Blog 2: The Measure of a Man

When Data tells Captain Picard he is forced into the situation because he is not a human it sparks a passion in the captain to stop what he thinks is wrong. What does this say about the captain’s personality?

From just seeing this episode I think it shows that he is truly a great person and will not let something he finds morally wrong go by without challenging it. Once he realized that Data should have the rights the same as any human he completely focused on helping Data. He went to Captain Louvois for help with the case even though they don’t agree on many things and he ended up having to challenge her ruling. He pushed forward and fought the case with Data but was discouraged after a compelling argument from Commander Riker. Even here he did not give up and found inspiration again after a talk with Guinan. He came back with an amazing and passionate defense, and he not only saved his friend from having to leave, but he also set precedent for future cases on the rights of andriods.

This episode was focused around the subject of whether or not an andriod like Data had the same rights as humans. Was the choice that Data had the same rights the right one?

This question is one that is very complex and one that I am probably not qualified to answer, but someday we may come across this problem. According to the three qualifications Maddox gives on human life I think Data and possible future andriods like him do qualify as human life. An interesting view would be to think about it as if Data were just a computer and not in a humanoid body. I don’t think I would so easily jump to the same conclusion that he should have the same rights as me. The difference between Data and a computer however is that data at least seemed to feel emotion and be self aware. The argument was made that Data did not actually feel emotions but instead just ran on complex and clever algorithms that emulated human emotion, but when we think about it; isn’t our brain similar to a computer? What makes our emotions different from Data’s? In the end I think they made the right decision to give Data his rights.