62: Tricorder of Gyges

Cloaking Devices and the Ring of Gyges.   Invisibility has a long tradition both in fiction and in philosophy, from The Ring of Gyges in Plato's Republic to The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, from the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien to the Klingon and Romulan cloaking devices seen throughout the Star Trek universe. In this episode of Meta Treks hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling discuss the ethics of invisibility. Do these fictional invisibility devices reveal the true darkness of our inner nature, or is the power of invisibility a seductive and corrupting force that leads to a spiral of moral decay? Is it possible, through the cultivation of moral virtues, habits, and training, to shield oneself against the influence of the temptations of anonymity? And speaking of invisibility rings and cloaking devices, Mike and Zachary ask the deepest question of all: what exactly would Captains Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer do with unfettered access to a personal cloaking device or an invisibility ring?   Chapters  Welcome to Episode 62 (00:01:07)  The Ring of Gyges and the Ethics of Invisibility (00:03:32)  Romulan and Klingon Cloaking Devices (00:11:38)  Star Trek VI - It Has to Have a Tailpipe (00:13:56)  Klingon Honor - Don't Fire While Cloaked (00:15:59)  Romulans - Thieves in the Night (00:19:12)  Federation Cloaking Devices in TNG and DS9 (00:21:16)  WWCD - What Would the Captains Do? (00:29:06)  Does Invisibility Corrupt or Reveal Human Nature? (00:35:30)  The Sonic Shower Stipulation (00:44:31)  Just One Little Step - The Nature/Nurture Debate (00:50:12)  Cultivating Moral Habits - Defeating Temptation (00:55:10)  "The Pegasus" and "Equinox" - A Slippery Slope (01:03:49)  Lightness, Darkness, and Privacy (01:09:28)  Closing (01:18:02)   Hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling   Production Mike Morrison (Editor) Zachary Fruhling (Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Shaw (Associate Producer) Kit Loffstadt (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)   Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm  Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm  Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm  Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact  Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/  Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm   Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm