Data's Love Life

[Mojochi]

Just riffing on an idea I mentioned in another thread

Being in a relationship with someone is clearly not a choice that Data could pursue as part of his study of humanity. For it to be fair & successful, it would have to be a choice that was rooted in his desire to BE more human. So when he began this aspect of his life, I believe someone should have sat down with him, and gave him a little advice. After all, if your friend starts dating someone who is totally wrong for them, you may keep quiet about it while it's going on, out of respect, but when it doesn't work out, as was the case with Data & Jenna, as a friend, you now have an opportunity to set their mind right about the thing

After he stopped dating Jenna, I'd have recommended to Data that he try dating a Vulcan. Obviously, the dynamic would not be akin to what a human relationship is, and that may interest Data less, but it's not a research project on humanity he's endeavoring on, it's a life choice to find someone who is simpatico, and it goes without saying, that a Vulcan would complement him much better, & vice versa.

I'd think the Vulcan ladies would find Mr. Data's personal attributes highly... stimulating

 

[Kor]

But what if she wanted to mind meld? I would think that for a Vulcan, that would be an important aspect of an intimate relationship (at least in some of the novels it is).

Kor

 

[Ithekro]

Spock could mind meld with a computer (Nomad/V'jer), I don't think Data would be a problem was some female Vulcan.

 

[Kor]

Ack, that slipped my mind.

And when Data was experiencing emotions, Troi could sense it.

So somehow, telepathic or empathic species are able to mentally connect with sufficiently advanced machines.

Kor

 

[T'Girl]

But would a Vulcan woman date just to date, solely to have a casual romantic relationship?

Or would she see any romantic relationship as something that would progress through a series of steps leading to marriage and eventual children.

 

[Starborn Dragon]

Vulcan marriage are pre arranged, so what we've seen so far is that they don't have casual romantic encounters.

Except for maybe T'Pol, but she had emotional problems that she was having and had a hard time with her emotions. She did engage in casual sex because of these problems when she was on earth.

For some reason in Star Trek, Vulcans do seem to have several medical conditions that affects their emotions, Sarek for example, and possibly Spock as he grew older.

I think there is the possibility that Spock did have Sarek's disease, which is why he eventually gave up turning to logic and embrace his human emotions and became hippy Spock. But that's just my own speculation, this has not been addressed on screen.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I'm sure a Vulcan female could've been convincingly written to be interested in Data for his "mind." Showing Data in a "relationship" is something I was glad TNG didn't repeat, but I also wouldn't want to erase it, either. Data was a character who didn't really need a love-life. There were other crewmembers who could've used a "love life" to take the edge off of Life in Space and the stories probably would've been much more interesting ...

 

[Mojochi]

But would a Vulcan woman date just to date, solely to have a casual romantic relationship?

Or would she see any romantic relationship as something that would progress through a series of steps leading to marriage and eventual children.

In Data's Day, Data admits to Troi he'd considered the possibility of marriage for himself. So I imagine he intends any relationship he's in to be conventional in that sense. Also, though it seems rare that a Vulcan would be open to only a casual relationship, there has been examples of them being willing to undertake unconventional ones, such as Sarek's two Human wives

As to the point about children. That's actually kind of fascinating, given that Data did already produce an android offspring, which shows clear intent to reproduce in some manner

PLUS! I've long postulated that not only can Data continue the endeavor of producing android offspring, he might also be able to use DNA from Noonien Soong (Whom he's met) to in fact create a biological offspring in the Soong line, with any potential humanoid partners, if that is their hope.

So there's no reason why Data's wife couldn't bear a child by him. It would even bear physical characteristics similar to Data, being that he looks like Noonien

As for a mind meld... I hadn't thought about that, but I also wouldn't rule out that it's possible

 

[Kilana2]

The Borg Queen might be interested, it would be a bad choice, though. Much to her chagrin he resisted......

 

[Mojochi]

^ She's lucky Lore didn't get to her 1st. He was on his way to having the whole collective under his thumb

 

[Kilana2]

Lore shouldn´t pose a threat anymore, but you´ll never know.

Data and marriage? I couldn´t wrap my mind around this idea. But when the future version of Voyager`s holographic Doctor (Joe, if you want) is able to find a wife, so is Data.

 

[Starborn Dragon]

Marriage is a very possible thing when he had his emotion chip.

Though I can imagine how advantageous it would be to be able to turn off those emotions when your wife is berating you to no end for some stupid petty reason.

Oh how I wish I could have that ability.

But no that Data's dead, well, the points pretty much moot.

 

[EnriqueH]

The first thing that came to my mind when reading the title of this thread was when Data yelled at his human girlfriend, "You're not my mother!" in an attempt to get into a "lover's quarrel." What was the name of that one? The whole tirade was the best part of the episode.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

Would a Vulcan woman find it "logical" to date an android?

 

[hux]

Would a Vulcan woman find it "logical" to date an android?

Vulcan's can make defecating on a midget whilst wearing a pineapple as a hat, logical

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think a romance would work out between Data and an average Vulcan. She might understand his thought process a little more than others but that doesn't necessarily lead to chemistry.

Not all women want children. Dax married Worf with hopes but no expectations they'd ever be genetically compatible. From a child rearing perspective it'd be just the same as dating a sterile person or an alien you are not genetically compatible with.

Data's best romantic bet might be with somebody who's had bad relationships in the past. Like, somebody who had a couple kids with somebody who treated her badly. He's the ultimate safe bet.

Also, we can't assume he's strictly heterosexual. It's kind of implied he was programmed that way but he might be able to change that just by updating a flag in his settings menu.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But would a Vulcan woman date just to date, solely to have a casual romantic relationship?

I don't see why not. All romances have to start somewhere.

While obviously not everyone wants children (I know I don't), most everyone *does* want companionship and love.

And remember, Vulcans do not LACK emotions. They still have them. They don't show them openly in public, but they're still capable of love. A Vulcan might find herself falling in love with Data, I don't see why that couldn't happen. And she would accept Data's eccentricities as logical, because she'd know how an android would be expected to act.

 

[Kilana2]

But would a Vulcan woman date just to date, solely to have a casual romantic relationship?

I don't see why not. All romances have to start somewhere.

While obviously not everyone wants children (I know I don't), most everyone *does* want companionship and love.

And remember, Vulcans do not LACK emotions. They still have them. They don't show them openly in public, but they're still capable of love. A Vulcan might find herself falling in love with Data, I don't see why that couldn't happen. And she would accept Data's eccentricities as logical, because she'd know how an android would be expected to act.

With an open-minded and modern Vulcan like T´Prynn it would be possible. I know that T´Prynn prefers females. It is her stance against social standards and local custums such as childhood betrothal.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ The childhood betrothal thing doesn't have to be a problem. Vulcans who have lost their original mates (through divorce or death) don't deserve to spend the rest of their lives alone...I'm sure that'd be taken into account.

 

[Kilana2]

I´d like to see that female Vulcan who tells her traditional parents that she refuses to marry her childhood "friend", absconding with Data instead..... nice adventure.