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Originally Posted by DennisAJC
The prime Directive is a problem. Not only is it easy to violate the Prime Directive; in fact, it is hard not to violate it. Almost any action taken by Starfleet, ranging from tentative exploration to outright colonization, is by definition a violation of the Prime Directive. this is through no fault of any starship captain. It is because the Prime Directive is not only an unattainable ideal but also a scientific impossibility. Behind the Prime Directive is the idea that it is possible to observe a society without actually affecting it. Seen this way, the Prime Directive constitutes a violation of one of Star Trek's favorite scientific principles: the Heisenberg Uncertanty Principle. The Heisenberg Uncertanty Principle states that observers always interfere with the things that they are observing. Even a hidden observer creates a disturbance. The interferance may be small or it may be great, but it is everpresent and it can be measured. If we believe Heisenberg (as the series does), we must admit that the Prime Directive is founded on a scientific impossibility. Maintaining a perfect distance is simply not possible in a universe where all actions, however remote, have consequences. No observation is or can be neutral. Observers are necessarily participants. Wherever Starfleet goes in the galaxy, it must act to limit the damage inevitably caused by its own powers of observation. Violating the Prime Directive is thus not a matter of principal but of degree.
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Hey thanks Dennis! I'm putting the finishing touches on a Biology paper that centers on:
Conservation scientists advocate,
whenever feasible, the establishment of migration corridors between biological reserves.
I needed to top it off with my take on possible interference from observations.
Hmmm, I think that Heisenberg and his Uncertainty Principle might just get me an "A" on it!
Here's to you!
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
