How relatable is Data? Star Trek Next Generation discussion.

[electrycmonk]

So yesterday I participated in a large group watch party of an episode of Star Trek next generation. During the whole episode all I could think about was how relatable Data was. In the way he didn’t quite understand Social norms and ques, as well as his inability to process and relay human emotions. I thought everyone would be feeling this way, as I thought he was created to be a relatable character, but after the episode when I brought up how relatable he was, nobody quite understood. They couldn’t understand what was relatable about him. So here I am, asking if anyone else finds Data the most relatable character, of practically any TV show. This title used to be taken up by Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang for me, but Sheldon has just moved down to second place.



@electrycmonk you’re the only person I can think of off the top of my head who is probably a big Star Trek fan.

All characters are relatable to many folks. Yes, Data is a viable character as well. Not for me, for a few I have come to know over the last several decades…. Yes.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Dude I understand that. What I'm saying is I bet most my age do not see a similarity to Data while quite a few Emma's age would.
I blame the internet.
When I was a kid you could throw 10 teens together that had never met. Within minutes probably 9 out of the 10 would be happily interacting. There was always a shy kid or two.
If you throw 10 teens that didn't know each other together now days I'd bet at least half would immediately start feeling anxieties.

 

[azurbanclucker]

What does?

Multiple social disorders. Let's start with "hyperactivity", now also known as ADD/ADHD. Been around a long time under different labels. how about PTSD? Ask a Vietnam Vet about that one, it's not new. General depression? Multiple notable people lost their battles with it. Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, every member of the 27 club, etc... Multiple anxiety disorders including social anxiety have been rampant in society since society was a thing. No one talked about them because they didn't want to be labeled as freaks or pariahs and cast out, which would deepen their anxieties. Humans are herd aniumals, by and large, we just want to fit in. When society casts people out, they find their own societies to be a part of, and the internet has brought that to the foreground in ways even my parents (who are boomers) could not have inagined and still struggle to understand today. The definitions of what makes a "social disorder" seem to change daily as we dig deeper and learn new stuff. We're all broken in some kind of way...

It's always been there under the radar. Now you just see/hear about it more because it's in our faces so much more often.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I don't think we're on the same page as to what this thread was intended to be about or what my reply was trying to point out.
Carry on

 

[EmmaRainboe]

 

[electrycmonk]

Data and Spock. I think most INTJ's and INTP's relate to them (and Sheldon)

This is a valid POV. It’s been -honestly- over 20 years since I worked with that data set and graphing scale.

Back then I think i was self evaluated as a ENFP? Quite sanguine.

 

[electrycmonk]

Dude I understand that. What I'm saying is I bet most my age do not see a similarity to Data while quite a few Emma's age would.
I blame the internet.
When I was a kid you could throw 10 teens together that had never met. Within minutes probably 9 out of the 10 would be happily interacting. There was always a shy kid or two.
If you throw 10 teens that didn't know each other together now days I'd bet at least half would immediately start feeling anxieties.

Yes, I can see this truly in action. I lived it too. I do have a person POV that the algorithms built into the website software is also well established as an addictive foundational force to things in “social media.” And I dare say that the addictive nature is NOT limited to the younger generations. I can certainly see the addiction in the actions of those in my age group as bad or worse then a stereotypical meth-head.

I discovered and experienced the feeling back in 1992/93 when modem speeds were 2400-9600 baud rates and one was limited to 4-16hrs of account access per week and was able to redirect myself ever since.

 

[electrycmonk]

Amongst other things yes.
I bet if you look into it since the cyber world became a thing especially social media that the social disorders have sky rocketed.
Youngsters don't know how to interact with real people in the real world. It is truly sad and concerning.

The “skyrocketing” is very likely due to the cultural expansion of awareness of the DSM-V and the diagnosis within its pages…. That book was not something the general public would hear or see if in the nightly news until something like the 1990’s.

Butidigress because yes, it “Is truly sad & concerning.”

 

[azurbanclucker]

I discovered and experienced the feeling back in 1992/93 when modem speeds were 2400-9600 baud rates and one was limited to 4-16hrs of account access per week and was able to redirect myself ever since.

You're OLD!

(says the guy with a New in box 1200 baud ISA modem on a shelf)

 

[electrycmonk]

You're OLD!

(says the guy with a New in box 1200 baud ISA modem on a shelf)

Nope. I aspire to a much more grand scale.
Baba, one of my Grandma’s passed away a few years ago at 103, just over a month shy of 104th birthdate. She was a qualified “old” & genetically speaking, as a species we’re designed for 120-135-ish. So by that standard, I’m still on my up the hill. Peak should be ~62-70 y/o then it’s all downhill.

But. Thanks for the well wishes.

(Wistfully muses) maybe I should dust off & power up the Win98se machine I have and share a picture of it here….