Subj : Re: The Practical Joker (TAS): my review To : All From : Graeme Date : Tue Nov 15 2011 04:47:29 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." wrote: > "Graeme" 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. --- Synchronet 3.15a-Linux NewsLink 1.92-mlp # Origin: http://groups.google.com (1:2320/105.97) * Origin: CCO BBS - capitolcityonline.net:26 (1:2320/105) .