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Data's Imitation Game

PicardSpeedo

PicardSpeedo

Commander
Red Shirt
So I'm really confused about something.

We see Data pull off flawless imitations of his shipmates on multiple occasions, such as the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint" and "Brothers." He does this so convincingly that even the computer is fooled in the latter episode. Yet, in "Angel One," we are expected to believe that he can't approximate a basic sneeze, instead over-enunciating it as "Ahh..choooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

How is it that Data can imitate vocalizations with such precision that even the most sophisticated pattern-matching algorithms are fooled, yet making basic bodily noises such as sneezes and farts is beyond his capabilities?
 
Maybe his difficulty is sort of like how I can talk but I can't sing to save my life? I feel like imitating someone's vocal patterns is much different than sneezing, right? I think even humans have difficulty performing a fake sneeze, and we at least know what it feels like. :)
 
Nakita Akita said:
Fart?
That must have been that episode I missed.:wtf:
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No, that's the point, Data never farted. I think it's a talent that he could have put to very good use and a missed opportunity for heroic portrayal. For example, he could have broken wind to defuse a tense situation with the Klingons, or imitated the fart of a predatory creature to scare off an attacking animal on an away mission. But the fact that he cannot wrap his head around how to make a convincing sneeze implies that his farting ability is not much more developed either.
 
Data don't play that.
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PicardSpeedo said:
How is it that Data can imitate vocalizations with such precision that even the most sophisticated pattern-matching algorithms are fooled, yet making basic bodily noises such as sneezes and farts is beyond his capabilities?
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Meh... I think Soong did it to him on purpose. Hubris was the biggest issue with the previous model. Lore doesn't have any of these issues with mimicking the things Data has trouble with. Soong WANTS him to struggle to be human. It's how he is insuring that Data doesn't end up like Lore, by making him EARN it, & develop an appreciation for it
 
dodge said:
A fart is produced by contractions of muscles in the colon.

Data can't do contractions.
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That shouldn't stop him. A discrete speaker, installed below the trouser line, perhaps inside the android's rectal cavity, could easily provide an alternate auditory mechanism.
 
PicardSpeedo said:
No, that's the point, Data never farted. I think it's a talent that he could have put to very good use and a missed opportunity for heroic portrayal. For example, he could have broken wind to defuse a tense situation with the Klingons, or imitated the fart of a predatory creature to scare off an attacking animal on an away mission. But the fact that he cannot wrap his head around how to make a convincing sneeze implies that his farting ability is not much more developed either.
Click to expand...

I can't recall anyone ever farting in an episode. Perhaps 24th-century humanity have evolved beyond flatulence. So Data could be totally unfamiliar with the concept.

dodge said:
A fart is produced by contractions of muscles in the colon.

Data can't do contractions.
Click to expand...

...except in all those episodes where he mysteriously did have the ability to use contractions.

PicardSpeedo said:
That shouldn't stop him. A discrete speaker, installed below the trouser line, perhaps inside the android's rectal cavity, could easily provide an alternate auditory mechanism.
Click to expand...

Such a device would be unnecessarily advanced, methinks. It would probably make him able to do such ridiculous things as farting the alphabet. :barf:

Kor
 
Kor said:
Such a device would be unnecessarily advanced, methinks. It would probably make him able to do such ridiculous things as farting the alphabet. :barf:

Kor
Click to expand...
But such an ability could be REALLY useful. Apart from the obvious use case where they might have first encounter with an alien race which communicates entirely in farts, such an ability could also be used to:

- Secretly communicate danger back up to the ship in a way that only the Universal Translator could decipher. To the Away Team and uninformed bystanders, it would seem like Data just had really bad gas; like he ate something wrong. But to Picard back on the ship, that unrelenting barrage of flatulence could warn of lethal peril.

- Break the tension at diplomatic gatherings. Ambassadors doing too much posturing? Have Data emulate a sudden and inappropriate fart in the style considered most entertaining by the species of the visiting delegation. The trade negotiations will go way easier once everyone lightens up.

- Be relatable. Who hasn't had delinquent bowels before? Those colonists you just rescued from a Borg massacre have been through a lot, and they don't trust mechanical people. By being able to show the refugees that he's capable of getting the same dyspepsia that they've contracted from weeks of drinking out of ditches in the wilderness, Data can prove that he's human too.
 
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