GALACTICA

Ok, so the cylons are Machines, THey deserve to be killed, even the biologically created ones. However perhaps there are models, such as Sharon ( The weakest model according to No.6), who may be willing to help the humans, it says so in Pythia, where a " lower demon" was to help the Humans. She had the Chance to kill Adama on Kobol, but again Sharon didn't.

Number six is my favourite Chararcter, and we know there is no chip in Baltars head, so how does she even exist?

That reporter Cylon threw me aswell. I Think she is like number six, just a more brutal version.

Simon is weird, the other black guy model, but he seems passive, and did help Starbuck to recover somewhat.

The Guy THrown out of the Air lock, well i don't know about him. Maybe he didn't deserve to die in " Flesh and Bone" (s1), how knows.

Finally, that public relations guy left at ragnar station, the one who self detinated on galactica. Evil guy. He Does deserve to die.
 

Contradictory Statements
 

The Cain arc will probably be resolved by mutiny against Cain. They've set her up as too large of a bitch to resolve it any other way.

As for Torture. Calling them machines does not help your moral dilema. Do you torture your car when it breaks down? If no, why not? To torture something is to admit that it is a feeling thing. Otherwise what would be the point?

So if we dispense with the convience of the they are machines excuse, then we can get into the meat of the argument. Where is the line? Water torture, do it. Sleep dep, fine. Dogs, fine too. Making them listen to Britney Spears? Cruel, but go for it. Having them line up and masterbate? To me that seems to cross a line. Rape? Way over the line. That is what barbarians do. The people raping the Cylon were doing it for two reasons. Payback, and power. They were not raping her to help save the fleet. They were doing it as an act of revenge.
 

Payback? As if. The reason may be because they want some wort of power, but you have to remember, the Pegasus has been trying to kill cylons all the time the series has been going, while the rest of the fleet has over come more issues, such as president Roslins escape and the Kobal arc. Cain and her crew have had nothin emotionally appealing, like Adama and the rest have.

As for the Cylons, they have been an " excellent Scource of intelligence" according to Adama. Remember, Shraon was tortured ( hit) by Tigh, it's not like she was never touched. She is only doing what she is doing because she loves Helo, so she doesn't need to be tortured. Finally, cylons need to be tortured, and the are synthetic humans, and although they are machines, they still feel pain etc. I say torture the Bastards
 

Clearly and understandably, BSG humans generally regard the humanoid Cylons with violent revulsion. Not only do the "toasters" seek the genocide of the race, they've hijacked the humanity's identity to do the job. As far as we can tell so far, the humanoid Cylons are flesh-n-blood humans with "real" feelings, desires, weaknesses and strengths. Or at least they're damn good facsimile. I think the interesting question is (and I really hope the show explores this idea): How exactly do we define the sacred line that separates life from non-life, human from non-human, "real" intelligence from computational mechanism? In other words, what exactly makes humans so damn special?
There is a school of thought that the only meaningful test is observing behaviour: If it acts and reacts like a person, then we should regard it as such. I mean, how do you know for sure that the comments in this blog are being posted by real humans and not brilliantly designed chatbots? If you think about it, I think you'll find the question pointless. You don't read blogs and post comments because you have conclusive evidence proving the humanity of your fellow web surfers. The exchange of ideas and insights and jokes is the all the evidence you need to enjoy blogging. Period. But it still doesn't prove beyond all doubt that you aren't talking to a machine.

So I think that generally, torturing Cylons is wrong. But I understand ;-)
 

Are all cyclons machines? Do we know that for sure? It appears that the humanoid cylons are biological creations, so why would they be treated with less respect than a dog? They at least appear to have capacity for emotion and even empathy. I think that this is not black and white...

In any case, raping a cylon is unacceptable -- it debases more than the victim.
 

Okay, I've read all of your comments and you all seem to missing something crucial. The idea was touched on with "would you torture your car" of course the answer is no becuase it would get no response. Torturing your car is idiotic, right? The car doesn't really care if it is destroyed or mistreated. So the crux of the issue is do the Cylons care, do they feel? We can't truly know. But at some point we are all going to assume that they do feel and then at that point, if the military commander decides that it is tactically necessary to torture a prisoner of war for information, then hell yes torture away. The means of torture on the Pegasus was quite insane but remember it is the military and sh!t happens. Stop by my quarters for a few drinks.
 

WILL YOU PEOPLE GET SOME LIVES

!!!
 

I say the fact that they were genetically engineered to destroy humanity removes any “rights” that they might have.

Once again, blogger you leave us with no doubt that you have the common sense of a retarded squirrel. And it looks like you have no moral sense to boot.

Your argument is basically that someone with negative intentions magically loses all their rights. If this were true, then we would have free reign to torture any criminal who meant their victims harm. If you want to punish Cylons, fine, but you have to respect their rights as cognitive and autonomous living things. That means a trial (the guilty verdict should be pretty easy, no?) and an execution. Not rape.

You then make a futile attempt at softening your position by saying that torturing Sharon was a unwise move "strategically." Hmm.. maybe you do that because you realize that 99% of normal people saw the actions of the Pegasus crew as abhorrent?

Does the difference between humanoid robots and humans affect the moral calculus? Sure, but definitely not in the childish way you argue.

I'm glad that Moore has managed to stir up the debate because the situation in the series does present an ethical grey area and it should be discussed. Now all you need to do is to read a freaking book on applied ethics because clearly you need it. Then maybe the things you write won't be infuriatingly stupid.
 

Does anyone have any insight as to the larger plot of the series? As we saw in the intelligence meeting between Cain and Adama, the Cylon Basestars were protecting another vessle. Adama stated that it could be a raider factory, but nobody knows. I feel there is a connection between the "God" that the Cylons refer to and the "Imperious Leader" we know from the original series. Furthermore, I see a connection between Baltar being the "chosen one" and the "God" Number 6 refers to. I do not attest to have the answers, but I can say the following:

1. There is more about the history between humanity and the creation of the Cylons than we are being told.

2. There is a relationship between the creation of man by the "The Gods" and the creation of Cylons by man. Why were Cylons created in the fist place? Why did humanity leave Kobol?

3. Baltar may be a Cylon himself. That would explain the visions of Number 6.

I don't know, but I can tell you this show has me hooked. SciFi needs to extend the season so we don't have to wait so long.
- Thanks.
 

"Your argument is basically that someone with negative intentions magically loses all their rights."

No, my argument is that a thing that was genetically engineered to destroy humanity has no rights.
 

From the recent episode when Sharon saved Galactica by transferring a virus to the Cylon raiders by sticking a fiberoptic cable in herself implies they are not humans and perhaps humanoid/android. Cross referencing with other icons of the genre including Asimov, this would not prevent them from unique personalities and traits.

The question is are they programmed or are learning entities. If programmed, termination becomes a viable, no trial type scenario (as in my opinion reprogramming is another type of termination). If learning, then the crews on the show need to understand their own human weakness.
 

I would say in the story, Sharon is portrayed as a "learning entity" as she learned about falling in love... (unless this is another clever cylon deception, but I doubt that)