troy or even the blue barber guy does.
It’s only when Jackass wants to destructively clone Data that it’s even brought up as a question.
So YES, ABSOLUTELY, this trial should never have been allowed to ever happen.
Nope you are nitpicking and biased bye bye
Honestly I agree, the legal parts were cringe. I even saw a legal analysis of it on YouTube and they thought it was legally great.
But it’s pretty simple in my mind: if he didn’t have agency, he wouldn’t have been able to join Starfleet. The very basis of Starfleet accepting him means that he is capable of making his own decisions. And the very act of accepting him means he is not the property of Starfleet.
Either way Data is out. Sentient because you accepted him. Not sentient means his acceptance contract is void and obviously not property of Starfleet.
Starfleet rescued him off the planet and reactivated him. He was next to Lore who was completely disassebled. To people thinking Data isn’t a person, it was a salvage operation, not a rescue. Same as getting back a derelict doesn’t make it a person and makes it the property of Starfleet.
I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re trying to say.
Salvage rights are very complex on their own, you don’t automatically own other stuff simply because you come to their rescue (as in rescuing a ship) or flip a switch. It’s quite literally someone else’s property. So Starfleet didn’t own him.
Second, he’s an officer. You have to apply to officer school. Just like the children on the ship aren’t automatically enrolled in Starfleet, they and he have to apply. It’s a serious application. It’s not like this android was just kicking around on a ship and fell into being an officer. (Same goes for enlisted.) *For anyone that doesn’t want to read my next longer comment: Data signed a contract to enlist. To sign a contract requires agency, which starfleet accepted.
Abandonned property can be taken and used. It was thought that whoever was the “owner” of Data died in the crystaline entity incident.
As for enlistment - Data could learn what he needed to probably in a day. He was a huge asset and denying him entry would be a detriment to Starfleet, even if he was a “thing”. I don’t see enlisting as something that would only be offered to humans / not things, we see a ship “enlist” in Discovery for instance.
First, was it abandoned or were the residents fleeing for their lives under duress? Yeah the latter. This is very far from being long abandoned property. Even if the owner was killed, it’s not a sudden finders keepers. There are wills, or even without a will there are still legal inheritors that the courts figure out. Again, this is not an event from long ago, it literally just happened. If you want to claim legal ownership rights over something that wasn’t yours to begin with, it’s a serious task and the burden is on you. You don’t automatically assume legal ownership, basically the court would have to find in your favor that you can claim salvage. Until and unless that happens, you don’t have legal ownership. That means any difficulty/ambiguity/complexity in the matter leans away from the courts giving you legal ownership. Also, generally as the value of the object goes up, the difficulty of the salvage ownership claim goes up. The value and complexity of a working android is unfathomable and the difficulty of your salvage claim just shot into the stratosphere.
Second enlistment. This is not about learning. Enlisting is a contract. You need to have agency to sign that contract. This is why people under 18 and feeble minded people can not enter into a contract - they do not have agency.
That’s what Picard should have argued: 1) The very act of Starfleet accepting Data’s signature shows they thought Data had agency. Precedent was set. That means both sentience and the ability to decide to resign. That alone basically wins the case. But failing that we can look at the other side: 2) If the judge says that he has no agency to resign from Starfleet, that means that Data never had agency to enlist in Starfleet in the first place. The entire contract is null and void. Data has no legal relationship with Starfleet, they can not give him orders to report to Maddox, and Data is free to go. Which leaves you with the salvage claim, and as above good luck with that you’re going to need it.
That’s basically the same as what I said before but with more elaboration. That’s as elaborate an explanation that I care to make so I think that’s my last reply.
Data. Lor.
Lore.
Data and Lore are 2 different kinds of information.
That just occurred to me.
What about him joining Star Fleet proves without any doubt that he is a person?
It’s not about proving it beyond a doubt, the OP’s frustrarion is about how the whole courtroom drama was inaccurate.
The assumtion is this: Legally, Starfleet only allows sapent adults to join its ranks. So a toaster cannot be a starfleet officer, and neither can a dog.
The fact that he is an officer means that in legal terms, Starfleet has already decided that he is a person, and any court that asks this question has a quick and easy answer.
neither can a dog
Admiral Porthos: Am I a joke to you?
The existing legal precedent is absolutely ignored in lieu of courtroom spectacle. An excuse to have Picard wax poetic, which he does to great effect.
🥵
The dumbest part is when the JAG appoints Riker as the…plantiff/prosecutor? And threatens to summarily vote in the plantiff’s favor if he refuses to serve in that capacity. “If you don’t do anything, you win.”
All Johnny 5 had to do was laugh at a religious joke told by Steve Gottenburg. Guess the 80s were more advanced socially in that regard
They sure balanced out that social advancement with Fisher Stevens face painted to be an Indian engineer.
Dude, he wasn’t playing an Indian! He clearly says that his ancestors are from Pittsburgh
(is /s necessary here? Eh, I’ll put it in anyway)
/s
Nun soup?
I think the concept is still high minded even if they ignored previous continuity for the sake of having the argument in the first place.
The antagonist is also a character that has little experience actually working with Data; so his ignorance is to be expected. I’m also not really sure how allowing him to be in Starfleet, hold ranks and what not means anything about his humanity.
I mean, even if they considered him to be nothing more than a machine, having him go through the academy and actually gain experience doing his job is a good test of the machine’s ability to pretend to be human. It doesn’t necessarily mean Starfleet wouldn’t do the same for something like a non-android, AI powered robot that nobody would consider to be human.
I don’t think the point even is “are androids human?” The point was “what makes a human human?” Our definition of it in reality is based more on emotion than rationality; there is a certain je ne sais quoi about what makes us different from other animals and opinions differ wildly about it.
Your argument ignores one important aspect.
They were looking for a reason to de-person him, to take him apart, and to build loads more like him to be used as slave labor in mines and other dangerous places.
