In “The Ultimate Computer”, the duotronic M-5 computer was deemed a failure which sent its creator Richard Daystrom into a nervous breakdown. Not only did Daystrom experience psychological distress (probably the most polite way to describe it), but was responsible for a machine that killed upwards of 53 people.
Why would a person responsible for the invention of a computer that unintentionally killed (unintentionally as in, not ordered to do so) get their name enshrined? Is there anything to explain why such a troubled person that ended up killing others in a quest to eliminate the risk of human death, would inspire anyone to name an organization after them?
This is firmly Memory Beta canon, but this bit from the Star Trek Adventures Core Rulebook still feels like an interesting addition to this conversation:
I didn’t notice this before but in Alpha canon Daystrom Institute was founded in 2256, before TOS. So this speech doesn’t make sense. The writer probably didn’t know that either.
EDIT: I need to clarify that this information is from “Chose Your Pain”, so it came along after “The Ultimate Computer”.
It looks like this rulebook was released 2 months before the Discovery episode.
Honestly, I think I’d personally consider the Disco naming a canon goof up - Daystrom was only 37 years old at that point. While he’d certainly done a lot in his career by then, it still feels weird to name such a major part of Starfleet after him when he’s still relatively young.
I think my headcannon, and a reasonable retcon in my opinion, is that there was a predecessor organization to Daystrom, somewhat like how there was NACA before there was NASA. When Discovery mentions Daystrom, they should actually be mentioning the predecessor organization.
Daystrom Institute is UFP, not Starfleet affiliated. Hence why those who work at Daystrom aren’t Starfleet.
Nobel prize…
At some point a name is just a name, time buys forgiveness
If we needed everyone we want to name anything after was required to be a saint, we wouldn’t have anybody to name stuff after.
Churchill - the man who rose to lead his country through WW2 - was a big colonial killer in India before. Both the reformator Luther and the philosopher Kant were raging antisemites. A non-insignificant number of US founding fathers held slaves. Bill Clinton balanced the budget while molesting an intern (and allegedly worse). It’s rare that we already know the president is a sexual predator before he gets elected. Yet, there will be a probably very small library named after 47 if there isn’t one already. It’s probably the best library in the world!
History goes through many hands before it gets whittled to a generally agreed upon narrative. Churchill was lucky in real life. Daystromn was lucky in canon. And while sympathies may change over time, I’m not expecting a name change in trek Okinawa.
TLDR; Daystrom did bad stuff but under mental collapse, and it’s very much in part Starfleet Command’s fault.
I think also, as much as Daystrom had much responsibility for those deaths, it was not as intentional as something like slavery, genocide, or sexual assault. He was fundamentally in a state of psychological distress partially beyond his control. Depending on when Daystrom Institute was founded (touched on above), he may have had decades for rehabilitation and redemption.
Additionally, Starfleet command probably had ample opportunity to avoid this very early on, like:
- Looking over Daystrom’s reports to consider potential risks of using engram imprints in a manner similar to a university’s Institutional Review Board - (Though perhaps Daystrom was rather secretive about it and kept it from reviewers.)
- Running the M-5 in simulations. We know the Kobiyashi Moru existed, so we could probably create a wide range.
- Not running the test on the Federation flagship, literally one of Starfleet’s most powerful weapons.
While it’s possible Starfleet took more precautions than we see onscreen, Commodore Wesley’s enthusiasm in “The Ultimate Computer” almost suggests an over-enthusiasm in Command, possibly one that caused them to skip necessary precautions. In fact, we had almost this exact scenario happen in Lower Decks “Trusted Sources”/“The Stars at Night” with the Texas class a century later. Ultimately, Starfleet Command likely bears a non-negligible amount of responsibility in the M-5 affair.
Of course, the above does not reduce the wrongness of Daystrom’s actions and perhaps only serves to deflect from the OP’s question. However, I feel Starfleet’s potential role combined with Daystrom’s mental condition may be mitigating factors that would make Richard Daystrom less unworthy of having an institution bear his name.
He was already famous for inventing duotronics, and the M-5 debacle was probably classified or otherwise not common knowledge.
This has to be it. He’s famous from the computer research. He revolutionized a new type of computing.
The murderous AI was just one project that went wrong. It’s a cautionary tale of science of knowledge. He created a computer smart enough to think, thus triggering a whole ethical branch that had never been seen before. It’s a common theme in technology throughout the ages. Technology isn’t evil or immoral, but the way it is used can be.
A corkscrew is a wonderful piece of techology. Used incorrectly or with malice, it can be a terrifying weapon. The same can be said for just about any other kitchen instrument. Mellonballer. Electric beater. Cheese grater. Etc… Getting rid of this kitchen technology isn’t a better way to reduce violence, education on proper use of tools is a far better approach. Teaching empathy helps, too. If M5 had empathy…
Plus the fault with the multitronic computer wasn’t really the multitronic mechanism that operated it. It was that Daystrom stuffed his neural engrams into it to try and make it sapient, which caused everything to go wrong, probably because it was loaded with everything in his head, including his desperation to make the multitronic computer work, and paranoia about his peers. A multitronic unit loaded with LCARS might not be that revolutionary, but would not have gone homicidal.
Though we never saw it get advanced into a whole computer system on its own, they did seem to get used for some things that needed mind-like complexity. Holograms use multitronics as part of the matrix, for example. So Daystrom might have been onto something, but was too obsessed in creating something that could supersede duotronics to properly explore the thing.
