Would 'topological anomaly 4747' from 'I Borg' have brought down the Borg?
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I think it would have worked on some Borg, similar to how Hugh's experience with individual liberty affected some Borg. I don't recall how they explained the Hugh's experience with liberty didn't propagate to all Borg, but I imagine a similar process would have contained the damage.
I'm not a huge fan of 'Descent' parts 1 and 2, so I like to think that the plan Picard had in 'I Borg' worked.
After Hugh went back to the collective, the Borg wasn't/weren't a collective anymore, they all became individuals, just like Hugh.
That fits nicely with the "trial of humanity", Enterprise's crew frees the entire collective by orders from Picard who was turned into a Borg at one point.
I feel like if the Borg assimilated a race with even a rudimentary understanding of network security, then they must have learned that when parts of the system start acting anomalously, it's time to quarantine them.
Hell, in "Unimatrix Zero" the Borg were willing to destroy entire ships if even one drone was behaving anomalously, IIRC. And why not, they've got millions to spare and protect.
Hell, in "Unimatrix Zero" the Borg were willing to destroy entire ships if even one drone was behaving anomalously, IIRC. And why not, they've got millions to spare and protect.
The thing with Hugh was that for the first time (most likely) there was a Borg drone that became individual after assimilation and then returned to the collective. Perhaps that affected the Borg in a completely new way. When Borg assimilate someone, there's a way to "filter out" individuality until the assimilation is complete.
When it comes to Hugh that firewall/filter wasn't necessary, he was a Borg that would just return to the collective after he was saved from a crashsite. The Borg didn't know he was now an individual. That's why I think Picard's plan would work.
The Borg is dumb, that's a way to beat them.
When it comes to Hugh that firewall/filter wasn't necessary, he was a Borg that would just return to the collective after he was saved from a crashsite. The Borg didn't know he was now an individual. That's why I think Picard's plan would work.
The Borg is dumb, that's a way to beat them.
OTOH, the Borg is dumb.
Hugh was alone on some moon, the only survivor of a crash and as far as the Borg knew, he had been there alone all that time.
One cube down does not a Borg empire destroyed mean! 
JB
JB
OTOH, the Borg is dumb.
Hugh was alone on some moon, the only survivor of a crash and as far as the Borg knew, he had been there alone all that time.
Granted, but more importantly, the Borg didn't know what -might- have happened to him.
I mean, I love Our Heroes and want them to succeed and all, but what are the odds that the Borg have never encountered this kind of attack before?
Well, you'd think the Iconians, probably being millennia more advanced than the Federation, would have been able to design an intrusive program that wasn't just wiped out of the memory after the first reboot
Even among advanced races, there seems to be a strange lack of awareness of concepts that are any more advanced than, let's say, our own general awareness of such concepts during the late 80's/early 90's.
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The program that was sent to the Borg in 'I Borg' was effective as we saw in 'Descent'.
I guess the writers didn't want to destroy the entire collective so they could use it later, mainly in Voyager. So, the damage was limited to one cube only, which doesn't make sense in some way.
I guess the writers didn't want to destroy the entire collective so they could use it later, mainly in Voyager. So, the damage was limited to one cube only, which doesn't make sense in some way.
It makes perfect sense. The program starts to affect the Collective and as soon as they detect the anomaly they isolate the ship. Then they either study what happens to that ship if possible so they can adapt in the future, or...I mean, who cares, it's a single ship and they've got many to spare.
If you have a tree with a billion branches, then if one of them starts exhibiting some sort of disease it's not such a big deal to lop off the branch.
Heck, there could be some irony here in that in BOBW2 Crusher speculates that the Borg can't sever their connection to Picard even though they can detect Data's attempts to access the collective. Perhaps the Borg became willing to sacrifice ships precisely because Locutus was used against them previously.
If you have a tree with a billion branches, then if one of them starts exhibiting some sort of disease it's not such a big deal to lop off the branch.
Heck, there could be some irony here in that in BOBW2 Crusher speculates that the Borg can't sever their connection to Picard even though they can detect Data's attempts to access the collective. Perhaps the Borg became willing to sacrifice ships precisely because Locutus was used against them previously.
But, because the Borg is basically one creature, one mind, shouldn't Hugh's individuality spread through the entire collective immediately, not slowly from cube to cube.
Imagine hitting your toe on something, your entire body knows it instantly, doesn't the Borg work in the same way. The moment Hugh is plugged back in the individuality spreads to every single Borg.
Like Picard said:
"Think of them as a single, collective being. There's no one Borg who is more an individual than your arm or your leg."
It can be looked from many perspectives but that's how I interpret it. That means there would be no "firewalls" within the Borg.
I don't think Picard had a deep enough understanding of the Borg to fully know how they'd work, and I think they're rather more like a cybernetic version of The Great Link, if the Link was made up of individual cubes and such instead of individual Founders. Which is a long-winded way of saying I think "data" went from drone->ship->wider collective, with options to take protective measures along the way.
Besides, if one of your limbs gets gangrene, in a worst-case scenario you amputate the limb so the rest of you survives.
So I guess in the end the program was more like gangrene than brain cancer, heh.
Besides, if one of your limbs gets gangrene, in a worst-case scenario you amputate the limb so the rest of you survives.
So I guess in the end the program was more like gangrene than brain cancer, heh.
I'd imagine that after being a part of the collective Picard would have a lot of knowlenge about the Borg. Just about everything there's to know about them.
^Not sure about that. He was assimilated for only a couple of days, and perhaps even in the Borg collective there are levels of authorisation to knowledge. And even if not, if he got access to all knowledge rightaway, he would at most have had access for a few days at most (under extremely stressing circumstances).
For example, I would expect 7 to have a far deeper knowledge on the inner Collective workings, being exposed to it for many years.
For example, I would expect 7 to have a far deeper knowledge on the inner Collective workings, being exposed to it for many years.
I'd imagine that no matter how long you've been in the collective, hours or years, you get the same amount of information, all of it, instantly.
the borg have been around for millenia. that they havent conquired the galaxy in that time shows they are probably pretty slow to assimilate what they take, though tactically they react quickly, but it also means probably any idea conceivable has been thrown up against them and understood.
The Borg just don't seem to learn from mistakes.
Looks like they take every situation as something completely new.
Perhaps that is a part of the perfection they seek, experiencing many different things, if not all possible outcomes of every situation.
A species like that has a different concept of time and essentially no concept of individual mortality. They can take their time.
Perhaps immortality is their perfection.
Then they want to "share" that immortality with all the other beings in the universe by assimilating everybody.
Not that bad of a deal really. You dream an idyllic heaven when you're in regeneration cycle, and past of a harmonious collective the rest of the time. Borg have no crime, no inequality. They are dispassionate and free of attachment. Their only outward flaw is their hostility to other civilizations caused by assimilating them against their will.
but really, from their point of view it is justifiable, and it's hardly any different than what the UFP is doing to the galaxy (and possibly at a faster rate)
^^ The Borg existence seems to be some form of slavery, I would choose not to join the collective.
long term, i could imagine uploaded consciousness with enhanced human (or other) bodies being downloaded for the occasional recreational/observational/therapeutic use being the fate of any suitably advanced civilization. Not that there might not be ethically opposed remnants that choose to go on as they have, maintaining a stagnant puritanical existence.
It is difficult to imagine anything a human body and human mind can't do better than an AI, robotic, or artificial life form could not do better. Why not leave it behind and become more? You could have untold eternities within a collectively created superreality, including the search for other such realities created by others. It's another reason why I think SETI will ultimately fail. Suitable enhanced civillizations that survive either go this route and must ethically turn their back on happenings within the cosmos, or else are puritanical species remnants that would see other such species as contaminants.
OR.. something like the UFP or "The Culture" that would be a threat to other civilizations in the Galaxy in their own right. The rootbeer cocacolonization of the Milky Way. A show like Star Trek must have bad guys, so the Borg are presented as such.
Still, adjust one or two parameters slightly, and the Borg are just the ultimate victors defending their utopia aggressively by expansion, since they are threatened by higher entities like Q, and other godlike beings that could indeed ruin their harmony.
It is difficult to imagine anything a human body and human mind can't do better than an AI, robotic, or artificial life form could not do better. Why not leave it behind and become more? You could have untold eternities within a collectively created superreality, including the search for other such realities created by others. It's another reason why I think SETI will ultimately fail. Suitable enhanced civillizations that survive either go this route and must ethically turn their back on happenings within the cosmos, or else are puritanical species remnants that would see other such species as contaminants.
OR.. something like the UFP or "The Culture" that would be a threat to other civilizations in the Galaxy in their own right. The rootbeer cocacolonization of the Milky Way. A show like Star Trek must have bad guys, so the Borg are presented as such.
Still, adjust one or two parameters slightly, and the Borg are just the ultimate victors defending their utopia aggressively by expansion, since they are threatened by higher entities like Q, and other godlike beings that could indeed ruin their harmony.
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