the calculus of human life theme
When someone has a calculated life-and-death decision to make, such as: saving two moderately close friends with 50% probability vs. saving a dozen perfect strangers with 60% probability. The details spelled out here for illustration are typically left ambiguous in real stories.
51 total · 11 choice · 24 major · 16 minor
| Story | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| ds94x18 | choice | Worf had to live with the consequences of having fired at unidentified vessel or risk having his own ship being destroyed |
| tng3x15 | choice | Enterprise-C crew goes back in the past to fight Klingons for the good of future generations |
| tng5x05 | choice | Troi :: Troi forced to make life or death decisions in the face of uncertainty |
| tng5x09 | choice | Picard :: if Picard does nothing and thousands must die, take action and millions might die |
| tng5x23 | choice | Picard :: kill Hugh to eliminate the Borg threat to humanity or allow him to develop his individuality |
| tng6x03 | choice | Alkar sacrifices multiple women to achieve his diplomatic goals |
| tos1x29 | choice | Kirk must weigh killing all inhabitants to prevent the spread of a pandemic |
| tos3x08 | choice | Vians deciding which civilization to save from supernova based on which they valued the most |
| voy2x24 | choice | is one semi-stranger worth two friends? |
| voy4x07 | choice | risk a few aliens to save millions |