|
The Kobayashi Maru is a fictional fuel carrier-ship in the fictional Star Trek universe which serves as the basis of a scenario for cadet training at Starfleet Academy. The name is Japanese, and loosely translates as 'Starship Kobayashi', with 'Kobayashi' being a common family name.
In the Kobayashi Maru scenario of the 2280s, the Kobayashi Maru strikes a mine in the Organian Neutral Zone and is crippled, its condition swiftly worsening. There are no nearby rescue vessels save for the cadet's own ship. The cadet is then faced with the dilemma of:
- Attempting a rescue of the Maru's passengers, which would involve violating the Neutral Zone, potentially provoking the Klingons into hostile action and, ultimately, a declaration of all-out war - or
- Abandoning the Maru and thus preventing war, but leaving its occupants to die.
Regardless of the option taken, cloaked Klingon warships attack and destroy the would-be rescue vessel. The purpose of the scenario is to evaluate the cadet's behavior and thought processes in a no-win situation. As a consequence, the term Kobayashi Maru problem has entered common parlance to describe a test designed solely to determine some usually non-tangible human thought process. See also: Fermi problem
The only cadet to ever win that version of the scenario is James T. Kirk, who reprogrammed the simulation to recognize his name and have the Klingons react with fearful admiration. He justified it by arguing that a no-win situation was cheating, and so he had to cheat in return.
By the era shown in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Federation had reached an alliance with the Klingons, and thus the previous format for the Kobayashi Maru scenario was no longer suitable. In his Star Trek: New Frontier novels, Peter David suggested that future versions of the scenario would involve the Romulans.
External links
- Kobayashi Maru (http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Kobayashi_Maru_%28scenario%29) at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki
- Details on the dilemma (http://members.tripod.com/~Avataria/kobayashi.htm) (one page)
|
