VOY s6e10 "Pathfinder"
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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You tell that councilor to come down here and say it to my face.
Back in the day, Isaac Asimov said that by strict definition, a mousetrap was a 'robot.'
It's a machine that can act without a human controlling it, to perform a specific task.
'The Doctor' was designed to provide a wide variety of functions, with access to a vast array of medical/social/spiritual information, plus the capacity to diagnose new diseases.
On the other hand, the entertainment holograms Reg was dealing with were little better than current day AIs like Siri or Alexa.
imho
Agreed. The Doc, Moriarty and Vic Fontaine are definitely sentient beings but that doesn't mean people who go into a holodeck to spar or to fuck are committing murder and sexual slavery.
Even the Doctor wasn't adverse to using basic holodeck characters in the same way as the rest of the crew did. I doubt he'd even have a problem with what the Hirogen were doing if they weren't specifically creating holograms who could experience fear and pain.
The B~~i~~ynars would beg to differ, but I understand the argument.
Edit: spelling
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bynar#Appearances
ACCCCCCCTualy it's 'Bynars'
[you see what you made me do???]
My face when someone says photonics aren't people:
That story made no sense. That guy is a glorified forklift, why would you simulate a body/that much intelligence when the computer could just do its job without being capable of resentment?
the same reason people use all purpose solutions, then constrain them to doing a small task instead of making a specific solution that has less capabilities.
You produce the all purpose solution en masse, and that way, there's less steps to using that to do what you want compared to otherwise.
I seem to recall that gentleman being a touch unstable.
Three thoughts about Troi.
One is that this is her area of expertise, and she's had a lot of experience with Data, so she shouldn't be so confidently saying something like this, which very likely either leads down the path that Data isn't a person, or that people aren't people.
Two is that as an empath, she may be unconsciously bigoted against those whose emotions she cannot sense.
Three may be her actual defense, which is that she's a counselor who is actively counseling a patient. So, it's possible that a counselor may have to say false things to a patient if those things are the things that will help the patient the most.
The advice she's giving is specifically true for this situation and not generally true of all holograms.
Also, if the Federation acknowledged sentience in the AIs that Barclay created, oh boy. Straight to jail for Barclay, I bet.
I'm not sure that you can boil down an old philosophical matter so easily, regardless.
I like to bring up the zombie thought experiment in these situations.
Two is that as an empath, she may be unconsciously bigoted against those whose emotions she cannot sense.
I wonder if that means she doesn’t consider ferengi as people since they’re also impervious to betazed telepathy.
I know a lot of Ferengi. They aren't people. Not until DS9 at least.
“Computer, deactivate iguana.”
Considering the fact that her on again off again boyfriend/lover/husband only had one other love of his life, who WAS a hologram, she should know better.
Good 'ole Minuet.
Fun Fake Fact: The working title for this episode was originally "D&D 3.5"
Photons be free!
(Sorry for the re-run, but I couldn't help myself.)