Workforce - Your Thoughts?
- Thread starter Praetor
- Start date
Interesting... Stargate had a very different premise from Voyager, but they did share something in common: traveling to alien worlds and experiencing a variety of encounters. I can see how the tired writing staff from Voyager might borrow some ideas from a show like Stargate SG-1, but wow--the "Workforce" premise is way too close to "Beneath the Surface". Good catch.
I found Workforce entertaining, but I find the idea of memory rearrangement just way too implausible. Especially when you're talking about entirely different beings who have very different brain structures. The brain is not an "endless" storage device... you can't just forcibly rearrange neurons and create "new" memories using an external 'beam' tool, then later restore memory back to the way it was. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm no neuro scientist, but I've chatted with someone who is a specialist in that field. The brain is an enormously complex organ. If beings would be capable of manipulating memories as depicted in the episode, they'd be far more sophisticated to the point where they wouldn't need to capture people with particular skills--they could take ANY being and give them the knowledge needed.
But there's an even worse plausibility issue. If beings have this kind of capability, they really wouldn't need slave labor to operate their machinery. Such sophisticated technological understanding would mean they could construct computer programs that handle everything. A far more efficient solution than dealing with beings.
As I see it, the more plausible way they could have done the episode is by exposing the captured crew to intense brainwashing that turns them into mindless drones to perform manual labor (not highly complex intellectual work), subverting their memories. Personalities would be suppressed--no going about business as if they were perfectly normal. Then later, after being rescued, they could be reconditioned back to normal. Thus, their memories would have been essentially disconnected then later reconnected--not modified and then restored. Of course, the episode wouldn't have been nearly as interesting...
I found Workforce entertaining, but I find the idea of memory rearrangement just way too implausible. Especially when you're talking about entirely different beings who have very different brain structures. The brain is not an "endless" storage device... you can't just forcibly rearrange neurons and create "new" memories using an external 'beam' tool, then later restore memory back to the way it was. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm no neuro scientist, but I've chatted with someone who is a specialist in that field. The brain is an enormously complex organ. If beings would be capable of manipulating memories as depicted in the episode, they'd be far more sophisticated to the point where they wouldn't need to capture people with particular skills--they could take ANY being and give them the knowledge needed.
But there's an even worse plausibility issue. If beings have this kind of capability, they really wouldn't need slave labor to operate their machinery. Such sophisticated technological understanding would mean they could construct computer programs that handle everything. A far more efficient solution than dealing with beings.
As I see it, the more plausible way they could have done the episode is by exposing the captured crew to intense brainwashing that turns them into mindless drones to perform manual labor (not highly complex intellectual work), subverting their memories. Personalities would be suppressed--no going about business as if they were perfectly normal. Then later, after being rescued, they could be reconditioned back to normal. Thus, their memories would have been essentially disconnected then later reconnected--not modified and then restored. Of course, the episode wouldn't have been nearly as interesting...
So, are we all watching the new show Dollhouse which is a modern day rip of Joe 90?
You know the episode of South park where they say "Simpsonsdidit" about every conceivable plot for a new show? Stargate is about the same.
You know the episode of South park where they say "Simpsonsdidit" about every conceivable plot for a new show? Stargate is about the same.
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