Does Data have a soul?

[Kemaiku]

The real questions are, does B-4 have one? and if so, does he now possess both is and Data's?

 

[Captain McBain]

Data surely doesn't have a soul. That is, if by 'soul' you're referring to an immaterial part of his essence that will survive his physical death. Dr. Soong was brilliant, but I doubt he could have created a soul for Data.

 

[Kevman7987]

In my opinion, yes, Data has a soul. And no, B-4 does not have Data's soul too now. He has his own.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No, Data no more has a soul than anyone else does.

 

[Captain McBain]

No, Data no more has a soul than anyone else does.

What proof do you have to support your position?

 

[Dale Sams]

No, Data no more has a soul than anyone else does.

What proof do you have to support your position?

He's Admiral Buzzkill, what do you expect. Despite numerous examples provided in this thread alone of people having some sort of lifeforce that carries their personality and consciousness. In the Star Trek universe.

 

[R. Star]

Traditionally the burden of proof is on stating something -does- exist, not that it doesn't.

 

[MacLeod]

Also I don't see the Bajorans as being portrayed as universally religious fanatics.

Kai Winn in In The Hands Of The Prophets wasn't insisting on religion in education because she believed it, it was because she thought it'd score political points. Which describes pretty much every red state politician there is in the US, they use religion to pander to the cash-shelling hyper-religious minority.

We have seen very religious Bajorans, but we've also met a Bajoran atheist (Ro), and although Bareil was a religious figure he was a secularist.

Teaching religon as a whole is not wrong, it is only wrong if they are trying to teach religious beliefs as part of science fact (as we understand it today).

People want to believe the Earth is only 6000 years old, or creationism, intelligent design etc.. fine, but keep it in religious classes not science classes.

 

[Nightdiamond]

One thing the storyline with Data forgot is that whenever you hit his off switch, he's completely off. Switch him back on, he's conscious again, like a computer.

Same thing with the Doctor on VOY and he had much more emotional expression than Data.

Ah, but is that death?

Then again, issues of death become odd since we had humans dead for 200 years revived.

That's true, but at what point after Data is shut down does his essence or "neural energy" leaves his positronic net and go to some afterlife that everybody else goes to?

Does he even have "neural energy" because his brain is mechanical??

... it's worth noting that even Picard, the poster boy for Roddenberry's latter-day vision of Trek, seemed to believe in a higher power, though one that didn't necessarily conform to a specific religion. He discussed this in "Where Silence Has Lease":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZocvTsi5Rg

And many other examples. Trek seems to pick and choose depending on the story they want to tell.

Does anyone ever get the feeling that Trek wants its cake and to eat it too? It's like Trek is basically atheist and materialist, but wants there to be a higher power, but can't admit it.

Like why is it shown being so easy for alien cultures to believe in the supernatural, but so hard for the average human to even admit believing in a higher power?

 

[Dale Sams]

One thing the storyline with Data forgot is that whenever you hit his off switch, he's completely off. Switch him back on, he's conscious again, like a computer.

Same thing with the Doctor on VOY and he had much more emotional expression than Data.

Ah, but is that death?

Then again, issues of death become odd since we had humans dead for 200 years revived.

That's true, but at what point after Data is shut down does his essence or "neural energy" leaves his positronic net and go to some afterlife that everybody else goes to?

Does he even have "neural energy" because his brain is mechanical??

... it's worth noting that even Picard, the poster boy for Roddenberry's latter-day vision of Trek, seemed to believe in a higher power, though one that didn't necessarily conform to a specific religion. He discussed this in "Where Silence Has Lease":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZocvTsi5Rg

And many other examples. Trek seems to pick and choose depending on the story they want to tell.

Does anyone ever get the feeling that Trek wants its cake and to eat it too? It's like Trek is basically atheist and materialist, but wants there to be a higher power, but can't admit it.

Like why is it shown being so easy for alien cultures to believe in the supernatural, but so hard for the average human to even admit believing in a higher power?

Peer pressure from people, such as appearing in this thread.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

when Neelix dies for 16 hours and is resurrected feels a loss that he didn't end up under that great tree in his "afterlife". That episode heavily implies there is no soul

I interpret that episode like this: The very fact that Neelix was able to be brought back is proof that he was never dead in the first place. So the only way he could have moved on to his afterlife was if he was truly dead. They brought him back, so therefore, he was never REALLY dead.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I interpret that episode like this: The very fact that Neelix was able to be brought back is proof that he was never dead in the first place. So the only way he could have moved on to his afterlife was if he was truly dead. They brought him back, so therefore, he was never REALLY dead.

That happens on how you define dead. If you mean "pulseless," it's possible that one could be resuscitated if help arrives quickly enough. If you mean that one's soul has passed into another realm of existence, that's another matter altogether.

--Sran

 

[Portal]

I think Data might be in heaven right now, body and soul. He was a saint afterall.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Me too.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I think Data might be in heaven right now, body and soul. He was a saint afterall.

His head is buried in a mine. One copy of it anyway.

--Sran

 

[publiusr]

In some ways you can say that only Data has a soul. I can't transmit my mind/essence/personality/sapience out of this meat bucket.

And Cavil from NuBSG thought he had it bad.

 

[FFunctionalData]

I just got done rewatching "Return of the Archons" in the original series and I got to the end when Captain Kirk was talking about how the computer was not Landru because even though it had the knowledge that he had, it did not have the wisdom and compassion and it had no soul.

Now it's kind of obvious that the Landru computer had no soul. I mean it was leading a whole civilization that had almost no emotions. (No offense Vulcans. You're different.) But then I got to thinking. Why does Data seem to have a soul? He seems to have that spark of life just like any human. But he can't have a soul can he? I thought he was a machine and by Kirk's logic machines don't and can't have souls. Yet Data makes friends and even has a few romantic relationships. And we refer to him as "he" instead of "it." (Perhaps thats mostly because he's an android so he looks human and our brains are hot wired to recognize human faces and match them to names. Maybe we would call anything "him" or "her" if we painted a face on it.) Even though he's incapable of emotions, he understands that humans need creativity and feelings to be humans unlike the Landru computer which was only concerned with peace and order.

So my question is does Data have a soul or is he just another lifeless computer?

(Sorry if I sound like I hate Data. On the contrary, he's one of my favorites.)

since they are all atheist in the star trek universe (humans are anyway) I would have to say no he does not have a soul.

 

[doctorfoto]

I say if the Iron Giant has a soul then Data has one too.

 

[MikeH92467]

Does a dog have a soul? How about a cockroach?

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Does a dog have a soul? How about a cockroach?

I believe that dogs have souls. Cockroaches never die, so the question isn't relevant to them.

--Sran