Captain’s Log, Stardate 570715.0109
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While
performing routine checkups on the crew of the starship Voyager, the
holographic Doctor notices scars on Ensign Harry Kim’s neck, residual signs of
a past neural surgery. However, he has no recollection of performing this
surgery and Kim claims not to as well. Intrigued, the Doctor asks Captain
Janeway whether she recalled something that could explain. When Janeway gave an
ambiguous answer, he consulted with Seven of Nine who agreed to scan him and
research the anomalous scarring. Later, they discover that the captain had
erased the memories of an incident in which Ensign Kim and another ensign were equally
injured and in equal need of treatment. More familiar with Kim, he reflexively
chose to save him and was drove his program to developing a feedback loop
because of his guilt over valuing one life over another. This made him unable
to perform his function, so Janeway had no other choice but to delete the
interfering memories. The second time this problem developed, she chose to
present the issue to him so that he could make his own decision as an
individual. Despite the harm to his
‘mental state’ the Doctor kept his memories and was forced to confront them as
any other person. He finally learns that the situation was out of his hand and
he could only save one of them. This realization brought him closer to
achieving humanity.
Captain
Janeway was put in a very difficult situation. She decides to value the flesh
and blood members of her crew before the Doctor who, despite being a hologram,
had developed a sentience of his own. Do you disagree or agree with her choice?
Did she take the right action the second time although the Doctor’s ability to
perform his medical duty was compromised?
I think that her first choice was the wiser of the two because it protected both the doctor and the rest of the crew. In addition the doctor was able to perform adequately, not impaired by any emotional damage the event cause. By erasing the memory of the traumatic event, without removing any of the personality, Captain Janeway was able to make sure all of the crew was performing at their best.
ReplyDeleteSomething I noticed was that when he wanted his memory back, the captain refused to give it to him, but when he didn't want his memory, the captain forced him to keep his memory. This seems to be an interesting decision on the captains part.
ReplyDeleteI think that the first time she had no choice and did what she thought was best. The second time I think she also did what was right, and let the Doctor come to terms with his emotional state.
ReplyDeleteWhat's amusing is that I frequently find myself in the same situation as the doctor did, albeit in less dramatic circumstances. When faced with two equally desirable options, I have great difficulty coming to a decision and end up doing neither simply because the stress overwhelms me. This happens most frequently when cleaning, as I must often decide which of two messes to address first, and the inconvenience caused by the clutter compounds my stress. It can be fairly debilitating, though, again, not to the same extremes, which is why I sympathize with Janeway's decision--for someone in such a vital position, that he be an effective element of the crew is important, and the "feedback loop" is unpleasant for the victim as well.
ReplyDeleteFor cleaning, I'd suggest choosing the worse mess first. If they're about the same, go for the closer one, or choose whichever side (right or left) pops into your head first.
DeleteNow that I mention it, that is much like the Doctor's predicament. Go for the worse mess, or the patient with the higher chance of survival, and if they're the same, pick a side.
Going off of what Karsten said, there is a difference between doing the right thing, and doing what is right. I agree that wiping his memory was the right thing to do initially. Wiping his memory made it so that he could function and keep the rest of the crew safe. I feel as though the second time, allowing him to keep his memory, is technically what is right, but I don't think it was wise. It put him into a loop making him dysfunctional which puts the entire crew at risk. I think he should have had his memory wiped both times (he actually wanted his memory wiped the second time too).
ReplyDeletethe captain was right to delete the memories the first time but the second time i think she should have thought about how eventually he would figure it out again and then the cycle would just keep repeating so she should have just let him work through it which eventually she did.
ReplyDeleteI agree with karsten that she had no choice at the time and that may have influenced the doctors second preferred action
ReplyDeleteII think the captain Janeway made a choice is to protect her crew。So there is no distinction between right and wrong. Although the doctor knew the truth be more sad, but her purpose is to protect her crew
ReplyDeleteI think that captain Janeway did make the right decission the first time even though it may have been morally questionable it was in the best interest of the rest of the crew because if the doctor could not perform his duties it would jeopardize the rest of the crew due to the lack of any other medical personnel on the ship. She only removed the memory of the traumatic event which was the only thing causing the problem with his program so she did not damage who the doctor is as an individual.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in any situation like this no matter what you did, the clues of something happening would keep appearing and keep being noticed by someone. That being said, in my opinion, it would always be better to let things be and work things out for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI feel that instead of immediately erasing them, the captain should have given the Doctor a chance to fix himself before removing his memories. If that didn't work, then it was definitely the correct choice to delete them. Initially, the captain was going to do it again, but fortunately realized that the Doctor may be able to better cope with his memories and possibly escape from his loop.
ReplyDeleteThen again, the first time, they had just been attacked by aliens with weapons that they had no knowledge whatsoever about, and the crew was still under threat. It makes sense that the captain would want the Doctor to be able to manage any crew members who were wounded. And considering how much damage one alien inflicted in such a short period of time, in the event of an attack, they would almost certainly have a lot of crew members who were wounded.
As the doctor seemed to be traumatized after the attack, captain Janeway may have thought that she was helping him by erasing his memories. In some ways, I agree with her; erasing the cause of trauma from an entity's brain will, if done correctly, erase the emotions that come with it. I also think that she should have had the Doctor's consent before doing so, as he would not be suspicious in knowing that he gave permission before the procedure.
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