What is the perfection that the Borg is after?

[Six of Twelve]

Perfection to the Borg is almost like a religious aspiration, like Enlightenment, Nirvana, and so on. It is perfect knowledge and perfect understanding. It is to be one with the universe and its inhabitants, in harmony and order. It is to know exactly how and why the Universe was created.

Yet, it remains just as nebulous and elusive as such concepts tend to be for other species. Hence, the emphasis on assimilation. Bur Perfection is like tomorrow; always on the horizon, but never there. (Every time one gets to "tomorrow", it has slipped away and become "today" yet again.)

 

[Richard Baker]

I always figured the Borg use of 'perfection' meant harmony- every race which was not Borg being viewed as chaotic, and inefficient. The Borg hive-mind embodied unity and harmony, being a perfect realization of what a race could achieve. Their purpose was to uplift other races into that perfection- to bring order to the chaos of individuals.
I think the Omega particle could be looked upon as a symbol of perfection as it was harmonious intricate balancing of intricate energy, demonstrating what would be if the Borg finally succeeded in uplifting the entire universe.

 

[Six of Twelve]

Yes, the ex-Borg on the planet Chakotay visit chose to re-link their minds in their Cooperative, in response to the disorder and aggression of the other groups of ex-drones who had remembered who their birth races were supposed to hate after their links to the Borg Collective had been severed. Once those people had been re-linked to those to whom, moments before, they were trying to kill, they forgot to hate them, and harmony was restored. They didn't exactly become part of a hive mind again, directed by the whims of the usually malevolent Queen, who remained an individual. Rather, they were a different kind of Borg, happy to remain on their planet and not travel the galaxy looking for more people to assimilate. Their planet became a haven for ex-drones, severed from the Collective who, for whatever reasons, either could not or didn't wish to re-assimilate or adapt to returning to their original cultures. For those who had been drones for much or most of their lives, such as Seven of Nine, I can see how this planet might be an option some might voluntarily choose.

 

[Triskelion]

It's possible for an individual to adapt to the Borg almost immediately; yet for a Borg to adapt to individuality is tantamount to impossible without a great deal of trauma and psychological control. Given the choice they almost always choose re-assimilation as immediately as possible. They simply cannot function as individuals. Individuals, however, can function as Borg.

Or to paraphrase Spock in Mirror Mirror, it is far easier for civilized men to behave like barbarians, than it is for barbarians to behave like civilized men.

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to go from a collectivist socioculture to another country where you are not only no longer part of the majority, but you no longer have the authorization of the group to validate or invalidate your new experiences. It must be bewildering, and small wonder they create enclaves rather than assimilate. Yet every day, I see intrepid sole journeyers happily interacting and functioning in collectivist organizations (albeit with a degree of orientation, but nothing much dysfunctional beyond language barriers). The individual can litter all day long. The collectivist may never think to pick up a piece of trash, as he has always been relieved from that compartment of concern.

YYMV, of course, but this is overseas experience measured in decades talking. (Personally, I like having the choices rather than having none; but I am certain there are plenty of people in the world who crave the collective Diffusion of Accountability).

On the individualist side, you get Live and Let Live. On the Collective side, you get Authorized vs Invalid. And here is what my experience tells me:

THEY ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE PHILOSOPHIES. They can't mutually co-exist, and there can be no peace between them. Only kicking the can down the road for short-term gains. But ultimately - there is no win-win here. More likely Domination-Accomodation, Compromise (each giving up a piece of value), or Breakdown. Feel free to disagree, but it will take a LOT to convince me otherwise. Individualist cultures can assimilate collectivists - but collectives cannot assimilate individualists. Only tolerate, never validate.

 

[Green Shirt]

Kim Kardashian.

 

[publiusr]

It seemed to me that Omega was their symbol of perfection. The goal related to that symbol was to stabilize and use the particle as an unbeatable energy source, just like some other races were attempting.
My guess is that the Borg would aspire to be at the same level as the Q - perfection being an all knowing and all powerful collective mind.

I've even heard that some think the universe is a dodecahedron. If the Borg actually got what they want--I don't think it would have been as bad as the Daleks running everything. The Borg want to embrace everything in the end--not exterminate it.

 

[Griffeytrek]

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to go from a collectivist socioculture to another country where you are not only no longer part of the majority, but you no longer have the authorization of the group to validate or invalidate your new experiences. It must be bewildering, and small wonder they create enclaves rather than assimilate. Yet every day, I see intrepid sole journeyers happily interacting and functioning in collectivist organizations (albeit with a degree of orientation, but nothing much dysfunctional beyond language barriers). The individual can litter all day long. The collectivist may never think to pick up a piece of trash, as he has always been relieved from that compartment of concern.

YYMV, of course, but this is overseas experience measured in decades talking. (Personally, I like having the choices rather than having none; but I am certain there are plenty of people in the world who crave the collective Diffusion of Accountability).

I had the pleasure of having two college professors who had grown up in, and later escaped from deeply Stalinist Collectivist Societies. One from Cuba, the other rather famously over the Berlin Wall in a case that garnered international attention and acclaim. Neither had any issues moving on, nor any desire to go back. Now granted those were fairly modern cultural contrivances.

Perhaps a better example of where you find those lost souls who yearn to return to the collective would be the child warriors of Africa. Those kids kidnapped by warlords or worse at a young age and turned into brutal terrorist armies. Once freed they often can find no place in the outside world, and will seek to return.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Kim Kardashian.

You'd think with a particle that large, it wouldn't have been so hard to find.....

 

[Richard Baker]

You'd think with a particle that large, it wouldn't have been so hard to find.....

But only explosive in the presence of cameras...

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Just like sociopolitical movements in the real world, "Perfection" is when everybody else thinks and acts and dresses and behaves exactly the way I (for any given individual's value of "I") do.

 

[RAMA]

Perfection means using the great mass of biological forms in the universe to all think, act, and function as the hive.

I once came up with a Borg origin idea that their end goal in this galaxy was to manipulate and use the greatest source of energy there..the black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Does it mean assimilation of every single sentient neing in the entire galaxy and then maybe expand the Borg hive mind through the entire known universe? What then... expanding the collective into other dimensions? Is the Borg perfection a state where everything everywhere is controlled by the Borg? Everybody everywhere are connected to each other...?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Either that, or finding the greatest pizza in the Universe...

In that case, perfection is located at 2725 86th Street in Brooklyn.

 

[C.E. Evans]

In that case, perfection is located at 2725 86th Street in Brooklyn.

It will be assimilated. Your pizza belongs to us.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Your pizza belongs to us.

What you say!

 

[rdzogschen]

My understanding is the Borg believe: perfection will eventually be achieved via the assimilation of more and more technologically and biologically distinctive species.

Every time a new species is absorbed their 'distinctiveness' courses through the entire Collective, changing—and enhancing—them. This process is known to the Borg as bringing an assimilated species from chaos to order (or, perfection). Also, absorbing a species is pleasurable to the Borg.

The Borg queen makes note of this once they assimilate the last outpost of Species 10026 during Dark Frontier.

QUEEN: Assimilation is complete.
SEVEN: Three hundred thousand individuals have been transformed into drones. Should they be congratulated as well?
QUEEN: They should be. They've left behind their trivial, selfish lives and they've been reborn with a greater purpose. We've delivered them from chaos into order.
SEVEN: Comforting words. Use them next time instead of resistance is futile. You may elicit a few volunteers.
QUEEN: You cling to sarcasm because you are afraid to see the truth. Species one zero zero two six is already adding to our perfection. You can feel their distinctiveness coursing through us, enhancing us. Stop resisting. Take pleasure in this.​

It is also implied this unnamed species has resisted the Borg for a long period, proving their distinctiveness, and improving their assimilated value. Keep in mind that species that is to be assimilated does not have a choice, and the Borg must have every single one of them to complete yet another step toward perfection.

QUEEN: . . . If those individuals are allowed to survive, species one zero zero two six will survive and continue to resist us. . . .​

Not sure if it's intentional on the part of Maury Hurley and Brannon Braga to reference an oblique Victorian poet, but Matthew Arnold made frequent references to the pursuit of perfection in his work [example]. He equated the venture to the pursuit of sweetness and light, or an ultimately wasteful and unattainable venture regardless of the immediate benefits or value to the pursuer. However, in Arnold's view, pursuing perfection is the most human of fallacies.

With that in mind, I believe the Borg will never reach perfection, because they have never known, do not know, and will never know what perfection is—even if they happen upon it by accidentally assimilating the entire galactic cluster.

 

[The Wormhole]

Not sure if it's intentional on the part of Maury Hurley and Brannon Braga to reference an oblique Victorian poet

Well, Maurice Hurley never wrote about Borg perfection or even assimilation.