carrot vs. stick theme

Someone must decide, in a given situation, which approach is the better way to get another person to act as they should: the threat of consequence (the stick), or the promise of reward (the carrot).

6 total · 6 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
blackmirror7x04 minor Cameron's two interrogators, Kano and Jen, conferred on how to get him to reveal the identity of the murder victim. Kano preferred a direct, and confrontational approach. Jen, on the other hand, advocated for giving Cameron a pen and notebook as he desired, in the hopes that doing so would lead him to open up about his crime.
play: Adelphoe (160 BC) minor Micio explained that "a man won by kindness... stays the same whether he's with you or not", while a man won by "the threat of punishment alone" will "fall back to his old ways" once they have the chance (p342).
tos0x01 minor The Talosians tried to get Captain Pike to mate with Vina the easy way (i.e., by using their powers of allusion to present her to Pike in a variety of pleasing guises) before resorting to the hard way (i.e., by using their powers of illusion to torture Pike with fire).
tos1x16 minor The Talosians tried to get Captain Pike to mate with Vina the easy way (i.e., by using their powers of allusion to present her to Pike in a variety of pleasing guises) before resorting to the hard way (i.e., by using their powers of illusion to torture Pike with fire).
voy2x13 minor Automated Unit 3947 first tried to get B'Elanna to assist in the construction of a prototype robot by being nice before coercing her into doing it with threats.
voy7x19 minor Captain Janeway appealed first to the carrot before resorting to the stick when teaching Q Junior some discipline.