S06.E09: Statistical Probabilities

[John Potts]

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 Dr. Bashir attempts to help four fellow augments start becoming useful and productive members of society.

 

Not a great episode, but it's fascinating to view it in the light of how things work out. Not only do they mention the possibility of the Romulans joining the war, they also suggest there might be an anti-Dominion coup on Cardassia (OK - Spoilers)! I do wonder how much of their theorising was foreshadowing for what is to come, if indeed it was all planned out at this point.

Interestingly, both sides are guilty of the same flawed thinking: that their policy is the right one and don't look at the down side of it. Starfleet assumes that genetic engineering will result in another Khan and so bans it outright (so, if you have, say, cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anaemia, I guess you just have to take whatever palliative treatment the Feds can offer you, you're not allowed to eliminate it genetically), rather ignoring the fact that every historical dictator (so far as we know) was 100% natural born. But similarly, Jack is guilty of flawed reasoning as he assumes surrendering to the Dominion victory will be costless, which we know it won't be: the Dominion have already planned to eliminate Earth as a source of resistance precisely to avert the revolution that Jack foresees decades down the line. Which actually ties with how many geniuses think: they get so tied up in their "perfect" theories, they often can't see the flaws in their own reasoning/assumptions.

I also suspect they haven't accounted for Section 31. Which made me wonder about the possibilities of having the Jack Pack being the ones to devise a certain virus, but the timelines unfortunately don't work out for that.

[readster]

Yeah I agree, there were variables that neither side was seeing. Jack also thought that the Dominion was just be: "Ok, the Federation is done, we'll just absorb them into the Dominion." No, as we found out, Earth would have been burned and most likely Kronos the rest of Romulas and Remos. I mean the Founders told the Jemha'dar to Scorch Earth Cardassia after they turned on them, instead of getting the hell out of Dodge. That was a waste of resources too as then the remaining Cardassian Fleet took apart their fleet returning home. Same goes with Section 31, despite the intelligence of everyone, they didn't see the virus or Section 31 going to extremes that even the Dominion didn't think of. 

[starri]

I don't know it's gene therapy in general that's illegal, it just seems to be "Let's erase the kid and start over to make him/her a superbeing" that they don't like.

[iMonrey]

Genetic enhancements seem to be the sticking point rather than gene therapy itself, but it's not very clear. This episode does raise some interesting ideas about the war against the Dominion, but it does it in such a clunky way it raises more questions about the genetically enhanced than about the war, thus distracting from the main point.

I'm assuming that Julian's parents managed to pay good (yet crooked) doctors to do his enhancements while this group of misfits were the result of back-alley, discount enhancement techniques. And I can understand why Jack, who has a propensity for violence, has to be locked away, but what about the others? The only thing that seems to be wrong with Lauren is that she's hyper-sexual to a comical degree. Does that make her a danger to society? Patrick is infantile but I'm not sure how that makes him a danger either. And Sarina just doesn't talk. Big deal. 

It also seems to me that if they have the technology to genetically enhance these people they can reverse engineer the process to restore them to normality - or at least minimize the negative side affects that made it necessary to lock them up in the first place. 

[vibeology]

They cover the law about genetic enhancement in Doctor Bashir, I Assume. In it Bashir explains to O'Brien what sort of trouble he faces. 

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Starfleet Medical won't see it that way. DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practising medicine.

So if you're born with a defect, it's fine to correct it, but it's not okay to do any other sort of resequencing. 

I get where Starfleet is coming from but at the same time it does punish a child for a choice their parents make and takes incredibly capable adults and sidelines the, from society.

[blueray]

That's why Julian is allowed to stay in Starfleet at the end, because it was ruled not to punish him for what his parents did. His father at least went to prison and he was allowed to keep practicing medicine. I do however, think if he was not already doing something that was so beneficial to society, he would have been bared from a lot of careers. 

Edited July 22, 2017 by blueray

[John Potts]

5 hours ago, vibeology said:

So if you're born with a defect, it's fine to correct it, but it's not okay to do any other sort of resequencing.

Though what constitutes a defect? Is it OK to correct dwarfism? And if it is, would it then be OK to "correct" somebody who's just shorter than average? What about people who are just stupid? Or ugly? Once you concede that the procedure is not inherently "evil", you rather undermine your case for banning it in others. And this is all because it caused problems over two centuries ago (Ent: The Augments) using technology that was a century older than that - it would be like banning religions today because they led to witchburnings in the 17th Century*! There's clearly a case for careful monitoring of the situation, but the Federation policy makes little sense.

[And yes, I realise I am arguing about the fictional policies of a non existent organisation, but that's what the Internet is for. Well, other than the obvious!]

* Which, ironically, the Federation would be quite happy with.

[rmontro]

On 6/21/2017 at 4:37 AM, John Potts said:

Starfleet assumes that genetic engineering will result in another Khan and so bans it outright

The discussion the officers have on the subject was deeper and more interesting than previous explanations on the subject.  For instance, they said that if the enhanced were allowed to compete, then more parents would feel the need to get their children enhanced so they could compete, and it would spiral out of control.  It's a tricky question.

I thought this episode was just going to be filler, but it turned out to be a good one IMO.  

[SVNBob]

On 7/19/2017 at 12:03 PM, iMonrey said:

Patrick is infantile but I'm not sure how that makes him a danger either. And Sarina just doesn't talk. Big deal. 

You're right in that these two aren't really dangerous like Jack is.  So they were probably under care because society would be dangerous to them.

Patrick is not really infantile, but he's very childish.  But more importantly, he's incredibly impressionable.  Note how easily he can be swayed between Jack and Julian.

Spoiler

plus his overdoing it as the "Admiral" on the pack's return

Now imagine someone like Quark or Dukat getting a hold of Patrick.  While in the institution, Jack may have a hold on Patrick, but the doctors can prevent most things from happening.

As for Sarina, she's not just mute.  She's basically catatonic.  Medical observation would seem to be necessary.  And since the cause of her condition was genetic enhancement, she got put under the same roof as the other 3.  

On 7/19/2017 at 12:03 PM, iMonrey said:

The only thing that seems to be wrong with Lauren is that she's hyper-sexual to a comical degree.

Didn't she imply at one point that she would hurt someone that didn't return her "affection"?  So it's not just that she's comically hyper-sexual, but she's also a potential bunny boiler.  That puts her a lot closer to Jack on the danger rating.