To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com
From: "ronwaldyo" 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com


Joseph Manno wrote:

> Two: It seems to me that one of the messages of
> Star Trek is that such communal thinking DOESN'T
> work; something wonderful and spiritual is lost in
> the hive mind. Thus, a beneficent race like the Dellar
> would be highly unlikely, or even paradoxical.
> They violate one of the unwritten rules, about which
> Jay just spoke in his recent essay.

I agree with Joseph's point here, but I wanted to take a look at something
that has been referred to a number of times by Jay and Garry-- the Mind
Control Revolts or AI War.

Jay cited a reference from the novelization of ST-TMP by Roddenberry about
the Mind Control Wars:

From Jay Hailey:
> Now, in the novel "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Gene
> Roddenberry throws away a line about "The Mind Control
> Wars in the mid Twenty First Century."
> Now this mention is counteracted by about a ton of pro-AI
> references in other Star Trek books, so my usage here is
> a little suspect, but think about it.
>
> We know that Earth in the Mid-Twenty first century was
> just not a fun place to be.  There was widespread
> warfare, the eugenics wars, The third world war, Colonel
> Green, etc.  We know that things were just going downhill
> fast.  If you assume that computer technology continues
> to advance at its current pace, then a variety of
> Cyberpunk-style worlds don't seem too unlikely.  Now
> assume that a  Mad AI gains a lot of control and picks
> a fight with everyone by doing something  rude, like
> trying to take over the world? First of all, anyone tied
> into the net is toast right off.  Cyborgs are in trouble
> too, especially if the Mad AI finds out how to install
> mind control equipment.
>
> Now you have a very bad scene indeed.  If the free,
> non-controlled people win,  then they are going to have
> some very bad feelings about AI, cybernetics and the
> whole scene.
>
> They turn their backs on such things.  Computers are
> useful, yeah but only small, controllable cuddly ones.
> No more over bearing, unfathomable "Nets".
>
> As the descendant of these people, Captain Kirk's
> attitude becomes much more understandable.

When Jay and Garry first discussed this I was intrigued. I had not noticed
the reference to the Mind Control Revolts in the ST-TMP novel before and
Jay's discussion seemed like it might explain some things.

However, I took a look at the ST-TMP novel again and there was something
else that caught my eye that had troubled me in the past when I read it and
now with Jay's comments and the current discussion of the Dellar I am
especially bothered by it.

From pg. 6 of the ST-TMP novel:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Some critics have characterized us of Starfleet as "primitives,"
and with some justification.  In some ways, we do resemble our forebears of
a couple of centuries ago more than we do most people today.  We are not
part of those increasingly large numbers of humans who seem willing to
submerge their own identities into the groups to which they belong.  I am
prepared to accept that these so-called *new humans* represent a more
highly evolved breed, capable of finding rewards in group consciousness
that we more primitive individuals will never know.  For the present,
however, this new breed of human makes a poor space traveler, and Starfleet
must depend on us "primitives" for deep space exploration.
It seems an almost absurd claim that we "primitives" make better
space travelers than the highly evolved, superbly intelligent and adaptable
*new humans.*
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You see, I agree with Joseph's assessment about collective minds.  There is
something lost when the individual is subjugated.  But here is Roddenberry
in the same novel Jay cites for the A.I. War/Mind Control War talking about
a growing movement with collective consciousness as a new way of life for
humans.  And on page 32 of the same novel there is a reference that the
Commanding Admiral of Starfleet has a "... personal representative to
the *new human* groups here at home."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking issue with Jay and Garry's concept of
the AI War.  I really like the idea.

I'm just wondering about the aversion humans have to group consciousness
and if the Mind Control War could really be seen as the source of those
problems.

Should we assume that the group consciousness movement Roddenberry was
referring to was accomplished by means other than technology and therefore
didn't hit the "Mind Control War" alert button?

I'm interested in what everyone thinks about this.

-Michael Gray
Star Trek: Dark Horizon
http://hometown.aol.com/darkhrzn91701/main.htm




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