Part 1 of Captain Kirk and the Unintended Consequence of Compassion ended with James Kirk destroying the computer that simulated war. Kirk saved the U.S.S. Enterprise from needing to turn over its crew members over to die–though their deaths would have been humane. You see, the civilization that the Star Trek gang stumbled upon decided that war was unnecessarily cruel. Sure, people had to die–that part they understood. But why did the deaths need to be so painful and gory. And couldn’t the collateral damage be avoided?
So they put their best social engineering to work. And they decided that they could turn over the fighting of the war to computer simulations. At the end of each computer battle, Social Security Numbers would pop out like lottery balls. Only in this lottery, you got the gas chamber instead of a pile of money. War was thus more compassionate. One catch though–this war lasted 500 years.
But then the leader of U.S.S. Enterprise beamed down and came to the rescue. In a passionate outburst that made Phil Donahue envious, Captain Kirk pointed out the unintended consequence of the simulation. War causes violent death. War causes massive destruction. This is why war is to be avoided. This is why civilizations must act responsibly so as to prevent war. Violent death and massive destruction is the necessary deterrent.
Via social engineering, this kind-hearted civilization sought to make war more gentle. But this social engineering came at a steep price–500 years of continuous war. The incentive to prevent or end war disappeared with the removal of the violent death and massive destruction. This lasted until Captain Kirk destroyed the computer and did a Phil-Donahue on them. Once the simulation stopped running, peace was made and the war whose cause was long forgotten came to an immediate end.
Okay. There you have it. A lesson for 2009. Hint–think domestic not international politics. Explanation will arrive in a couple days. In the meantime, tell me what you think.
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I am not a true Trekie but I am a Star Trek fan so I liked the post. I find it interesting to see how much of the advanced futuristic technology depicted in the show has come to be common place today. I remember thinking how cool it would be to be flip open a communicator and instantly be able to talk to anyone around the world. I also think about the famous tri-quarter when I am surfing the web on my Blackberry for the answer to a question. I can see how people can become dependent on technology over time as it advances, for example think how you would feel if you didn’t have your Blackberry or Iphone, a little lost. Computers are a great tool but I think the show is pointing out that we need to be careful not to become too dependent on technology and use our human brains. Anyways live long and prosper.
Sounds to me like Captain Kirk would have the US automakers and all other ‘too big to fail’ companies die their violent deaths, and have society learn, grow and rebuild from the events, rather than ‘humanely’ allow them to limp along, draining our society for 500 years.
I think you’re making the comparison to our current econimic “war”. The government is trying to simulate a healthy economy which will cause this to drag out longer than necessary. If they step back, let us feel the destruction of the mistakes, then recovery can begin and lessons can be learned.
While “unintended” doesn’t always equal “undesirable”, one must be careful not to rationalize the results to the point of perpetuating a problem, or maybe make it even worse. In business as in life, there is a natural order, progression, and structure. Which when messed with, will invariable have “consequences”, good and bad ones.
Take as an example what science has done to extend our lifespan. It is great that we get to be around much longer that would have been possible just a couple of generations ago, arguably with a much higher quality of life. Now, take into account the consequences, direct and indirect ones. Longer lifespan means more people to feed, aging population (on average), higher energy consumption, and on, and on…
Apply this to the business environment, artificially extending the life of a failed business not only leads to resource consuming inefficiencies, but incentivizes and perpetuates failed practices which in turn hinders evolution. Evolution that while painful to some of us (I know, my number came up and I am unemployed now), is necessary nevertheless.
Let us fight the good war, learn from it, minimize collateral damage, and if comes to it, die with honor.