10 Star Trek Moments More Important Than You Realised

10. The Ethical Logic Programming Of Starfleet Computers

During The Battle At The Binary Stars, in the Discovery episode of the same name, we learned something very cool about Starfleet's computers: "ethical logic programming."

After being confined to the brig, Michael Burnham watched as the area surrounding her cell was blasted away by Klingons and exposed to the vacuum of space. Knowing that her life was in severe danger, Burnham was able to convince the computer to help her escape the brig, despite being classified as a criminal.

This exposes something very interesting. Starfleet's computers can apparently be made to disobey direct commands from the crew if those commands put someone's life in danger. Burnham would surely die if left in the cell and, since Federation law prevents the unlawful execution of prisoners without a trial, it had no ethical option but to help her. It's unlikely that something like this could be possible unless the prisoner was almost guaranteed to die otherwise.

This small scene was a great nod to the Federation's sympathetic philosophy toward prisoners.