StarTrek.com August 8, 2011

“Trek Class” is a course at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies titled “Star Trek and the Information Age.” The course examines episodes of Star Trek series as a method of introducing concepts related to technology, society and leadership in our world. This series of posts seeks to share some of the concepts discussed in Trek Class with the StarTrek.com community.

In the ST:TNG episode “The Inner Light,” the USS Enterprise-D encounters an unusual space probe which emits an energy beam at Captain Picard, causing him to lose consciousness on the bridge. As his crew struggles to revive him, Picard awakens on an unfamiliar planet where he appears to be living the life of a man named Kamin. Unable to determine the cause of his confusion, he begins to accept that his memories of the Enterprise were merely dreams.

In what appears to be many years’ time, Picard experiences a full life as Kamin, complete with a wife, children and an active role in his community. While working to address a long drought, he discovers that the planet itself is dying as a result of its sun’s impending nova. Unable to manage the space flight necessary to evacuate, the government has instead planned to launch an unmanned probe that will carry information about life on the planet Kataan. Having outlived his wife and many friends, an elderly Kamin witnesses the launch of the very probe that Captain Picard has encountered one thousand years in the future.

After regaining consciousness on the bridge of the Enterprise, Picard discovers that only 20 minutes have passed; yet he retains full knowledge of a life on Kataan. He is able to recall the memories and emotions of a man who lived long ago, even the ability to play a flute that he and his family so much enjoyed hearing. It seems that through this experience, Picard has become a living archive of a lost culture.

As we examined this episode in Trek Class, we found ourselves investigating some rather challenging questions, such as, “What happens to all the information we have created once we die?” Furthermore, if we are to leave behind a record of ourselves, we wondered, “How do we determine which information is most important to preserve?”

Although the space probe may have been designed to preserve a culture, Picard’s experience as Kamin proved to be a deeply personal one as well. The essence of an individual was captured so that he might live on in the memory of others. In our own world, it has long been possible to gather a similar sense of a person by examining letters, photographs and other artifacts. However, as we continue to move toward digital forms of communication and expression, it can be difficult to preserve or even locate the information trail we leave behind.

Even as technology allows us to generate far more information about ourselves than had been previously possible, we must consider that we could actually end up leaving less behind for family and friends to remember if we take our passwords with us. Even if our loved ones are not locked out of our digital afterlives, it is daunting to imagine making sense of the thousands of unsorted photographs, endless emails and text messages, and hours of video recordings we may each accumulate. More challenging still is the task of preventing those items from being lost to time as file formats become obsolete and older technologies fail.

By taking steps to protect our personal information, we can increase the chances that our individual “space probes” will remain functional well into the future. While some services exist to help archive and manage digital affairs, for many it may be enough to maintain simple backups of the most meaningful items, and to organize those files in ways that would be accessible to others who may receive them after us. This process is not only helpful in preserving our contributions for the future, but it offers the opportunity to select elements of our own personal stories we most wish to share.

Thinking more broadly about cultural preservation, students in Trek Class offered differing opinions as to which information would be most important to include should Earth ever need to launch a Kataan-like probe. Some suggested that records of scientific discoveries would be most valuable. Others believed that artistic and cultural achievements would be a greater contribution, since anyone finding such a record would likely possess scientific knowledge of their own. But some felt differently still, believing that finding a way to preserve everyday life, as had been done with the Kataan probe, would be the most appropriate approach.

If an account of everyday life is indeed the best record to leave behind, then perhaps our digital lifestyles present opportunities in addition to challenges. As millions of people share thoughts and conversation on social networks, for example, a public record is being created that could provide a unique picture of life in communities worldwide.

Last year, the Library of Congress announced that it would archive all public messages on Twitter since the service launched in 2006. With over 100 million “tweets” currently sent per day, the size and scope of this archive is difficult to imagine. However, it may hold tremendous value as tools are developed to examine this global conversation. We may soon be able to determine exactly how people in regions all over the globe felt, thought and acted on important days in history, or simply on an average day.

With mobile devices, digital cameras and social media, we are each creating a living record of our thoughts, conversations and moments ranging from significant to ordinary. Though we may sometimes struggle to manage this content, together we are preserving an important picture of life around us. We may each have the opportunity to be “Kamin” for someone who will follow us, each offering our own experiences to be learned from and remembered.

----- Anthony Rotolo is a professor at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool), where he specializes in social media. A new semester of Trek Class will begin meeting on August 30 at 5:00pm EST, when you will be able to join the class discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #TrekClass. Until then, Professor Rotolo will continue to share concepts and reflections from this semester’s class on StarTrek.com.

StarTrek.com October 24, 2011

“Trek Class” is a course at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies more formally titled “Star Trekand the Information Age.” The course examines episodes of Star Trek series as a method of introducing concepts related to technology, society and leadership in our world. This series of posts seeks to share some of the concepts discussed in Trek Class with the StarTrek.com community.

  A central topic of discussion in Trek Class is the evolution of cultural attitudes toward technology seen throughout the Star Trek franchise. Although Star Trek takes place in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Centuries, the adventures of Captain Kirk, Picard and all that followed were written during our own time and in very different periods. Each series, from the original five-year mission to Voyager’s journey home, embodies the cultural views and concerns popular at the time of its creation. In the TOS episode, "The Ultimate Computer," which first aired in 1968, a breakthrough technology known as the M-5 computer threatens to replace the crew of the Enterprise. Said to be capable of commanding the starship on its own, M-5 is viewed as a dangerous step forward for humanity, putting people out of work and risking the lives of innocents. However, views had changed significantly by the time the TNG episode "The Measure Of A Man" aired in 1989. Here we see an intelligent technology living and working among the crew, and Captain Picard is even willing to argue that Lt. Commander Data may actually be a sentient being. These are two examples among many which highlight our own society’s growing comfort with the technology. However, one depiction of technology adoption found in Star Trek has always seemed a bit too extreme for even the earliest adopters – the Borg. As a race of cybernetic drones linked to a collective mind, the Borg can be considered the ultimate acceptance of technology. With its pursuit of efficiency and perfection at the expense of individuality and personal freedom, the Borg appear to threaten much of what we value in the Twenty-first Century. These concerns are reflected in the views of our Twenty-fourth Century captains. Captain Janeway refers to the Borg as “the Devil” and Captain Picard is quoted as saying, “the Borg are as close to pure evil as any race we've ever encountered.” Still, as we consider the technology surrounding us in our own time – from social networks to mobile devices, medical advancements and biological enhancements – can we still say that the Borg are so unfamiliar? Is it possible that we Twenty-first -Century humans might see the Borg as a little less like M-5 and a little more like ourselves? That was the question presented to Trek Class students in an assignment known as The Locutus Project, for which students were asked to put aside any personal concerns about technology and instead assume the role of Locutus. As Locutus, each student would attempt to argue for the assimilation of the human race. Although this is a creative project with a lot of humor involved, it was clear that many students had identified some strong reasons why we might benefit from assimilation. It was also clear that some of the fears we often associate with technology, such as the loss of jobs to automation or the risk of information overload, were not as common in the minds of these college students as they had once been in our society. In a script written by one student portraying the Borg assimilation of our world, the Borg state, “Thousands of people die from careless fighting over issues that are irrelevant to the Borg… you try to close the distance between people with chat programs, social networking… we provide you with a closeness no human has ever experienced.” Other students imagined the Borg making a business pitch to the people of Earth. In one such case, a student envisions the Borg appealing to our growing addiction to technology, comparing assimilation to our own desire for constant connectivity. The Borg assure humanity that we would never again experience the panic of a dead mobile phone or lost Internet connection. In a slightly different approach, another student presentedBorg Assimilation Training, a ten-step program designed to prepare humans for their new lives a drones. Among the benefits listed are access to the most advanced technology and improved collaboration among coworkers. With all the advantages proposed by our student versions of Locutus, the question of individuality still remained a challenge. One student questioned the human desire for individuality in a comic strip portraying a conversation between Locutus and a human. Arguing on behalf of the Borg, he cites the massive revenue and cultural impact of brands like Nike and MTV. He writes,  “Individuality is an inappropriate term for defining yourself as everyone else does.” Regardless of how individuality is defined, and how much our socially networked world may seem like the Borg, Trek Class students seem to agree that a fundamental difference between our own technological evolution and that of the Borg is that our collective is strengthened by each person’s unique ideas. In our current state, the students pointed out, we are not replacing our own thought processes with a hive mind. We are exchanging ideas, learning from each other and learning to make better decisions through collaboration. This type of assimilation, a more human approach, seems much less troubling. So maybe students weren’t able to present a winning case for Borg assimilation, but they did raise some compelling ideas about the technological evolution of our collective. It seems that no matter how connected we become or how comfortable with technology, perhaps even within our own bodies, the class agreed that the human pursuit of technological perfection is fueled by a desire to protect our individuality, not to diminish it. --- Anthony Rotolo is a professor at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool), where he specializes in social media. You can follow along with Trek Class each Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00pm EST on Twitter by using the hashtag #TrekClass.