Re: (NEW POLL) Which would be the most... -- Star Trek vs Star Wars

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Subject: Re: (NEW POLL) Which would be the most...

Author:
Warspite

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Date Posted: 14:49:53 09/15/02 Sun
Author Host/IP: ipd54b1d3d.free.wxs.nl/213.75.29.61
In reply to: capn hayes 's message, "Re: (NEW POLL) Which would be the most..." on 12:12:35 09/15/02 Sun

>>>Which would be the most useful robot/android/droid to
>>>have on your (generic) sci-fi ship?
>>>
>>>Data
>>>An Exocomp
>>>An R2 Unit
>>>A protocol droid (ie C3-PO)
>
> A protocal droid doesn't do anything a
>>good universal translator can't do except of course
>>worry alot.
>Hey protocal droids do alot more than just translate
>and worry! They can also call up customs and cultural
>databases from their memory banks. They could also
>translate some of the languages the UT on Federation
>starships have had problems with see "Darmok" [TNG].
>Also combadges and implant UT's can fail, then your
>fucked see "Little Green Men" [DS9]. Besides who else
>ya gonna get to go distract pesky Jedi ambassadors,
>while you plot their deaths with your "Sith Lord" boss?

To be fair, the UT has only had problems in a handful of shows throughout the entire ST franchise.

In TNG:Darmok, the UT worked correctly and translated the words. The problem was that the alien did not use language like we do. In that scenario, without the aliens cultural history, it is very unlikely that a protocol droid could have done any better than the UT.

In a DS9 episode (forget the name), we see a new race from the Delta quadrant appear. Their language is entirely new, with no links to existing known languages. At first there is a translation problem, but within an hour of exposure, the UT has worked the laguage and grammer and allowed pretty much full communication.

That is very impressive. More so when you consider the size of a UT. To cram that much memory and processing power into something that small is one of the most impressive feats of engineering seen in any Sci-Fi universe. Some people have put forward the idea that the UT uses the ships computer and memory, but that simply doesn't hold water. We have seen a number of occasions where communication takes place when the ship was not present or could not be contacted.

Finally (and as a little bit of fun), the single most impressive thing about a UT, is that it knows when not to translate to allow a dramatic moment. We have seen occasions where Sisko has been speaking to a Klingon. They clearly communicate, but then the Klingon says something and the UT does not translate. Sisko then turns to Worf who says.."He said 'today is a good day to die!'". Brilliant! It knows not to translate that phrase to allow the dramatic moment.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: (NEW POLL) Which would be the most...	The Divine Shadow	18:42:03 09/15/02 Sun
Re: (NEW POLL) Which would be the most... -- Warspite, 08:49:06 09/16/02 Mon