Offhand, I would think not. Tests with monkeys have shown that intelligence is not cumulative. Ten half-power monkeys just can't equal five regular monkeys no matter what, to put it simply. Assuming that each player acts intelligently, i.e. non-randomly, there is about epsilon chance of them winning. Where epsilon is the chance that one of those players does act randomly... and randomly picks the best move... enough times to win. 0.02EU
To delve deeply into the Trek universe, the whole dual-timeline went as follows:
The first hints of it were in the TOS episode 'Mirror, Mirror' where 'alternate' Kirk and Spock appear after a transporter mishap. Their Federation is a highly militaristic dictatorship resembling the ancient Roman Empire. This parallel universe was then explored more in 'Dark Mirror' and the alternate universe books 1&2 'Spectre' and 'Preserver' (by Shatner, continuing what may be a cycle of Kirk saves planet, dies, resurrected, saves galaxy, dies, resurrected, saves... you get the idea.) There was also a DS9 episode and in fact several more books concerning DS9 and the alternate universe, but I haven't read/seen those.
The reason for this was outlined in 'Preserver' as it followed from the events of ST:FC - SPOILERS of the book.
In First Contact, Cochrane was introduced to both the Borg and the Federation. In 'Preserver' it is revealed that the 'alternate' Federation expanded much more aggressively and devoted far more effort to military applications, thus meeting and defeating the Borg much earlier (explaining that continuity problem.) Of course, this expansion results in an Alexander-wept-because-there-were-no-more-worlds-t o-conquer premise for 'Dark Mirror', which in turn sets up the setting for 'Spectre' & 'Preserver'.
Long Trekkie story short, at the end of 'Preserver', chronologically as Cochrane prepares to meet the Vulcans in ST:FC, he flips a coin. Heads, he tells them about the Federation. Tails, the Borg. In the original series on, the setting is the universe where he told the Vulcans about their harmonious future among the stars. In the alternate universe, and possibly Enterprise, he tells them of the horrors of the Borg lying in wait for them.
Of course, if the writers of Enterprise were both well-versed in Trek lore enough to rationalize it this way, and enterprising enough to expand it to form the universe of the series, that begs the question...
WTF didn't they just use the original universe in the first place?
IMO, TOS was a cultural expression of our burgeoning awareness of and wonder at space, TNG was about the characters and the drama as well as the complications arising out of politics, technology, and ethics at the time, and DS9 gave a good picture of just how fscked up one planet can be, with religious leaders, former oppressors, foreign interests (Dominion et al) and a good-intentioned intercessor who must balance all the rest while helping said planet recover. All these can be interpreted convincingly as allegories for their respective times, possibly revealing a facet of their appeal. Voyager and Enterprise seem to try to cash in on the spaceships, aliens, organizations, and motifs - which the other series used appropriately as a backdrop to the real stories being told - simply to pull in Trekkies who'll supposedly watch anything with 'Federation' or 'tricorder'.
we might be getting back to von Braum's original vision. Back during America's first display of interest in the space program he called for a sensible program of exploration to establish a firm presence in space. First orbital missions, then moon missions, establishing a (hopefully productive) colony on the moon, and use that infrastructure to stage a Mars mission. However, due to the threat of a Communist outer space, we bypassed this plan and went straight to the moon. IMHO, we would have been better off in the long run if we had followed his plan. But then again, the public didn't know the whole picture of the Russian space program - they just saw a fleet of ballistic missiles dropping from Sputnik XIV. Anyway, I hope that this renewed initiative, whatever the timing, gets us off of this planet. I say it's about time.
Slashdot Mirror
Or alternatively from Neon Genesis Evangelion, where Asuka tells Shinji that he must "think in German" to control the Evangelion.
Offhand, I would think not. Tests with monkeys have shown that intelligence is not cumulative. Ten half-power monkeys just can't equal five regular monkeys no matter what, to put it simply. Assuming that each player acts intelligently, i.e. non-randomly, there is about epsilon chance of them winning. Where epsilon is the chance that one of those players does act randomly... and randomly picks the best move... enough times to win. 0.02EU
To delve deeply into the Trek universe, the whole dual-timeline went as follows:
t o-conquer premise for 'Dark Mirror', which in turn sets up the setting for 'Spectre' & 'Preserver'.
The first hints of it were in the TOS episode 'Mirror, Mirror' where 'alternate' Kirk and Spock appear after a transporter mishap. Their Federation is a highly militaristic dictatorship resembling the ancient Roman Empire. This parallel universe was then explored more in 'Dark Mirror' and the alternate universe books 1&2 'Spectre' and 'Preserver' (by Shatner, continuing what may be a cycle of Kirk saves planet, dies, resurrected, saves galaxy, dies, resurrected, saves... you get the idea.) There was also a DS9 episode and in fact several more books concerning DS9 and the alternate universe, but I haven't read/seen those.
The reason for this was outlined in 'Preserver' as it followed from the events of ST:FC - SPOILERS of the book.
In First Contact, Cochrane was introduced to both the Borg and the Federation. In 'Preserver' it is revealed that the 'alternate' Federation expanded much more aggressively and devoted far more effort to military applications, thus meeting and defeating the Borg much earlier (explaining that continuity problem.) Of course, this expansion results in an Alexander-wept-because-there-were-no-more-worlds-
Long Trekkie story short, at the end of 'Preserver', chronologically as Cochrane prepares to meet the Vulcans in ST:FC, he flips a coin. Heads, he tells them about the Federation. Tails, the Borg. In the original series on, the setting is the universe where he told the Vulcans about their harmonious future among the stars. In the alternate universe, and possibly Enterprise, he tells them of the horrors of the Borg lying in wait for them.
Of course, if the writers of Enterprise were both well-versed in Trek lore enough to rationalize it this way, and enterprising enough to expand it to form the universe of the series, that begs the question...
WTF didn't they just use the original universe in the first place?
IMO, TOS was a cultural expression of our burgeoning awareness of and wonder at space, TNG was about the characters and the drama as well as the complications arising out of politics, technology, and ethics at the time, and DS9 gave a good picture of just how fscked up one planet can be, with religious leaders, former oppressors, foreign interests (Dominion et al) and a good-intentioned intercessor who must balance all the rest while helping said planet recover. All these can be interpreted convincingly as allegories for their respective times, possibly revealing a facet of their appeal. Voyager and Enterprise seem to try to cash in on the spaceships, aliens, organizations, and motifs - which the other series used appropriately as a backdrop to the real stories being told - simply to pull in Trekkies who'll supposedly watch anything with 'Federation' or 'tricorder'.
Anyway, 0.02$ and all.
-Sibarra
we might be getting back to von Braum's original vision. Back during America's first display of interest in the space program he called for a sensible program of exploration to establish a firm presence in space. First orbital missions, then moon missions, establishing a (hopefully productive) colony on the moon, and use that infrastructure to stage a Mars mission. However, due to the threat of a Communist outer space, we bypassed this plan and went straight to the moon. IMHO, we would have been better off in the long run if we had followed his plan. But then again, the public didn't know the whole picture of the Russian space program - they just saw a fleet of ballistic missiles dropping from Sputnik XIV. Anyway, I hope that this renewed initiative, whatever the timing, gets us off of this planet. I say it's about time.