Chapter 7: Imaginal Machines

It emerges as a peculiar scene from a pillar of science fiction television. In “Deja Q” (1990) of season three of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q, an omnipotent being, faces a dilemma (Roddenberry & Landau, 1990). Despite possessing inestimable power that crosses the vastness of space and time with the flick of an eye and who torments the Enterprise’s crew at any chance, Q is disconnected from the continuum and loses all of his innate abilities to alter time and space. He chooses, out of the infinite bodies he could have assumed, to become human. While on board the Enterprise, Captain Picard directs Commander Data (a cyborg) to watch Q for his entire duration on the ship. Data informs Q about the intricacies of being a human being from a standpoint of an android; in the most ironic way, machine experiences a pedagogical moment, teaching an invincible being the nature of humanity.