Little Girls or Dagger of the Mind -- which do you like better

[Gary7]

Great, I love discussing this issue with you. It's like the cavernous pit that Kirk's security man falls into....There's no hope of resolving this question, Captain, it's bottomless...

There's no need to get snide with biting sarcasm.

The point I'm trying to make is that if there's a program so sophisticated as to fully convince a highly qualified sentient individual that a given being is indeed sentient, then it is. The sophistication required is intrinsically the function of sentience.

So yes... sentience can be put on an assembly line. Human beings have done that by simply procreating a biological manifestation.

 

[Mister Atoz]

Gary -- No biting sarcasm or insult intended. Love your avatar by the way!

~ Mister Atoz, the genuine replica

Great, I love discussing this issue with you. It's like the cavernous pit that Kirk's security man falls into....There's no hope of resolving this question, Captain, it's bottomless...

There's no need to get snide with biting sarcasm.

The point I'm trying to make is that if there's a program so sophisticated as to fully convince a highly qualified sentient individual that a given being is indeed sentient, then it is. The sophistication required is intrinsically the function of sentience.

So yes... sentience can be put on an assembly line. Human beings have done that by simply procreating a biological manifestation.

 

[AtoZ]

Great, I love discussing this issue with you. It's like the cavernous pit that Kirk's security man falls into....There's no hope of resolving this question, Captain, it's bottomless...

There's no need to get snide with biting sarcasm.

The point I'm trying to make is that if there's a program so sophisticated as to fully convince a highly qualified sentient individual that a given being is indeed sentient, then it is. The sophistication required is intrinsically the function of sentience.

So yes... sentience can be put on an assembly line. Human beings have done that by simply procreating a biological manifestation.

 

[JimZipCode]

Dale, what I'm saying is, there's no way to prove humans OR androids are conscious. Conscious awareness cannot be proven. It can only be believed. You can prove intelligence by giving a Turing Test, but you can't prove conscious awareness.

Korby can ask the REAL captain Kirk if Kirk has conscious awareness. There's no way Jim Kirk can prove it to Korby, either.

Not relevant, though. If the old Korby wouldn't kill a fly, and the new Korby doesn't seem to value human life (ordering killings etc), then Korby is gone, changed beyond recovery, whether the android has consciousness or not.

 

[Metryq]

Sentience is relevant to the Dr. Noel or Andrea question. "Sexy" is more a behavior than a physical attribute. Both Marianna Hill and Sherry Jackson have the physical attributes in spades. But Helen is a lively and provocative tease (until Kirk wakes up from Adams' treatment all wound up and ready to go), while Andrea comes across as a lifeless sex toy.

Change the comparison to Dr. Helen Noel or Effra from the LOST IN SPACE episode "The Space Croppers," and suddenly the decision becomes a case of the donkey that starved to death between two bales of hay.

 

[BillJ]

...while Andrea comes across as a lifeless sex toy.

Which I can easily live with!

 

[Timo]

And apparently so could Korby. Which presents three possibilities:

a) Korby manufactured Andrea with the specs we see, and was powerless to give the android any other specs at this early point of experimentation. Doesn't mean Korby himself would be inherently limited by the nature of the process, as his own body and mind could have been manufactured somewhat differently, with refinements allowing for a "bigger personality". Andrea didn't have a previously existing human mind for use as an ingredient in the process, for example.

b) Korby manufactured Andrea with the specs we see, because he liked those specs. Doesn't mean Korby would limit his own specs the same way. Nor is the manufacturing of sex dolls necessarily at odds with a personality that couldn't hurt a fly.

c) Korby manufactured Andrea with the capacity to be as human as she pleases. She chose to be the way we see her, possibly because she felt Korby liked her best that way. And pleasing Korby was clearly high up in her agenda, whether by Korby's design or by her own conscious or subconscious will.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[plynch]

Corby was still there, though somewhat altered, just as I am still here though a bit different in character, interests, and theology than I was 10 years ago. All the matter in me has exchanged since then, too, though "I" am still expressed in carbon and water rather than plastic and silicon, as was "Korby."

 

[Greg Cox]

Both eps have their merits, but I have to lean towards "Little Girls." It's got more interesting visuals and works better as a spooky, horror story. (No surprise, given that it was written by Robert Bloch.)

 

[Lucky]

Dagger of the Mind definitely! It is easily in my top 10 TOS episodes.

 

[donners22]

Both episodes are among my favourites from TOS.

Andrea and Ruk give Little Girls the edge; despite the repetitiveness of Kirk's escape attempts, seeing Ruk toss him around never gets old.

The grossly over-the-top acting for Van Gelder in Dagger gets really grating.