Man vs. Machine

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For Xzibit album, see Man vs. Machine (album).

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Man vs. machine is a recurring theme in literature that pits a character against machines.

It can socially be considered a manifestation of man's fear of machines, that should machinery become sentient it would be possibly be superior to man through its lack of emotion or human frailty. Arguably, since man created machine, this is a metaphysical manifestation of a Man vs. Himself-conflict. This concept also been referred to as 'Man vs. Cyborg.' ^[1]

The character of Data the android on Star Trek: The Next Generation has undergone this psychological conflict in various episodes, including a trial in which Captain Jean-Luc Picard had to save Data from being replicated to serve on all Starfleet ships. Data was proven to be a sentient individual, though he did not experience any major emotions until the film Star Trek Generations. This theme is discussed more thoroughly in Is Data Human?: The Metaphysics of Star Trek by Richard Hanley.