53 - The Ultimate Computer

Data Stellare 4729.4: Il dottor Richard Daystrom, progettista dei computer dell'Enterprise, ha messo a punto M5, un nuovo tipo di computer capace di rimpiazzare gran parte dell'equipaggio di una nave e la Flotta Stellare sceglie proprio l'Enterprise per collaudarlo. Durante un'esercitazione, però, M5 aziona i phaser a tutta potenza contro un'altra nave, uccidendo molte persone.

Note

• La citazione di Kirk riportata sotto «All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by» è tratta da Sea Fever di John Masefield:
  «I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,
  And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
  And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
  And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
   
  I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
  Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
  And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
  And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
   
  I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gipsy life,
  To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
  And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
  And quiet sleep and sweet dream when the long trick's over.»
  La stessa frase diventerà anche il motto della Defiant.

47

• La data stellare dell'episodio è 4729.4.

Riciclati

• Le esterne di una stazione spaziale sono quelle della Deep Space Station K-7 di The Trouble with Tribbles.

Citazioni

Daystrom: When a child is taught... it's programmed with simple instructions -and at some point, if its mind develops properly, it exceeds the sum of what it was taught, thinks independently.

Kirk: Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. You can't simply say «Today I will be brilliant.»

McCoy: If a man had a child who'd gone anti-social, killed perhaps, he'd still tend to protect that child.

Kirk: Granted, it can work a thousand, a million times faster than the human brain, but it can't make a value judgment, it hasn't intuition, it can't think.

Kirk: What happened to the crewman?
Daystrom: The M-5 computer needed a new power source; the crewman merely got in the way.
Kirk: And how long will it be before we all «just get in the way?»

McCoy: We're all sorry for the other guy when he loses his job to a machine, but when it comes to your job... that's different. And it always will be different.

Spock: Every living thing wants to survive.

Kirk: «All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by.» You could feel the wind at your back, about you... the sounds of the sea beneath you. And even if you take away the wind and the water, it's still the same. The ship is yours, you can feel her, and the stars are still there, Bones...

Kirk: Machine over man, Spock? It was impressive. Might even be practical.
Spock: Practical, Captain? Perhaps, but not desirable. Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them. Captain, a starship also runs on loyalty to one man and nothing can replace it or him.

McCoy: Compassion. That's the one thing no machine ever had. Maybe it's the one thing that keeps men ahead of them. Care to debate that, Spock?
Spock: No, Doctor. I simply maintain that computers are more efficient than human beings. Not better.

Kirk: There are certain things men must do to remain men.

Kirk: Only a fool would stand in the way of progress.

McCoy: Please, Spock, do me a favour... and don't say it's fascinating!
Spock: No, but it is... interesting.