Trying to lock down what Data mean to Star Trek and the crew of The Next Generation is fairly tough since initially he might have been looked at as an oddity, but following that he became a nothing less than a fan favorite and in time, a legend in his own right since he’s been around for so long that people have trouble remembering the show without him. As a sentient android it’s very easy for some people think that he was merely a construct with a lot of fancy bells and whistles that came in the form of emotions and human-like quirks that he could turn on and off at his leisure. But looking at Data as a thing instead of as a person would be a huge mistake since even when he started out Data was something of an oddity, showing that he had far more to him than just his initial programming. That was largely because his creator, Dr. Soong, was attempting to create something that no one had ever seen before, an android that had higher functions than anyone was used to and could adapt, evolve, and grow in his own way as he interacted with others on a very personal level. He was definitely a little more clinical to start with, but once he began to interact with the crew and figured out the mannerisms of humans and how to react around them, Data started to become far more integral to the cast and eventually became one of the most important characters.
What’s really interesting about Data, well there are a lot of things really, is that he actually wanted to act more human and experience different things that would have otherwise been denied to any being that’s not considered biological in any way, shape, or form. Keeping in mind that he was built and not born, it’s not too hard to see how his interactions with many individuals throughout the span of the show and the movies would have been kind of awkward since despite the continual need for evolution there were always things for Data to learn, though one thing that never swayed that much was his ability to at least try and do the right thing, as morality was one aspect of his character that appeared to be hardwired into him from the start. Some might think of this as a trivial concern, but quite often in TV shows or movies featuring any kind of synthetic life form, the likelihood of that life form being capable of irrational though is 50/50. Think back to every movie and TV show you’ve seen that features an AI, and then think back to how many exhibited human traits in the same manner that humans do. There aren’t as many as one would think, and Data is among the few that has exhibited irrational thought, such as thinking of the individual over himself or others, on more than one occasion.
In fact he sacrificed his life for his captain in Nemesis, which goes to show that he was more human than others in a way, as a heroic sacrifice might be a rational thought but it’s still a very human trait in the face of danger. The fact that he would later on in the Picard series ask for his simulation to be terminated is yet another bit of recognition that made him appear far more human since to be truly special and lasting in any meaningful way he came to understand that some things have to end. In a lot of ways Data was more capable of acting human than many individuals as he managed to grasp the ideals that many people want so desperately to live up to but somehow fall short of along the way. His character has developed quite a bit since he was introduced and to be fair he’s definitely become one of the favorites in the franchise as many people have picked up on his more popular and positive traits.
It was a bit goofy to think that he would be inhibited by emotions when he had the necessary hardware installed, but it does make one realize just how powerful and truly unsettling emotions can be to those that have never fully experienced them. Something such as fear, anxiety, or dread could possibly undo a person that has never felt them, while happiness and even joy could work in the same manner but with a different outcome. Data was more or less the conscience of the group as well as the safety net in a lot of ways since the manner in which he looked at any given situation was both critical and based on a host of different factors that not everyone appreciated at all times but was still what made him such a vital component of the crew.
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