What the heck? The Enterprise is no match for the Borg Cube. Picard knows it. The Borg know it. The viewer knows it. Bob Dole knows it. What is Picard trying to accomplish here? Is he curious to see whether Borg can laugh? Hey, Jean-Luc, I’ve got an idea: tell the Borg you have Corbomite. They’ll believe that. They’ll turn around and run home with their tails between their legs.
Because saying "yeah, screw this, we surrender, just assimilate us" would be WAY more in-character and make for a better dramatic moment.
Picard was hoping that the borg can be bluffed, but then again he never did join rikers poker game until the very last episode.
I think that exchange between Picard and the Borg sums up Trek's take on the human race nicely. Mankind is never going to think, "oh, okay, surrender seems like a good idea." Let's face it, the bigger the enemy, the poorer the odds, the greater our need to say, "f*ck you, mate."
Yeah, but I bet you’ve never seen a Borg back away from a Chihuahua. (Please, no citations from Voyager, where such a scene would fit perfectly. The Borg in Voyager weren’t real Borg. They were the Borg’s wimpy cousins, the Voyager-Borg.)
Actually I wouldnt have a problem with seeing a borg back away from a chihuahua. The borg would see that little mud as a lower lifeform unworthy of assimilation. Now a chihuahua with borg implants, that would be something to see.