Why are holodecks still allowed on starships and space stations?

[Parrots_United]

I don't get it.... over the course of TNG, DS9, and VOY, there have probably been 25 episodes where something goes wrong on the holodeck. Cliches include: Safeties are turned off, cannot exit the holodeck, and of course, in almost all scenarios, they can't transport out.

So, why do they allow holodecks on starships? Hell, in VOY Spirit Folk, a single panel was destroyed, and subsequently safeties were turned off, they could not exit, they couldn't transport out, and they couldn't end the program. From the TNG to the TNG movies (and in Voyager, for that matter), they even lowered the security protocol by only requiring one senior officer (it used to require two) to turn off safety protocols.

What I'm trying to say is, the holodecks break like tissue paper! They require some more fine tuning before public usage on starships!

 

[MacLeod]

No doubt there are thousands upon thousands of uses of a holodeck in the Federation each day. All we saw is the rare occurance where one malfunctions.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Thousands of people die every year in car accidents and we still make cars. But millions of more people drive safely every day. Only a small percentage is affected negatively.

 

[RyuRoots]

Because the show writers never considered the implications of having it malfunction potentially fatally every other episode. Or maybe the malfunctions we saw were only a tiny minority of holodeck interactions. I dunno. I just ignore all the holodeck safety shenanigans for the most part.

 

[The Wormhole]

Obviously the holodecks on baord the Enterprise D and Voyager were faulty. The holosuites on DS9 only broke down once, and that was a result of external problems. Otherwise, it seems likely every other holodeck in all the Federation worked smoothly.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The same could be said about the transporters. How many times have they failed or malfunctioned or been the cause of some kind problem? They are far more dangerous that the holodecks I'd say.

 

[The Wormhole]

Transportre malunctions are very rare. We had an entire episode devoted to that fact.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Why are holodecks still allowed on
starships and space stations?

Population control.

 

[Parrots_United]

Thousands of people die every year in car accidents and we still make cars. But millions of more people drive safely every day. Only a small percentage is affected negatively.

I'm sorry, but these are by no means rare...
Like I said, these things break like a tissue.

 

[C.E. Evans]

More people likely die from warp core breaches than holodeck malfunctions.

 

[Use of Time]

I'm sure the technology was upgraded as the years went by from TNG to VOY. In my mind I'm guessing that each one of the instances was reported as a lesson learned. We generally didn't see the same type of problem happen twice. The whole Moriarty story was a bit of a stretch to me anyway.

 

[The Wormhole]

Thousands of people die every year in car accidents and we still make cars. But millions of more people drive safely every day. Only a small percentage is affected negatively.

I'm sorry, but these are by no means rare...
Like I said, these things break like a tissue.

"Break like tissue?" In the eight years the Enterprise D was in service, the holodecks on board malfunctioned five times, with another two where the holodeck put the ship in danger somehow but didn't actually malfunction.

In the seven years that Starfleet ran DS9, there was only one holodeck malfunction, and that was due to terrorist sabotage.

In the seven years that Voyager was in the Delta Quadrant, the holodeck malfunctioned four times.

So in total we know of twelve incidents involving holodecks. Considering all the holodecks that exist in the Federation and other races, twelve incidents is pretty impressively low.

 

[Gov Kodos]

However many times, someone should have dealt with the 'malfunction- kill users' thing after the first screw up.

 

[Pavonis]

Thousands of people die every year in car accidents and we still make cars. But millions of more people drive safely every day. Only a small percentage is affected negatively.

I'm sorry, but these are by no means rare...
Like I said, these things break like a tissue.

How can you say holodeck/holosuite malfunctions are not rare, when you have no idea how many holodecks are in operation throughout the Alpha Quadrant? For all we know, those malfunctions may have been the only ones ever!

And how many people actually died due to holodeck malfunctions?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Photonic or flesh?

 

[ALF]

A. Because they are fun.

 

[Pavonis]

Photonic or flesh?

Well, flesh. Should holodeck characters that die in the story count? Or are you referring to self-aware holodeck characters like Moriarty and AI programs like the Doctor and Vic Fontaine?

 

[Satyrquaze]

If you think the holodecks are bad, in the entire history of Trek 100% of the wargames shown cannonically onscreen have involved a malfunction that either destroyed a Federation Starship or at least heavily damaged one. Yet, Starfleet insists on continuing having wargames!

For that matter, those Starships themselves are incredibly dangerous machines. I remember reading somewhere that only one of the original twelve Constitution Class Starships returned from their 5-year missions in the mid-23rd century. Yet starfleet insists on continuing to not only build them but to enlist thousands of innocent sentients every year to crew these death-traps. The only Constitution that returned from its 5-year mission tragically lost nearly a quarter of her crew under the command of her most famous captain.

Just sayin.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Photonic or flesh?

Well, flesh. Should holodeck characters that die in the story count? Or are you referring to self-aware holodeck characters like Moriarty and AI programs like the Doctor and Vic Fontaine?

Mostly I'm joking.

 

[sojourner]

For that matter, those Starships themselves are incredibly dangerous machines. I remember reading somewhere that only one of the original twelve Constitution Class Starships returned from their 5-year missions in the mid-23rd century. Yet starfleet insists on continuing to not only build them but to enlist thousands of innocent sentients every year to crew these death-traps. The only Constitution that returned from its 5-year mission tragically lost nearly a quarter of her crew under the command of her most famous captain.

Just sayin.

Truth to be told though We don't know that the ship itself was at fault for most of those Constitutions not returning. Is it even canon that only one returned?