Data's quest for Human-ness - 2

Hello Data

Lt. Cmdr. Data is an android. He (Some people might object calling an android a ‘he’ instead of an ‘it’- by the time you are done reading this, you will agree that he is not an it) looks humanoid, albeit with a slight olive-green tinge. He is one of the central characters of the popular science-fiction television series "Star Trek – The Next Generation". Played by Brent Spiner, a fabulously talented actor who performs amazingly well, one may add. Like all good androids (there is just one another android in one other episode – more about him later), he has superhuman strength, a humungous data-bank for a memory, and a positronic neural network for a brain. He is perfect in every sense of the word. He lacks the understanding of and ability to experience human emotions. He himself says he would gladly give up all his superior strengths to be human.

Data's Quest for Human-ness - 1

This is an article written long ago... I am presenting it as a series since the original is too long for a single post.

"I am superior, sir, in many ways. But I would gladly give it up, to be human."-- Data in ST:TNG "Encounter At Farpoint"

Demystifying the title

The title of this paper requires some explanation. Who is Data? Why is he on this quest? And why are we talking about human-ness? Is learning about ‘human-ness’ even in the ambit of the objectives of this course? By Human-ness, we mean the best intrinsic qualities which make humans human - a sense of duty, the spirit of exploring, the soul of a poet, the heart of a warrior, the loyalty of a Cassio, the ideals of a Mahatma, the sense of wonder of a Don Quixote, the idealism of a Mandela
‘Meaning’ is definitely in the scope of the course content, as the title suggests. One may then, therefore, take the liberty of assuming that the ‘Meaning’ referred to is ‘Meaning of Life’, and be further expanded/narrowed down(?) to refer to ‘Meaning of Human Life’. Why this narrowing down? Simply put, the answer to this question is that one might as well begin with understanding our own species before venturing out into analyzing the ‘Meaning of Life’ for other species.