Tasha Yar: "Data, you're sturdy"... What?

[ReadyAndWilling]

I was just re-watching Arsenal of Freedom from season 1 and what Tasha said didn't make sense. Data is as strong as a god-damn Terminator so couldn't he have just jumped down into the cavern and picked up Picard and Crusher and put them over his shoulder and jumped back up?

Also, why is Data so slow at running even though his arms are so fast?

 

[Trevacious]

Also, why is Data so slow at running even though his arms are so fast?

Well, he has difficulty whistling, and trouble dancing when he can't watch his feet. Perhaps running exceptionally fast is just another one of those difficulties. I'll chalk it up to something Soong hadn't gotten around to working out yet.

 

[Start Wreck]

He's an artificial lifeform, not a superhero.

 

[Melakon]

The Soong Positronic® Data model is a lemon.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Data is as strong as a god-damn Terminator so couldn't he have just jumped down into the cavern and picked up Picard and Crusher and put them over his shoulder and jumped back up?

Gravity is still very important. Far easier to jump down and be able to handle the strain of landing than to defy the laws of physics and launch himself like a spring.

 

[Trekker4747]

Data is as strong as a god-damn Terminator so couldn't he have just jumped down into the cavern and picked up Picard and Crusher and put them over his shoulder and jumped back up?

Gravity is still very important. Far easier to jump down and be able to handle the strain of landing than to defy the laws of physics and launch himself like a spring.

Exactly, Data survived the fall into the cavern, but getting back out of it, carrying two full-grown people, is far beyond his ability.

 

[Richard Baker]

I think the amount of thrust/jump to leave the bottom of the pit carrying two adult humans would have such an acceleration that when he got to the top they would have been in worse shape- broken spines and ruptured internals....

 

[trekker670]

Also, why is Data so slow at running even though his arms are so fast?

Well, he has difficulty whistling, and trouble dancing when he can't watch his feet. Perhaps running exceptionally fast is just another one of those difficulties. I'll chalk it up to something Soong hadn't gotten around to working out yet.

Didn't they mention in Descent that Data is faster than average on foot? I thought there was a scene where they were discussing how far Data and the Borg could have traveled and the Borg was the slower of the two with a speed comparable to that of an average human.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I was just re-watching Arsenal of Freedom from season 1 and what Tasha said didn't make sense. Data is as strong as a god-damn Terminator so couldn't he have just jumped down into the cavern and picked up Picard and Crusher and put them over his shoulder and jumped back up?

Also, why is Data so slow at running even though his arms are so fast?

People with broken limbs are to be carried with extreme caution. If Data carried Beverly (with her internal bleeding among other things) while jumping up and down like a kangaroo, he'd likely kill her in the process, in fact he could even kill a valid person. Remember how his mother lost her arm in the fall when they jumped together. It takes enormous constraints to tear away an arm, especially a robotic one. Data is not equipped with inertial dampeners, obviously!

 

[JessDD]

It makes me curious why data isn't trained as a Doctor as well. You think in his 26 years at Starfleet Academy, they would have put him through medical school.

Now presenting... Dr. Data.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's possible medicine just didn't "interest" Data enough to pursue it as a career. I suspect, however, he has basic First-Aid training.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

It's possible medicine just didn't "interest" Data enough to pursue it as a career. I suspect, however, he has basic First-Aid training.

Just as all the star fleet personnel. Jadzia said as much in Change of Heart.

 

[MikeS]

"...you're sturdy"

Was that an in-joke, a throw back to The Naked Now?

 

[FormerLurker]

If she'd been referring to "The Naked Now" she would probably have been bleeped.

 

[Ghrakh]

I think the amount of thrust/jump to leave the bottom of the pit carrying two adult humans would have such an acceleration that when he got to the top they would have been in worse shape- broken spines and ruptured internals....

Definitely, it looked like they were on a full 1G planet set.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

If she'd been referring to "The Naked Now" she would probably have been bleeped.

It's not bleeped when it's subtle enough to leave some room for deniability...

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

Data is as strong as a god-damn Terminator so couldn't he have just jumped down into the cavern and picked up Picard and Crusher and put them over his shoulder and jumped back up?

Gravity is still very important. Far easier to jump down and be able to handle the strain of landing than to defy the laws of physics and launch himself like a spring.

Exactly, Data survived the fall into the cavern, but getting back out of it, carrying two full-grown people, is far beyond his ability.

Huh?

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Data has durability, not superpowers.
No rocket feet, springs for legs, magic carpet, fairy dust, nothing like that.

Does that help?

 

[TheSubCommander]

Also, why is Data so slow at running even though his arms are so fast?

Well, he has difficulty whistling, and trouble dancing when he can't watch his feet. Perhaps running exceptionally fast is just another one of those difficulties. I'll chalk it up to something Soong hadn't gotten around to working out yet.

Didn't they mention in Descent that Data is faster than average on foot? I thought there was a scene where they were discussing how far Data and the Borg could have traveled and the Borg was the slower of the two with a speed comparable to that of an average human.

It could be that data is faster than average because he doesn't tire, but isn't nececarily able to move at superhumanoid speeds. His body is still based on a human body, so physics dictate he can't move at cheetah speeds. Plus we don't know exactly how much he weighs. We can assume he is around average human weight, but who is to say he isn't like 300 or more pounds, which can clow him down, too.