What does it mean to be human? Where does sentience start? What makes us unique?
These are the questions TNG's episode "Meassure of a Man" tries to answer. As Data's fate is threatened by everyones' worst enemy, Bruce Maddox, we are cheering on Picard in his work to prove Data's sentience and value as a lifeform. As "Meassure of a Man" is probably one of the most famous and most well received Star Trek episodes, we absolutely had to discuss it. Not only do we talk about the ethical rammifications of being alive, we also discuss the importance of friendship and home, and our knowledge of military organizations (it's slim!).
The work Alex is quoting at the end of the episode is "The measure of a man?: Asimov's bicentennial man, star trek's data, and being human" by Sue Short (2003). It's an interesting read about the parallels between Data and Asimov's bicentennial man, and it sets Data in the context of earlier writings of science fiction and their understanding of AI and android lifeforms.
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Short, S. (2003). The measure of a man?: Asimov's bicentennial man, star trek's data, and being human. Extrapolation (Pre-2012), 44(2), 209.