I’m kind of ambivalent about the whole thing.
On one hand, the idea of having a clone would be immensely valuable, given my propensity for Evil Do (The Evil Do that I do do!) 
, but ultimately I’d probably say “No” since there’s just too much chance that we’d get each other in trouble, either by accident or on purpose…
Hm. I don’t really understand this “oh no, I wouldn’t be as special anymore” argument from the episode. Does this mean identical twins are only 50% special? Triplets 33.3%?
I’d probably do it, especially if, as others have mentioned, they could fix things up a bit so the clones wouldn’t have my health issues. Would be a bit weird, though, knowing that I had hundreds of “sisters” I’d never see again.
If it’s her doing the collecting, they can have all the genetic material she can swallow.
No, I wouldn’t allow it. I’m not a very happy person, and the reasons are probably genetic. I would not want to consign someone to live with my brain pattern even if they didn’t have my memories, would lead to too much guilt on my part.
What does this mean anyway -
“Would you like to be cloned, style?” What does the style part mean? I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since.
It means I was posting while waiting for a Mimeo print job to go through, got distracted by the need to change some stuff, and made a proof-reading error. Originally it read "Would you allow yourself to be cloned, Star Trek style, but somehow the italicized words got deleted. I blame the french.
The French blame you, and they blame Perry Mason.
So there.
If they want my DNA, they’ll have to get it the old-fashioned way. Line the willing females up, shortest on the left, tallest on the right, preferential treatment (2 doses!) goes to natural red-heads.
I wondered about the style too, heh.
I don’t know if I’d be cloned. If I was cloned, would the clone also absolutely avoid all the inheritable disorders that lurk in my family history that I lucked out on not getting myself? And get the ones I did, like the peculiar missing enamel on some baby teeth and missing adult tooth that my mother and grandfather both lacked too?
Wait. Can I just clone my teeth to replace the existing ones instead? I think that’d be better 
Like he didn’t already have hundreds of bastard children running around anyway. 
As an identical twin, the “spooky factor” of cloning folklore annoys me. You singletons and your fetishishic fawning over your pathetic unique DNA. It’s nothing to write home about.
Grumble grumble. . . Reiker can go jump in a wood chipper.
Don’t worry, capybara. My bias wasn’t anything to do with identical DNA in this world — not that anybody would want a duplicate of mine, as I was born with primary type I hyperoxaluria, an often-fatal genetic liver defect.
In Star Trek they can identify a person instantly by his complete DNA profile, unlike here on Earth where they can only analyze one or two key segments and make an educated statistical guess.
That wouldn’t be a problem in Earth terms — precise genetic duplicates are pretty much limited to twins and other multiple births, and those are well-documented by birth records. If your twin commits a crime on Earth, at least they know you have a twin.
In a science fiction sense, where you could make an army of indistinguishable, untraceable people with absolutely identical DNA like, oh… SATAN? …sorry, I meant to say, stormtroopers? — then you could very well get into deep yoghurt for something your clone did. Further, you might say to yourself that you only want one clone — but once there’s one copy out of your control, the clone himself could easily make more.
Well following the OP, your clones would be living on a colony world where they don’t have sex and apparently never leave the planet. So you wouldn’t have to worry about paternity suits or crimes being committed with your DNA.
If we’re still talking Star Trek universe, but not this particular colony, it seems to me the first time you get accused of something you didn’t do, you just have your lawyer point out there are 100 more of you running around. What jury would convict you with that much reasonable doubt running around the galaxy? They couldn’t ever base a case against you based solely on DNA evidence.
To the OP: No, I wouldn’t. Not because I don’t want 100 clones of me out there somewhere. I don’t mind that. One of them might actually make something of himself. 
But that is one frelled up colony. They don’t have sex? They never leave the planet? They don’t want to re-join the Federation & invite new colonists? Nope. I feel just enough responsibility to my clones I don’t want them living on such a stupid moronic colony.
That’s your alibi? “I couldn’t have done it, because somebody who looks just like me was in my house at the time!” Must be convenient for criminals.
The point is, I shouldn’t be arrested for that crime in the first place. Who needs that kind of hassle? If you want a clone of yourself, simulate one in the holodeck.
I’d do it and would be somewhat interested to see what my clone was like after a couple decades to see how different he turned out if I could.
What if he’s living it up and having a great life, and you’re dirt-poor? What if he’s obviously very happy and you’re miserable?
Do you kill him and take his place???*
That’s a good point, Anaamika… I mean, we always think of clones as being a convenient way to get some replacement organs.
The trouble is, that’s how they think of us, too.
If I recall my infinitesimal knowledge of genetics aright, even the DNA of identical twins can be distinguished by their differing methylation patterns. The same would probably hold true of vat-grown clones. So at the very least, you shouldn’t have to worry about being mistakenly hauled off to Romulus for ‘extrajudicial rendition’ because your clone left a few skin cells behind on Talos 4.
I wouldn’t agree to the OP’s scenario, not because of any special moral objection to cloning, but because the civilization in “Up the Long Ladder” isn’t the sort I’d want a clone of mine living in. Picard probably could have replicated whole buckets of fresh sperm for them from every available gene pool in the galaxy. But no, the clones have to go to the trouble of stealing body cells instead. “Oh, our cloning technology is fatally flawed, but we simply can’t bring ourselves to do the nasty.” How much DNA has to be scrambled before people lose interest in sex, anyway? These people must have been missing whole chromosomes.
Fortunately Picard was able to foist the colony of Space Irish off on them, probably laughing up his tunic sleeve the whole time. “Yep… here’s the genetic diversity you need! And goats, too! Your civilization will be back on the fast track to galactic empire in no time! Please, tell your psychically gifted supergenius offspring to rule mercifully!” Kind of the exact opposite of Space Seed, come to think of it. Maybe the new Trek movie will be titled The Wrath of Darby O’Gill.
No, but to humor you: I’m almost 25 so I will be forty when he’s fifteen and fifty when he’s at my present age. When would I ever have a reasonable chance of trying to pass myself off as him?
Ah. Well, my assumption was, he would be cloned at the same age as you. So, if you are 25 now, they take a body, “grow it” to age 25, then insert your personality, etc. I was tyhinking along the lines of the movie the Island, if you’ve seen it.
And “to humor me”? Well, thanks, but I’ll pass if you’re only answering me to humor me and not because the question is interesting or anything.