131
[DISCUSSION] In TNG's "The Most Toys" (s3e22), did Data lie about firing the disruptor?
(lemmy.world)
Episode premise:
Kivas Fajo is determined to add the unique Data to his prized collection of one-of-a-kind artefacts and, staging Data's apparent death, he imprisons him aboard his ship.
We know that Data is later logically coerced to lie in "Clues" to protect the crew, but this appears to be a decision all his own. Or did he not in fact actually fire the weapon?
Nope. Let's break it down.
"Perhaps something occurred during transport."
The opening word, "perhaps," instills ambiguity in whatever hypothesis follows it.
The next clause, "something occurred" is objectively true. The weapon was dematerialized, deactivated, and then rematerialized. That sequence of events is accurately describable as "something occurred," regardless of whether or not Data deliberately activated the firing mechanism of the weapon, or malfunction during transit, or something else happened to cause the gun to discharge.
"During transport" cannot be false, since we do not see any weapon discharge before or during Data's dematerialization.
Taken altogether, this sentence is true and therefore Data would be same to say it without lying.
Truth is a funny thing, and carefully selecting weird can allow someone to be deceptive or evasive by starting an absolute truth. And that's not even factoring in the subjectivity of truth, or any faults in the memory - synthetic, organic, or otherwise - of the individual. Objectivity can be frustratingly difficult to pin down.