Star Trek: 10 Dumbest Decisions By Starfleet Officers
2. NOT Saving The Child - William T. Riker
This decision is absolutely ridiculous. In the first-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q once again arrives on the Enterprise-D, but there's a twist. He offers Commander Riker all of the powers of the Q. All of them. Basically, he offers godhood to the human officer. While this does certainly raise issues as the story unfolds, there is one moment in the episode that makes no sense at all.
The Enterprise rushes to the colony in the Sigma III solar system, where an accident has put all of its colonists at risk. When the away team beams down, they discover many maimed and injured people, but Data and Geordi then find a young girl who is buried under fallen rock. They clear the rubble, but the girl has died.
For context, Riker and Picard had spoken about these new powers of his. Picard advised him not to lose his humanity in possessing them and so, in this crucial moment, he refuses to use them to save the girl's life. This is incredible - he actually chooses to let her die than to use these powers for good. Even Picard would have understood that one. For the worth of a pinky promise, Riker has the power to make everything alright again but does nothing.