Young Geek Philosopher (No, that's not a typo...)

OK, I will attempt to be eloquent on very little sleep.

I recently watched an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled The Measure of a Man. It revolved around my favorite character, Data, who I believe I have mentioned before as being an android. What I may not have mentioned is that he is an android who greatly admires and wishes to emulate human beings. He is not programmed to feel emotions, and yet there have been several instances which might be cited to show that he is capable of feeling something.

So far I have seen him attempt to learn the basics of humor, become obsessed with the stories of Sherlock Holmes, and grieve for the loss of a friend. In that last instance, he made a rather astute observation regarding funerals. He told Captain Picard that he thought a funeral was supposed to be about the person who had died, and yet he found his thoughts preoccupied with himself, and how empty his life would be without her. He asked if he had missed the point, but Picard assured him that he hadn't missed it at all.

In The Measure of a Man, a Starfleet scientist named Maddox (an expert in cybernetics, and someone who has studied Data in particular) wishes to dismantle Data in an attempt to understand and replicate the means by which he was created. Backstory: Data was found on an abandoned planet by a team of Starfleet officers. He knows that he was created by Dr. Soong, a man who theorized and created the positronic brain (which was first conceived of by Isaac Asimov). (Hmm, should I assume you know who he is? I do, but then I'm a sci-fi nut. Suffice it to say, Asimov wrote science fiction.) He chose to enter Starfleet academy and become an officer in honor of those who found and rescued him.

This does have a point, I promise.

Anyway, Data decides he doesn't really want to be dismantled because he doesn't have faith that they will be able to correctly re-mantle him. (I know it's not a word, deal with it.) Maddox obtains transfer papers which require Data to leave the Enterprise and work directly under his command. Data decides to resign. And here's where things get sticky. Maddox proposes that Data is not able to resign because he is not an individual, he is property.

I think he put it like this: "Would you allow the Enterprise computer to resign?"

Picard appeals to the woman who is judging the case, but she rules that "Data is a toaster," and must therefore do as he's told. I, at this point, began throwing things at the screen and calling her some not-very-nice names. A toaster indeed! What nerve!

Picard agreed with me, and began putting together a formal trial to determine Data's rights.

And in it, he must prove that Data is a sentient being.

He asks Maddox "What are the characteristics of a sentient being?" and Maddox replies they are "intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness". He then asks Maddox to prove that he, Picard, is a sentient being.

Can you prove that you are a sentient being? I'm not sure there are words. We are sentient because we know that we are. But that is not proof. Try proving to someone that you have your own individual thoughts. I think, therefore I am, right?

In the end, the judge relents. She says that the real issue they have been 'dancing around' is: does Data have a soul. "I don't know that he has. I don't know that I have. But I'm not going to stand in the way of him finding out for himself." (Keep in mind that I'm doing this from memory, so it's paraphrased.)

Prove that you have a soul.

If you can, then show me how. I don't think the importance of who we are can be explained in words such as 'soul' or 'consciousness'. It is felt, deep down in our bones. We just know that we exist. That we are.

This is the very heart of what I love about science fiction. It's not about the aliens or the explosions or the cool technology (although, it's all of this, as well) it's what the stories reveal about the human condition. What are we? What is our future? What are our limits? Our possibilities? These are the questions that all science fiction attempts to answer. It is philosophy and fantasy all wrapped up in one adventure-filled package.

Some science fiction plot lines explore ethical concerns analogous to the concerns of advocates of animal rights. In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Measure of a Man," Data, a sentient android, takes legal action to prove that he has the same rights as a human being. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Author, Author" the Doctor, a holographic program by nature, fights for his rights as a sentient lifeform. The film Artificial Intelligence: A.I. considers a machine in the form of a small boy which has been given the ability to feel human emotions, including the capacity to suffer. In these examples, sentience plays the same role as it does in the philosophy of animal rights.

Another thing I like about science fiction: the stories can also serve as analogies to issues we face in the here and now.

In the episode, Picard has a conversation with Guinan (the bartender in the ship's lounge, played by Whoopi Goldberg as a semi-regular character) about how the trial is going. At that moment, he feels that he is about to lose, and Guinan begins talking to him about Maddox's proposal to replicate Data, and the issue of 'disposable people' came up. And with that, comes the issue of slavery. I found the clip on youtube, so you can watch it instead of me trying to explain.

Skip to about 4 minutes in. It's short, I promise. Whoops, I just saw it can't be embedded, so you'll have to go to youtube. Watch it here.

Once you stop laughing at Guinan's ridiculous hat, you have to admit, it's interesting. Erm, the scene, not her hat. (Although I find that very interesting as well, just in a different way.)

And as computers become more and more advanced, this is perhaps not too far from issues we'll face in the future. Heck there are already debates on when life becomes Life. Is this all that different?

Science Fiction: not just for Geeks, it's also for Philosophers.

I like to think I'm both.