Could you accept the EMH? [spoilers for voyager finale]

[Qasim]

In the last episode we find out that the Doctor (the emergency medical hologram) has called himself Joe and is married

Could you ever accept a hologram as a real person?

BTW: For this discussion we will ignore the fact that a number of things that the doctor does defy the laws of physics

[HowMuch]

I would you consider the Human Replicators as a real person, or the Human Cylons? Surely independent thought is what counts.

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Well if he acted human enough.

[Qasim]

Does anyone remember the TNG ep where they beamed some crystals up and it turned out to be a lifeform and it called them 'ugly bags of water' - seems that the definition of life isnt carved in stone

[Anubis69]

I think it depends. If i was living in the 24th century, yeah, it probably wouldn't be that out of the ordinary. 21st century, it would be harder given the most closest thing we have is the GPS woman in cars! At first, the kind of relationship would almost like that of a tamogotchi. You know, you care about it, but if it dies, it doesn't make a difference. It would be different, but i think with a little getting used to and treating it like a human, i could probably accept a hologram.

[MarshAngel]

I think I could accept a hologram as a real person, if it were anything like Voyager's EMH. I probably wouldn't want to be friends with that particular abrasive EMH but that's another issue.

It's much easier to accept when you don't know the inner workings. Since I'm no scientist or engineer I would have to take the hologram at face value. As it is I'm almost convinced my computer is alive and evil... I wouldn't be that hard to convince. I don't know if I would marry a hologram though.

[Egeria]

I suppose it depends on what you want out of the relationship. I could accept the Doc as a companion on the basis that he has sentient thought and in that token is 'real'. I think I'd struggle to accept him as a wife, I think the physical side of things would stand in the way slightly.

[Dahak]

If the EMH is sentient though it makes the whole Federation look a lot worse. Holograms are basicly slaves in the UFP. They are used for entertainment and uhm personal uses. Also they are used for dangerous and unpleasant jobs. The main difference between the EMH and all the other holograms is that his program was better than most and it ran a LOT longer.
As usual Bermaga brought up a good point and then completely ignored it. While "Let your photons be free" was a really bad play the point was pretty valid. Are holograms really citizens or are they just to be used by their owners?

[warmbeachbrat]

Hmmm--I'm not sure if this is off topic or not, but what about Moriarty from TNG? Didn't Picard promise to try to find a way to make it possible for him to be brought out of the holodeck? Or am I remembering that episode wrong (it's been a while )? Are these holodeck people similar to the EMH? Where does that leave them? I guess I've never thought of it before.

[Darth Buddha]

When does simulation become "real" enough to be considered real is the root question.

If a hologram is self aware to at least the human level, I think you have to consider it a "person". In the Federation-Trek universe, the EMH and Moriarity were advanced enough to meet this criteria. Not all holograms reached this level, though.

The Hirogen in Voyager made a LOT of their "prey" holograms sentient because it made them more realistic to hunt if they actually suffered and knew they were going to die. They had clearly been developed to the level of "people". But when they rebelled, the rebel leader "liberated" a hologram that clearly wasn't a "person" and was a mere automaton.

Humanity will face this kind of differentiation question more and more often as artificial intelligence advances.