Geordi in Interface, Data in Descent

[Mojochi]

I got hung up on something in their friendship a while ago. Maybe it's just me, but Data is the better friend imho

Stick with me here. In Interface, Geordi is obsessed with using the probe link to return to the science ship, in hopes of finding his mother. When Data finds him about to do so, he objects, on the grounds that he is not only disobeying an order, but also endangering himself. Once he realizes he can't talk his friend out of the decision, he actually offers to aid him.

Now, flash back only a couple episodes earlier, when Data experiences an inexplicable bout of anger in Descent pt1. While Data is using the holodeck to recreate the conditions by which this freak occurrence happened, he stumbles upon a safety protocol which prevents him upping the strength of his opponent. He prevails upon Geordi to lend him aid, by authorizing the protocol deactivation with him. Geordi refuses. They are interrupted shortly thereafter, but he seemed pretty adamant about his refusal being non-negotiable. I just found it odd that Data would turn around in a later episode and offer that very same kind of loyalty to Geordi, that he'd never got

It kind of made me wonder if Geordi ever considered that Data was making the very same gesture to him that he'd refused. IMHO, Sometimes being a friend means having to let your friend takes risks you might not agree with. Geordi was not willing to do that. Data was. How ironic

 

[questella]

I always thought Geordi treated Data a bit like a pet or a child.

 

[Tosk]

Remind me, which one of them got screwed over twice when the other one got emotions?

 

[Mojochi]

Remind me, which one of them got screwed over twice when the other one got emotions?

Are you counting Descent there? What examples do you mean? Besides, remind me which one made the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life for the other?

I always thought Geordi treated Data a bit like a pet or a child.

Didn't they all? To be fair though, Data brought a lot of that on himself. It certainly undermined his role as 2nd officer imho

 

[Tosk]

Are you counting Descent there? What examples do you mean?

Descent and Generations.

 

[Makarov]

Interesting comparison, I think it's more that Geordie knows you don't mess with the holodeck where the slightest sneeze can send you into a Holodeck malfunction episode.

 

[Mojochi]

Descent and Generations.

I don't count Descent. He was under Lore's manipulation. He was not in control of himself. Since Geordi was equally susceptible to that kind of thing in The Mind's Eye, it's hardly fair to judge Data for that imho

In Generations, do you mean when Data froze up from fear? I give him a pass on that one. It is, after all, like the 1st time he ever felt it before. Why should he be properly prepared for that?

Interesting comparison, I think it's more that Geordie knows you don't mess with the holodeck where the slightest sneeze can send you into a Holodeck malfunction episode.

lol maybe

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The difference in those situations is Data's help in Interface made Geordi more safe and Geordi's intervention in Descent would make Data less safe. Remember in that same ep, Geordi stopped Data from destroying his emotion chip.

I don't think enabling self destructive behavior is a test of friendship.

 

[Mojochi]

The difference in those situations is Data's help in Interface made Geordi more safe and Geordi's intervention in Descent would make Data less safe. Remember in that same ep, Geordi stopped Data from destroying his emotion chip.

I don't think enabling self destructive behavior is a test of friendship.

It's a fair point, but when you're talking about something as important as the two situations were to those guys, turning your back on them is less loyal imho. The whole of Data's existence hinged on what was happening to him. It doesn't get bigger than that. There are some times when you may need a friend to do something awful, even help you die. Those are the most trusted friends. Data was still enabling Geordi, even if his involvement was a more stabilizing factor. He did so, not just because he'd make Geordi safer, but because he knew Geordi needed help with something dangerous, that he couldn't let go of. It mattered too much. Geordi never gave Data that same consideration

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I would argue that if Geordi helped him lower the safeties it would be like picking up heroin for your drug addicted friend.

 

[Mojochi]

I would argue that if Geordi helped him lower the safeties it would be like picking up heroin for your drug addicted friend.

That's a bit extreme. You're talking about a habitual addition. Data was not exhibiting anything of that sort. He was attempting to unearth something at the core of his existence, trying to find meaning in who he is. I'd argue for that being at least as important to an individual as was Geordi's relationship with his mother, & it was only the one instance. You're presenting your point as if Data were a type of thrill junkie. Clearly that's not what was happening here

It also may have helped prevent the actual circumstance that came about afterward. Follow me on this. If Data & Geordi HAD removed the holodeck safeties, and recreated the same parameters of his actual encounter with the Borg he'd killed, including the real life danger factor, it probably wouldn't have hurt Data, because the real Borg didn't. It also would've still failed to produce the emotional response he'd experienced, just like all his previous attempts, because it hadn't originally been a real emotional response, like he was assuming it was. It was artificially instilled by Lore via carrier waves, but Data didn't know that at the time

However! If he'd had another failure, that approximated his experience exactly, he might have begun to think there was something else going on besides a legitimate emotional response. Completing his experiment, in full failure, could've give that hypothesis closure enough to move on to a different theory, perhaps even an investigation into something more technological, which might've revealed the tampering that was going on with him

If Geordi had helped Data finish putting to rest the "was it authentic emotion?" experiment, they might've come closer to the real reason he'd had that emotion, which might have prevented all the events of the episode. Because Data didn't finish that experiment, he remained in the dark & confused about what had happened, which may have been, in some small way, a part of why he went astray. He never knew Lore was pushing these emotions into him, because he hadn't ruled out the idea that it wasn't an authentic emotion, through his scientific process. That's why you help the guy out