Who is More Logical, Data or Spock, and Why?

ScienceChic
Topic Author
Mountain Champion

02 Mar 2011 13:05 #1 by ScienceChic

Who is More Logical, Data or Spock, and Why? was created by ScienceChic

Over on Star Trek's Facebook page, they asked this question, and so far have over 1,800 responses. If you want to read some really interesting thinking behind some of the reasons for one or the other, check it out! I found it a fun bit of brain candy - there are definitely some people who put a lot of thought into this query!

I'm going with Spock - he actively strove to be more logical, despite his emotional human half influencing his judgments; whereas, Data strove to be more human, more fallible, despite his programming, ironically by illogical humans. As one poster put it: "The process of logic, whether Spock likes to admit or not, is influenced by emotion which Data cannot experience. At the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion." -Karl Fischer

"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill

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Grady
Mountain Legend

02 Mar 2011 13:10 #2 by Grady

Replied by Grady on topic Who is More Logical, Data or Spock, and Why?

I'm going with Data. He is nothing but logic, 1s and 0s.

Do you have the link to their FB page?

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ScienceChic
Topic Author
Mountain Champion

02 Mar 2011 16:29 #3 by ScienceChic

Replied by ScienceChic on topic Who is More Logical, Data or Spock, and Why?

https://www.facebook.com/StarTrek

If this gets you in logged in as me, let me know!

It's the TV show fan page.

Data was logical - but to what extent based on his programming which had to be flawed in some way, since he came from the mind of one human? Also, he eventually installed an emotion chip and definitely got less logical (certainly more emotional and irrational at times) than he had been before. Was it less so or equal to Spock, who had longer experience wrestling with emotions when making logical decisions than Data? Maybe the question shouldn't be, who had a greater grasp of logic, but who was more frequently/consistently logical? Or who made better logical decisions under emotional duress?

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Rockdoc
Mountain Legend

02 Mar 2011 21:07 #4 by Rockdoc

Replied by Rockdoc on topic Who is More Logical, Data or Spock, and Why?

Answers to all your questions and the original question all require major assumptions. We know nothing about Data's programing other than what is portrayed through various episodes. Simply arguing on the basis of what we perceive is itself an illogical exercise because of the assumptions necessary to arrive at one conclusion or another. Furthermore, this exercise is illogical from the perspective that the dialogue for both characters is written by one individual (?) whose logic is imparted on each character.

Having said that. If one person does indeed originate all the dialogue, then he must logically decide to attribute more or less logic to one character or another to fulfill the desired objective. Computers simply process information and do not engage in logical analysis. I do not recall Data studying logic or even discussing it (then I'm not an avid viewer either). If this is true, then Spock is the winner by default.

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