From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From Address:
graemecree@aol.com
Subject: Re: The Practical Joker (TAS): my review
On Nov 14, 1:04apm, "Steven L." <
sdlit...@earthlink.net> wrote:
"Graeme" <graemec...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ade718eb-d20f-451e-ac85-ecde64c1659e@k5g2000pre.googlegroups.com:
This one is my #4 episode, after Slaver Weapon, Yesteryear, and
Pirates of Orion. aI still don't buy the idea of a computer
accidentally becoming sentient, but even Asimov wrote stories around
that premise, so we can let it pass.
Computers that unexpectedly become sentient is a staple of science
fiction for at least 50 years. aLots and lots of short stories, movies,
and novels. aAlso a couple of TV episodes of "The Twilight Zone."
An example is "When Harlie Was One," written by David Gerrold in 1972.
It dealt with a robot programmed with artificial intelligence to the
point that it could act like a person. aAnd when it became necessary to switch it off, the question arose whether it *was* a person, so that switching it off would constitute murder.
And yep, that theme appeared later in a TNG episode involving Data--"The Measure of a Man," I think it was.
-- Steven L.
It's kind of a dumb story, across the board, though. In The
Bicentennial Man, I think the android was sentient through a
manufacturing defect or something. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture,
V'ger is said to have achieved consciousness because it acquired "so
much knowledge". A hard drive doesn't become conscious when you store
enough files on it. Consciousness is just a lot more complex than the
writers think it is.
As for turning off a sentient computer, even if one existed, that
could hardly be murder so long as you can switch it back on at any
time.
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