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Stuff that make you wonder but not own thread worthy

Wait... Troi was a LT. in Farpoint? I didn't remember that. So she advanced twice in the show? & of course Geordi & Worf did as well... So pretty much all of them reached or surpassed Data's rank by the end of the show/1st movie? Riker had been offered 3 ships, Picard offered 2 admiralties, Beverly, the head of starfleet medical.

Everyone on that senior staff got at least offered if not outright took major leaps in advancement during their time together but Data. Geez, If Ro Laren hadn't gone Maqui-ish, she probably could've gotten a bump to Data's rank & took Worf's job when he left for DS9. Doesn't even Barclay get a bump to LT. Cdr. eventually? :angryrazz:
Troi was a Lt. Cmdr. in "Encounter at Farpoint".

Perhaps you are thinking of Riker saying, "You have your orders, Lt" right after Troi gets concerned for his safety when he decides to go to the Bandi city. But her pips are Lt. Cmdr. ones throughout the pilot, and also every time she wears the uniform until her promotion at the end of "Thine Own Self" in season 7.

Data did stay at that rank for 15 YEARS! (7 years on TNG, the 8 years afterward until NEMESIS.) Completely egregious and wrong.
 
Troi was a Lt. Cmdr. in "Encounter at Farpoint".

Perhaps you are thinking of Riker saying, "You have your orders, Lt" right after Troi gets concerned for his safety when he decides to go to the Bandi city. But her pips are Lt. Cmdr. ones throughout the pilot, and also every time she wears the uniform until her promotion at the end of "Thine Own Self" in season 7.

Data did stay at that rank for 15 YEARS! (7 years on TNG, the 8 years afterward until NEMESIS.) Completely egregious and wrong.
Yeah. I just had it on in the background, not paying attention this time & heard that line & thought WTF? Damn you Riker, you stupe.
 

Jae is apparently everywhere.
Seems thin. I'd entertain Riker having dated her, cuz well... He's Riker, but Picard? That scene in the Schisms poetry reading? I can't see that being a date. 1st it's lame. 2nd she's in civvies. He is not. If she were in uniform too, we'd never even think it was a date. If he were in sharp looking civvies with her, we might think they were, but mismatched? Leads me to think they're not together there.
 
About Data and not getting promoted beyond Lt Cmdr....
Even if humans from 24th century were evolved and apparently better than us maybe Starfleet just didn't trust a "machine".
I think what Data did in 'Brothers' (captured the Enterprise quite easily all alone) didn't help his career goals.
 
About Data and not getting promoted beyond Lt Cmdr....
Even if humans from 24th century were evolved and apparently better than us maybe Starfleet just didn't trust a "machine".

If that were true, Data would never have been allowed to join Starfleet in the first place.

(Although about Data so easily taking over the ship in "Brothers"? That's a very good point.)

The thing to remember is, as an artificial life form, Data does not have "ambition" as such. If you are a creature of ambition, you're going to want to rise through the ranks as quickly as possible. This does not apply to Data. Obviously he does have career goals of his own, but he can afford to take his time in reaching them.
 
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About Data and not getting promoted beyond Lt Cmdr....
Even if humans from 24th century were evolved and apparently better than us maybe Starfleet just didn't trust a "machine".
I think what Data did in 'Brothers' (captured the Enterprise quite easily all alone) didn't help his career goals.
Well, Data provides a very strange example of how to assess for readiness for promotion. He obviously can have large sums of data stored in his matrix, so knowledge of Starfleet regulations and procedures are a no brainer. So, his ability to lead and command a crew probably takes a lot more to move up that chain.

The thing to remember is, as an artificial life form, Data does not have "ambition" as such. If you are a creature of ambition, you're going to want to rise through the ranks as quickly as possible.
I mean, Bill, Will Riker was stated to want to be a starship captain, yet repeatedly turns down promotion opportunities.
 
Data did stay at that rank for 15 YEARS! (7 years on TNG, the 8 years afterward until NEMESIS.) Completely egregious and wrong.
Consider...
DATA: Saved Earth from assimilation by using Locutus to hack the Borg Collective. A year later, his quick thinking allowed the Federation to stop Romulan involvement in the Klingon Civil War, possibly saving the Federation. Still a LCDR.
DEANNA: Took a dozen tries to kill a hologram of Geordi LaForge. Promoted to Commander for this.

Data would be promoted due to experience and achievements, not just accumulated knowledge, as anyone should.
Unlike Riker and Picard, both of whom were offered promotions (Riker twice that we know of), Data never even had the opportunity to advance.
 
Was his rank just a formality, then, to allow him to serve at a level congruent with the averaging out of his mental capabilities and his personal qualities?
 
Was his rank just a formality, then, to allow him to serve at a level congruent with the averaging out of his mental capabilities and his personal qualities?
That question was answered in "Encounter at Farpoint", when Riker and Data first met.

RIKER: "Then your rank of Lieutenant Commander is honorary?"
DATA: "No, sir. Starfleet class of '78. Honours in probability mechanics and exobiology."
RIKER: "Your file says that you're an..."
DATA: "Machine, Correct, sir. Does that trouble you?"
 
Consider...
DATA: Saved Earth from assimilation by using Locutus to hack the Borg Collective. A year later, his quick thinking allowed the Federation to stop Romulan involvement in the Klingon Civil War, possibly saving the Federation. Still a LCDR.
DEANNA: Took a dozen tries to kill a hologram of Geordi LaForge. Promoted to Commander for this.


Unlike Riker and Picard, both of whom were offered promotions (Riker twice that we know of), Data never even had the opportunity to advance.
Riker turned down 3 offers.

Drake ("The Arsenal of Freedom", from dialogue in the beginning), Ares ("The Icarus Factor"), and Melbourne ("The Best of Both Worlds").
 
I think what Data did in 'Brothers' (captured the Enterprise quite easily all alone) didn't help his career goals.
I can see that really putting a bee in high command's bonnet, but even so, he'd already nearly singlehandedly saved the entire UFP before that, albeit just slightly before that.

I like to think they were going to promote him after stopping the Borg & then the Brothers thing happened & everybody in upper command got cold feet & shut it down. Picard normally might have the clout to fight that, but he was hardly in good standing then either.
Data would be promoted due to experience and achievements, not just accumulated knowledge, as anyone should.
And distinction. Most of the time we'd see promotion, it's either demonstrating qualifications, like Geordi or distinction & valor etc... Like Riker. Data's done both quite a bit
The thing to remember is, as an artificial life form, Data does not have "ambition" as such. If you are a creature of ambition, you're going to want to rise through the ranks as quickly as possible. This does not apply to Data. Obviouslty he does have career goals of his own, but he can afford to take his time in reaching them.
This is a key point. As of Farpoint, I can see that Data having spent nearly 2 decades in Starfleet just being moved about with no one considering him for being more than the most advanced computer around, until Picard, as per his tendency, gave him a chance to be more.

However, I think he did begin to undertake that aspiration eventually, through his time with officers he'd earned the respect of, particularly when he lobbied for command in Redemption. By that point, I think Data's evolved to understand that value of doing that. Yet, he still spends many years after that without promotion, & for those I have to rule out his foible of lesser ambition.
 
That question was answered in "Encounter at Farpoint", when Riker and Data first met.

RIKER: "Then your rank of Lieutenant Commander is honorary?"
DATA: "No, sir. Starfleet class of '78. Honours in probability mechanics and exobiology."
RIKER: "Your file says that you're an..."
DATA: "Machine, Correct, sir. Does that trouble you?"


Wait.... Class of '78? Fairpoint was set in 2364. If I recall correctly, Data was created somewhere in the 2330's right?
 
I like to think they were going to promote him after stopping the Borg & then the Brothers thing happened & everybody in upper command got cold feet & shut it down. Picard normally might have the clout to fight that, but he was hardly in good standing then either.
Hmmm... if they were worried about such things, they still should have promoted him, but transferred him. Maybe something like "Hey, Data, we heard about Lal. You're obviously more knowledgeable about the creation of Soong type androids like yourself than anyone else. So we'd like to bump you up to commander and put you in charge of our R&D program on Earth."
Wait.... Class of '78? Fairpoint was set in 2364. If I recall correctly, Data was created somewhere in the 2330's right?
Ooops, they messed up. I'm calling that a "world under construction" inconsistency, though.

Perhaps command might give him less free time to explore his humanity.
Or perhaps the unique challenges of being a first officer will allow him to expand his humanity in new ways.
 
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