IIRC, he was supposed to be an actual Vulcan who fell under Romulan influence.
Personal transporters---what??
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Both TNG and PIC tackle their specific androids in a realistic fashion. No legal precedent on AI in general is created, nor does any pre-exist: it's all case-specific, and needs to be, because AI is such a broad concept, much broader than, say, "life".
The ban on Synths was a ban on Synths - a recall of a defective product, until the defect could be properly identified and fixed. It wasn't a ban on androids or machine minds, both of which continued to operate throughout the first season (Rios' androids just happened to be made of forcefields). And naturally the recalling of a defective product is a decision that could be overturned swiftly and as soon as convenient, with the role of "hatred" minimized even though naturally the consumers would remain wary despite the fix (some people might not want to board a B737MAX, but nobody will give up driving even when another Toyota gets declared unfit for the road).
Likewise, the right for Data to choose to resign from Starfleet was specific to Data, and the judge was desperately careful not to make a precedent of any sort. It probably wouldn't extend even to B-4, which was a different model of machine life; a good lawyer could easily stop it from applying to Lore, too. In no case did the right stretch to yielding Data a citizenship or the formal title of lifeform or whatnot: those would be separate issues.
Trek can continue to have fun with the rights and obligations of new life and civilizations regardless of what was done with Data, the EMH or the Synths. There may well arise a future need for special rights or obligations for Borg, or vampires, or the parasites of "Conspiracy". Quite possibly the Vulcans and the Ocampa for their part need special laws in order to be integrated to a society where pretty much everybody else is human with a funny face. That is, any X will need the special treatment in order to fit in unless X = human with a funny face. That's what humans are already damned good at: seeing and creating equality out of differences. (That we have mastered the opposite process as well is just proof of our flexibility, and bodes well for the Federation.)
Timo Saloniemi
The ban on Synths was a ban on Synths - a recall of a defective product, until the defect could be properly identified and fixed. It wasn't a ban on androids or machine minds, both of which continued to operate throughout the first season (Rios' androids just happened to be made of forcefields). And naturally the recalling of a defective product is a decision that could be overturned swiftly and as soon as convenient, with the role of "hatred" minimized even though naturally the consumers would remain wary despite the fix (some people might not want to board a B737MAX, but nobody will give up driving even when another Toyota gets declared unfit for the road).
Likewise, the right for Data to choose to resign from Starfleet was specific to Data, and the judge was desperately careful not to make a precedent of any sort. It probably wouldn't extend even to B-4, which was a different model of machine life; a good lawyer could easily stop it from applying to Lore, too. In no case did the right stretch to yielding Data a citizenship or the formal title of lifeform or whatnot: those would be separate issues.
Trek can continue to have fun with the rights and obligations of new life and civilizations regardless of what was done with Data, the EMH or the Synths. There may well arise a future need for special rights or obligations for Borg, or vampires, or the parasites of "Conspiracy". Quite possibly the Vulcans and the Ocampa for their part need special laws in order to be integrated to a society where pretty much everybody else is human with a funny face. That is, any X will need the special treatment in order to fit in unless X = human with a funny face. That's what humans are already damned good at: seeing and creating equality out of differences. (That we have mastered the opposite process as well is just proof of our flexibility, and bodes well for the Federation.)
Timo Saloniemi
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That's debatable. We don't know Oh's exact age, or how long she had been undercover. (And we've certainly never heard of any important Starfleet position having term limits; as far as we know, officers can serve however long they want.)
Indeed, wasn't Oh responsible for what happened on the ibn Majid? IIRC, she gave the order for Captain Vandermeer to kill the synths that came aboard. It sounds like something she would do, anyway.
Well, Rios only ever spoke of "Starfleet Security" giving the order. Since it was all about deniability, I doubt the order could really be traced back to anybody. But it was a legit Starfleet chess move (that is, on the books and known to Vandermeer even if technically illegal), not something shady Oh would have invented on the spot, and her predecessors could well have been upholding a paranoid anti-AI policy and half a dozen other paranoid policies that called for these "black flag" orders.
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
Star Fleet is a shoddy piece of work.. I mean Romulan moles get there easier than in an amusement park!!! They do whatever they want and they are only uncovered when they decide it!!!
Can't apply real world precedents? Actual intelligence and security services have term limits exactly because the people who hold those offices have access to enormous resources and secrets. Leave them in charge for too long, you risk those individuals becoming too powerful. Not to mention, if there are no term limits and an enemy agent does somehow attain the position, there's no stopping them short of getting caught. It really would be the height of irony if Starfleet ignored historical precedent and did away with term limits for the head of their security branch, and ended up in the exact position that term limits are supposed to prevent.
Besides, given 75% of Starfleet flag officers are corrupt anyway, there really should be term limits on their jobs anyway, to limit the damage they can do.
Why would we want to do that? As a fictional organization, Starfleet is of course not bound by real-world rules.
'Kay. But given how much they already take from real world organizations and incorporate into themselves, it would seem foolish that the one they leave out is one that was made specifically to prevent the very situation they got themselves in.
But even if we ignore real world precedents and focus strictly on the fictional setting, there's still the fact that with so many corrupt flag officers, imposing a term limit would at least limit how much damage they could do to the organization and its reputation. Or is it "too real world" to expect Starfleet to learn from the mistakes it's been making for the past century?
Given how many high-ranking Admirals turned out to be major assholes, I am not really impressed by StarFleet's selection system... I am surprised that it could even work the way it's purported to. Corruption should be rampant in such a shoddy system.
Which would mean the prime universe should be just as nasty as the Terran version of the Federation with people backstabbing each other for promotion left right and centre.
With an important difference, in the prime universe, the backstabbing is (often) figurative, in the MU it's literal.
With an important difference, in the prime universe, the backstabbing is (often) figurative, in the MU it's literal.
Yes they are bit too enthusiastic in the MU
I'm thinking it's long term use of transporters or exposure to warp fields or something that drives all long-serving Starfleeters insane.
It's the Starfleet selection process: nobody in his right mind would leave paradise in order to pursue a career in disease and danger after darkness and silence. So the best minds of the Federation seek out the criminally insane and gently suggest they enroll their kids - Starfleet tends to run in the family, like mental disorders, and the nepotistic system of needing a letter of recommendation from the dad of another Starfleet family then helps keep things inbred.
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
Well, aliens who are in Starfleet tend to be very unlucky. Like in DS9's "The Ship" where the runabout where an alien is in temporary command gets vaporized by the Jems... Or in "Aôcalypse Rising" Where a Klingon is bragging about how he killed a Benzenite Captain and his Tellarite. helmsman... They didn't even make it to the screen!!!
So you understand why aliens tend to be hesitant to enlist in Starfleet...
Also, don't forget the reason the Borg only have the budget to send one cube to Earth, is because they're constantly sending dozens if not thousands of Cubes to get at those hard to assimilate species like Arturis.
The borg queen sees Earth as a challenge, she knows that with two cubes it would be far too easy to assimilate Earth so she tries with only one... poorly manned... with a defective drive...with almost no weapons. It makes it more interesting. I mean she gets bored. Look how talkative she is, surrounded by drones who can't talk back and don't need to hear her say a word to obey her orders.
I wonder if she's fully functional
I'd be worried that it could be a guillotine! Ouch!
It would be like putting your finger in an electrical socket, except worse.
That all sounds weirdly familiar...I'd be worried that it could be a guillotine! Ouch!
It would be like putting your finger in an electrical socket, except worse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth_(2007_film)
