Summary
Time and again,Star Trekpresents the Starfleet officers exploring the galaxy —and by extension, the viewers — with opportunities to redefine their ideas about which kinds of lifeforms can be sentient. Thecrew of the Enterprise NX-01encountered a sentient, symbiotic alien that appeared as a white, sticky, weblike substance. Captain Jean-Luc Picard took on the legal battle to define androids as sentient beings. The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram aboard the U.S.S. Voyager, joined a rebellion of holograms fighting to prove their sentience. All of these encounters in theStar Trekuniverse demonstrate how beings that humans wouldn’t immediately recognize as sentient often are, including many photonic lifeforms.
Photonic lifeforms are non-corporeal lifeforms made up of light and energy particles. Since humans are accustomed to sentient lifeforms having physical bodies, it’s often difficult to comprehend how a being without a body could have intelligence, self-awareness, and the capability to experience emotions. It’s even more difficult to understand how something composed of only energy and light could gain sentience. However, theStar Trekuniverse provides multiple examples of sentient photonic lifeforms.
Photonic Aliens
In their journeys through the stars, Starfleet officers have repeatedly encountered photonic aliens that either live in space itself, or inhabit certain planets. The most recent example is in the latest episode ofStar Trek: Lower Decks, “Gods and Angles.“The crew of the Cerritos plays host to two different species of photonic aliens: the Spheres and the Cubes. These aliens both glow from the inside and reflect light, giving shape to their light and energy particles.
Photonic aliens seem to be more abundant in the Delta Quadrant, as the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager encountered photonic lifeforms more often than any other Starfleet crew. When photonic aliens encountered the ship, they often recognized that the ship’s holodeck contained photonic beings. Because of this, they often came aboard the ship and hid out in the holodeck with the holograms in the crew’s programs.
One photonic alien that Voyager encountered while studying protostar made its way into the holodeck and settled in theBeowulfprogram, where the holograms dubbed it the Grendel. A few years later, a group of photonic aliens on their own mission of exploration encountered Voyager. Unaware that carbon-based lifeforms existed, these photonic aliens assumed that the holograms in the holodeck were the only real lifeforms on the ship. The photonic aliens inserted themselves into Lieutenant Tom Paris’Adventures of Captain Protonprogram, and began a war with the Chaotica hologram. The Doctor had to broker peace to end the war.
The only photonic aliens Voyager encountered that didn’t limit themselves to the holodeck were insect-like photonic lifeforms called photonic fleas. They were brought aboard Voyager with a shipment of amber spice, and since their primary food source wasplasma particles, they were delighted to nest in one of Voyager’s plasma conduits. When discovered, the crew of the Voyager relocated them to a location off-ship where they could thrive.
Are Holograms Photonic Lifeforms?
Any avidStar Trekfan knows that thescenes in the holodeck, as well as the Emergency Medical Holograms, are created with light and energy particles, just like photonic lifeforms. This raises the complicated question of whether holograms are photonic lifeforms. In Trek parlance, the word “lifeform” applies to sentient beings, not non-sentient beings. So, the answer to this question lies in whether holograms are sentient beings, and the answer to that question is so complicated,Star Trekhasn’t given a definitive answer yet; however,The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine,andVoyagerhave all shown that holograms can definitely become sentient beings.
InTNG, Data asks the computer to create an adversary worthy of his intellect for hisSherlock Holmesprogram. In response, the computercreates a version of the classic Sherlock Holmes villaim Moriarty, who is fully self-aware and definitely capable of experiencing emotion.
InDS9, Jadzia Dax and Odo discover an entire holographic simulation that a Yaderan man created after the Dominion destroyed his homeworld. These holographic beings have complete, rich lives, and though they weren’t aware they were holograms, they do believe themselves to be real and feel a full range of emotions. Deep Space Nine’s holodeck program also has its own sentient hologram:Vic Fontaine. Vic’s programming allows him to become self-aware and exercise free will regardless of the commands of the holodeck programs. He can turn himself on and off, as well as transfer himself to other holodeck programs. He is also capable of emotional relationships, like the one he had with Nog.
Voyagerhas the most prominent example of a sentient hologram:The Doctor. The U.S.S. Voyager’s original Chief Medical Officer was killed in the event that brought the ship to the Delta Quadrant, leaving The Doctor as the only medical expert onboard. As such, he had to continuously operate for seven years, which his program was not designed to do. Being active for so long, The Doctor begins to accumulate knowledge beyond his programming, and works with the Voyager crew to enhance his programming to make himself sentient.
Years into their mission, Voyager encountered multiple holograms made for various purposes who became sentient over time. The most notable example was theholograms created by the Hirogens, aliens who spent their whole lives dedicated to either hunting prey or being hunted as prey. Since the Hirogens wanted to approximate a real hunt as closely as possible to train their Alphas, they programmed the holograms to feel fear, pain, grief, and even death. After each “death,” the holograms resurrected with the memory of the previous hunt so they could adapt and become more challenging prey. These holograms banded together and led a revolt against the Hirogens, which The Doctor joined for a bit.
It’s clear that holograms in the Trekverse can be photonic lifeforms, but as with most things in the Trekverse, it’s not that simple. Not all holograms are photonic lifeforms because not all holograms are sentient. But those who do develop sentience are photonic lifeforms.
Star Trekis excellent at asking its viewers to reconsider its perceptions of the universe, and in turn, its perceptions of the current world around them. If particles of life and energy can be sentient, what does that mean about all the organisms currently on Earth? And how could a shift in perception change how humans interpret the sentience of organisms they don’t consider sentient? It’s definitely something to think about.
