Spot – Data Cat – Star Trek: The Next Generation
If Livingston represents the new Enterprise, Spot represents the new crew. This was a crew with a therapist on the bridge, families on board, plays and jazz recitals, and at least he had 12 cats on board. They were as interested in exploring themselves as they were in exploring the galaxy.
And while there was an emotionless crew member, he wasn't the second coming of Spock. Data strived to be more human than an isolated alien philosopher. And Spot was Data's greatest asset in his quest.
Data's most human moments involved Spot. The best of these moments is ode to the spotyou should always retell the whole sentence as often as possible…
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature.
They are endothermic quadrupeds and essentially carnivorous.
your sense of sight, smell, and hearing
Contributes to hunting skills and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your sub-vocal vibrations,
The unique development of cat communication
Doing so will eliminate your basic hedonistic tendencies.
To show affection, pet the fur rhythmically.
The tail is very important for acrobatic talent.
Without balance, you would not be able to move with such agility.
When not being used as a mobility aid,
Often helps explain emotional states.
O-spot, the complex level of behavior you exhibit.
It suggests a fairly well-developed cognitive sequence.
And although you are not sentient, you notice, and you do not understand,
Still, I consider you a true and dear friend.
The Ode to Spot is one of Star Trek's greatest moments (and I'm always curious about how the word “sentient” means something a little different in science fiction than it does in real life). (In fact, cats are sentient.) In another Star Trek moment, Data is humanized.
In fact, when we return to the TNG crew in the third season of Star Trek: Picard, Data and his evil brother Lore engage in a psychic struggle over control of their shared android body. was doing. The spot was one of his cherished memories that Data used to convince Loa to merge their personas into his one being. Merging with darker, more contradictory lore, Data has become more human than ever…again, the Spot has made Data more human.
In a deleted scene from Star Trek: Nemesis, Spot is taken in by Worf (for the first time) after Data dies. This was after Worf was on Deep Space Nine, so we don't know what the Klingon warrior was doing at the time. , but whatever it was, he was doing it with a fluffy orange cat.
