Pen Pals

How long has it been since we broke the Prime Directive. Like REALLY broke the Prime Directive. Well get ready. The Enterprise is studying a system of planets, every one of which is literally falling apart. One planet turns out to be inhabited and Data has been communicating with a child on that planet. How will the Enterprise save her and her planet. Or should they? Find out when we put Pen Pals in the Mission Log. That principle has been stated different ways at different times but we’re all familar with them in one or the other. It’s “People need to be allowed to learn on their own in their own way without interference to grow” combined with “Think before you act or else you may find yourself in hot water.” We’re familar with all sorts of examples of these things such as you don’t want to help a chick out of an egg because if you do it more likely to die since you’re removing it’s protection before its strong enough to be without protection. Or the idea that a person cannot have freedom forced upon them. and then the second part is “don’t count your eggs before they hatch.” It’s a principle that we need to be reminded of because we humans have a tendency to act in the way that we intuit is best and never really think about what it is we’re doing. Many times in the podcast you commented that they would be keeping this incident secret from Starfleet…wipe the records and all… I actually saw it completely differently… I figured they would give all the info to Starfleet… except the part where Data beamed down and had direct contact with a member from a pre-warp society — hence wanting to protect O’Brian from that activity. But even if they didn’t, I don’t think it would be hard for them to justify the missing torpedoes, etc… they came across numerous (uninhabited) planets going through this same process that they didn’t fully understand (until Wesley ordered the thingamabob test), so they could just say they were conducting experiments — it was a science mission, after all. Anyway, that’s my two cents. I remember liking this episode a lot when I first saw it. I didn’t hate it this time around, but well, it’s not fantastic. I concur. Data beaming down to the planet seems to be going one step further into the grey area, and a step that (seemed to be) fairly easily covered over. Dreman doors recognize the hand gesture and know which side of the door you’re on. Occamus Razorus! BTW: They absolutely log this episode because Picard’s many PD violations are mentioned later. They do take steps to avoid anyone but senior staff taking specific action to violate it, but it is all logged. They even re-reference Pulaski’s memory eraser technique from this episode with Dr. Crusher (who screws it up). I personally didn’t like this episode for several reasons. 1. I didn’t like the way the Prime Directive was interpreted, I always thought that it was about interference with a culture’s development, not this “fate” argument they have. (and I’m actually shocked neither of you brought up the religious argument) 2. I hated that Picard changed his mind only after hearing a little girls voice. It reminds me of those times that people obsess over a missing child because they are cute, white, and upper middle class. I wonder if Picard would have approved fixing the planet if Data would have contacted a old guy with a gravely voice? And that’s a very good point. The PD may have been nebulously defined in Kirk’s day, and that’s why captains were given interpretational leeway with it. In other words, Kirk interfered like crazy when he deemed it beneficial to any given society, because he believed in the spirit of the thing, rather than the letter. But 80 years later, you’d think all of Starfleet’s experiences would have honed it There is a saying, “The Devil can quote scripture, too, when it serves his purposes.” And citing the PD to defend a culture’s “right” to go extinct without interference is a clear example of this. Troy – which religious a