So what's the craic with the Borg?

[The Squire of Gothos]

TNG Borg I mean. Before the movies and very much before Voyager.

Why did they have to go around killing and destroying and assimilating bodies to their cause? Cracking open a saucer hull to see how someone builds a starship or whacking a few yellow-shirts who stop a drone from trawling some computer files, fine, got that. But why assimilate a whole planet? As a stepping board to another system? But what about the entire systems that they demolished?

I caught their first appearance again today and was reminded that the Borg have nurseries on their ships, so that babies can be assimilated straight away. And they never asked for actual bodies, just their technological and biological distinctiveness.

So why weren't the Borg just flying around, dismissing other puny races, which seemed to be basically every one that didn't have a starship called Enterprise. They were certainly above every race they met, but were very keen to peer inside and get a real good look at what went on, never aloof as some TOS or TNG higher races were.

Was it a need to know everything, to be assured of their cultural perfection? That a race that hadn't mastered much in the way of weaponry or space travel might still hold surprises in the way of medicine or theoretical sciences?

 

[Hober Mallow]

The producers got confused about the Borg after "Best of Both Worlds." Originally, they didn't "assimilate" anyone. In fact, we're told they aren't interested in people at all, only their technology. The idea is they absorb the technology of others but completely ignore the people.

In BOBWpt1, it's a shock to the crew that the Borg would want any individual person. But somewhere between part 1 and part 2, the writers decided that Borg capture and Borgify people all the time. In part 2, Picard talks about the other cultures who would "become one with the Borg." Way to be consistent, guys.

The Borg were scary when they were completely indifferent to the suffering they inflicted which was only a byproduct of their stealing technology. When they started "assimilating" people they became b-movie zombies.

BTW, I haven't seen "Q Who?" in a long time, but if I remember right, the implication of the baby Borg scene was that the Borg were born fully organic and not long after birth they began implanting electronic devices. I don't think there was any suggestion in the episode that they were babies from another world that were being "assimilated."

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

BTW, I haven't seen "Q Who?" in a long time, but if I remember right, the implication of the baby Borg scene was that the Borg were born fully organic and not long after birth they began implanting electronic devices. I don't think there was any suggestion in the episode that they were babies from another world that were being "assimilated."

Sorry, that's what I meant. That they had some sort of horrible production line of baby makers (possibly like Dune's Axlotl tank) and the babies were subsequently implanted with the Borg's technology almost immediately.

 

[Nardpuncher]

What's 'craic' mean?

 

[Xatso]

The Borg's focus still lies in acquiring technology--not bodies per se.

Remember that the knowledge of technology lies not so much in the technology itself--but the minds of the people who create / or will create it. (Though that concept is a bit moot as creativity is one of the primary driving forces which apparently dies in the assimilation process?)

Another huge factor mentioned several times in the Borg's motives is the fact that advanced races are a threat and may 'continue to resist us'. Tactically it makes a lot of sense to eliminate any threats against their empire--look for example at Icheb in Voyager who could have caused irreparable damage to the Borg.

 

[NBG011]

The Borg's focus still lies in acquiring technology--not bodies per se.

Remember that the knowledge of technology lies not so much in the technology itself--but the minds of the people who create / or will create it. (Though that concept is a bit moot as creativity is one of the primary driving forces which apparently dies in the assimilation process?)

Another huge factor mentioned several times in the Borg's motives is the fact that advanced races are a threat and may 'continue to resist us'. Tactically it makes a lot of sense to eliminate any threats against their empire--look for example at Icheb in Voyager who could have caused irreparable damage to the Borg.

Borg did not need creativity, just knowledge. When they needed or encountered new technology they just went out to assimilate.

 

[MNM]

Borg did not need creativity, just knowledge. When they needed or encountered new technology they just went out to assimilate.

Which is really exactly why they needed creativity. If the answer to a problem wasnt within the realms of what they had already assimilated, they would never think it up on their own. which is all very well if there is a species nearby that has the answer and you can go assimilate them, but if there isnt (like during the Species 8472 debacle - if Voyager hadnt shown up, bye bye Borg), then they're screwed.

 

[Doug Otte]

What's 'craic' mean?

I'm wondering, too. Dictionary.com doesn't have a reference, nor did the dictionary in my Kindle, but I found a link to urbandictionary.com w/ this teaser:
craic - 16 definitions - Irish word for fun/enjoyment that has been brought into the English language. usu. when mixed with alcohol and/or music. '... ... What's the craic?; Officialy: What's the craic? Craic being an Irish language word for good times/ gossip/music/ drinking/ debauchery of any kind/ or good clean fun.

I can't get to that site from work, so I can't see all the definitions, but "fun/enjoyment" doesn't seem to fit the context here.

Squire...?

 

[PorthosShadow]

Despite what we wittness in "Q Who?" and The Borg Nursery there is nothing that suggests that they don't assimilate biological life forms. Maybe it's like someone else mentioned, they assimilate children and correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Seven of Nine mention Borg maturation chambers? So yes, the producers and writers changed things with The Borg as do many things in a long running TV show.

However, this isn't one contunity error that really bugs me, it fits in with The Borgs first appearence.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Squire...?

Just an Irish turn of phrase, it means generally "what's up with...?". It doesn't have to mean fun, just general goings on.

By way of example, you might ask "Squire, what's the craic with the thread title?"

Xatso, I like your idea that the Borg needed to get inside the skin of those using the technology to employ it. Once assimilated, why bother getting rid of them, let them remain in the Collective.

 

[Unicron]

Some of Q's comments in "Q Who?" could be considered to fit in with the idea that the Borg had long been assimilating people at that point; he states that the Collective is "the ultimate consumer," that Picard, as an individual, is "nothing" to the Borg, and that the drones are "enhanced humanoids". Guinan seems to support this view by saying that Q's actions set things into motion sooner than they should have, and that at this point in time the Borg see humans and other races as merely "raw material." One could of course take the opposite interpretation from those comments, that the Borg were intended to only care about absorbing technology. I'm not sure how far to read the writers' intent in relation to later episodes. But I do think these comments happen to fit in fairly well with the assimilation concept, and I also think it would be silly to presume the crew learned everything they needed to know in that one ep. I think they gained some considerable experience, but not enough to avoid making potentially wrong conclusions about how the Borg operated (they'd expected more time to prepare for a Borg invasion than they actually got, as stated in BOBW).

 

[I am not Spock]

They forgot eventually that the Borg weren't initially interested in assimilating people, only tech. They kept the idea of the Borg ignoring people on the ship (unless they became a threat), but brushed aside all the 'they're the ultimate user' stuff.

And then, as of FC, and Voyager, the Borg have suddenly been assimilating worlds for centuries.

 

[Hober Mallow]

...look for example at Icheb in Voyager who could have caused irreparable damage to the Borg.

There's zero chance of me looking at Voyager for examples of anything.

 

[Hober Mallow]

They forgot eventually that the Borg weren't initially interested in assimilating people, only tech. They kept the idea of the Borg ignoring people on the ship (unless they became a threat), but brushed aside all the 'they're the ultimate user' stuff.

And then, as of FC, and Voyager, the Borg have suddenly been assimilating worlds for centuries.

Actually, in FC they do both. In some scenes they're abducting crewmembers and shooting nanoprobes into people, in other scenes you have Picard saying not to worry, they won't attack unless they feel threatened. Are you on crack, Jean-Luc?

(Apologies for the double-post.)

 

[Doug Otte]

Squire...?

Just an Irish turn of phrase, it means generally "what's up with...?". It doesn't have to mean fun, just general goings on.

By way of example, you might ask "Squire, what's the craic with the thread title?"

Understood. Thanks.
Doug

 

[T.Geiger]

My impression at the time of Q Who was that the Borg were only interested in technology, thanks to the various bits Q contributed including "They simply want your ship -- its technology. They have identified it as something they can consume and use."

But its worth noting that the concept the Borg spawned from, the parasitic bug aliens from Conspiracy, did assimilate people, so to speak.

 

[Unicron]

It might also be reasonable to assume that the Borg see individuals primarily as little more than a form of organic technology, and not as sentients worthy of co-existence.