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Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Pinocchio Factor

Data Star Trek


In “Encounter at Farpoint,” the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the newly assigned first officer Commander Riker goes looking for his second officer in the holodeck. He finds Data attempting to whistle a tune, and not doing a very good job of it. When the android tells Riker that he would gladly give up all his advanced strength and skills “to be human,” Riker grins and calls him Pinocchio. This is important for a couple of reasons—firstly, it introduces a beardless Riker at peak affable smugness, which I personally enjoy, and secondly it lays out the defining aspect of Data’s character: the artificial being that wants to be human.


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An interesting read via Tor.com Frontpage Partial - Blog and Story Content


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