- The measure of a man quotes manual#
- The measure of a man quotes android#
- The measure of a man quotes trial#
The prosecutor continues with an explanation of how Data operates through an elaborate and complicated interplay between his physical hardware and the neural networks and ‘heuristic algorithms’ including severing his forearm to show how it is constructed and finally by activating Data’s “Emergency Manual Control” i.e. The prosecution’s case breaks into two areas of argument firstly that Data was built by a man – therefore he is the property of that man, and subsequent people or organisations to whom his ownership is transferred secondly, his physical and mental attributes being of an order of magnitude greater than anything were created with the purpose of serving human needs and interests.
The measure of a man quotes trial#
What follows is a trial proceeding starting with the prosecution making the case for Data being property. The JAG officer finds supporting precedent to support this position (from the 21st Century no less), and Picard challenges forcing a hearing to be convened to decide whether Data is property, and in doing so whether he can be forced to submit to Maddox’ experiments.
The central argument Maddox puts forward to the Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer is that as Data is a machine, he does not have any rights. Picard, realising Data ought to be treated with the same rights as any other member of his crew looks for ways to stop Data being transferred and being forced to subject himself to the experiments. His commanding officer, Captain Picard tries to convince data of the potential benefits of the experiments to their organisation – Data counters with the argument that it is because he is a machine (i.e. Initially Data is intrigued by the notion, but on inquiry he comes to the view that Maddox lacks the necessary expertise to study him and in fact Maddox’ experiments could cause him irreparable harm. A scientist Dr Maddox has been studying Data with the view to reverse engineering the technology that enables his ‘positronic’ brain to function in order to create many hundreds or thousands of replicas that can perform dangerous tasks in the place of humans. Plotĭata has served aboard the starship Enterprise and has, we are told an exemplary record of service.
The measure of a man quotes android#
The story centres on the character ‘Data’ who is an android (an automaton made to resemble a human) and whether he is the property of the organisation ‘Star Fleet’ in which he serves as a crew member. Kicking off the search for an answer to the question of whether there are truths we can learn from Science Fiction in the development of technology, I turn to one of my favourite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) – “The Measure of a Man” which was first aired on February 13th 1989.
Lt Commander Data on trial in the episode “The Measure of a Man” from Star Trek: The Next Generation (S02E09) image copyright Paramount Pictures
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