Let’s settle this. Title says it all.
Short summary: Nelix and Tuvok are in a transporter accident that causes the to meld into one person. A Hybrid so to speak. One with a singular conscience. And one with a desire to live.
After sevral weeks, the Doctor figures out a way to re-separate the two. The problem is, Tuvix has now made a life of his own, has aspirations and forged new friendships. He now wishes to remain the person that he is. Captain Janeway ain’t having it and forces him to undergo a procedure that would effectively kill him off.
So, was Janeway right to force him to undergo the procedure?
Lol, I think this poll isn’t going to settle anything, at least not yet
It’s a tough call, I don’t think it’s enough to say the two outweigh the one. You’re still committing murder - to force this on the individual makes you a tyranny of sorts.
At the same time, Janeway has an obligation to her crew - Nelix and Tuvok. It’s tough.
I’d say she was right to do, but mostly 'cause I liked Nelix.
Tuvok and Neelix were two separate beings. It may have appeared that they were combined into one new being, but they were really two beings trapped in one body. A suspension, not a solution. It wouldn’t have been long before they started separating internally, causing conflicts that no one else could see, resulting in self-destructive behavior that no one could understand, or even do anything about if they did figure it out. Not to mention immune systems from two different species fighting each other.
Janeway did the right thing. Left alone they would have been dead or institutionalized within a year.
None of this is even hinted at in the actual episode though. According to the doctor this was an entirely different individual, and I don’t recall him mentioning anything about possible issues long term.
I’d call it missing until declared dead, and the moment the cure was found, they’d be considered missing but able to be rescued. Janeway couldn’t knowingly abandon a crew member if there were anything she could do.
No, she was wrong to separate Tuvix; just as it would be wrong for her to separate any of her other crew into different bodies that held only the left and right brain lobes respectively.
We are all inherently two different people coordinating together and sharing the same body, why should the group’s needs for separating out specializations/personalities (needing both Nelix’s cooking or whatever, and Tuvok’s logic, in different places on the ship at the same time) be any different than further separating Tuvok so his mathematical sided brain and his other language specialization side can be put to work on separate problems, in separate bodies, at the same time?
Data and Picard already weighed in on this question when Picard asked Data to submit himself to be taken apart and studied “for the greater good” of Star Fleet. Data counters with the observation that Geordi’s Visor is superior to regular human eyes, thus “for the greater good” Star Fleet should have forced all humanoids to have their own eyes removed and replaced with Visors. Data Owns Picard - YouTube
Now if everyone were mixed-and-matched with others, and summarily parted out again as needed -all the time, as a regular act- I can get behind that concept of a society being a boiling gestaltic broth ranging from full Borg oneness to singular myopic specializations all ready-to-order for the task at hand. But anything less than that is unfair and immoral to subject thinking beings to. As that act “kills” them, even if the two+ new people produced are more useful to society. (but then again, with the way that transporters work, everyone in the Star Trek universe is a-ok with murdering people just for the sake of convenience. The Trouble with Transporters - YouTube )
She was correct to do so. “Tuvix” can be viewed as a personality disorder forced upon Tuvok and Neelix by the transporter accident, similar to the mental and emotional changes wrought by the involuntary consumption of a psychotropic drug. Separating them is simply treating the disorder.
Except, wouldn’t Tuvix have some severe mental health issues given the completely different memories, experiences and previous beliefs and positions being jumbled up in one brain?
Trek made this decision too easy. If you’ll recall, The Doctor initially said Tuvix couldn’t be reversed. He started his duties as a crewman. A few days later The Doctor finds a way to reverse things.
What if… That occurred ten years later? How many people would agree it’s ok to separate Tuvix then?
