I was born into & will die with Learning Challenges (in- language processing & short & long term memories), have earned degree in SLD, many certifications, including VE & ESE, from the most respected higher educational school in Fl., whatever that is worth, & facilitated learning in Elementary schools’-high schools’-adult education school’s ESE & Etc. classrooms. So I understand that challenges can be extremely hard identify-prove & everywhere, I think everyone has a challenge, to some degree.

Yet I cannot understand the challenges that genetic engineered friends of Dr. Bashir character Lauren (played by Hillary Shepard) & Patrick (played by Michael Keenan).
The only thing that comes close to challenges I see in- Lauren having is higher attraction drive to men, than the average person &
Patrick having is he is easily manipulated-to easy to go along with others, especially by Jack.

Lauren thing seems like UPN censored away the writers from going to a real challenge & forced them to her being just higher attraction drive to men, than the average person, which is not a challenge.
&
Patrick thing is not even close to being a challenge at all, maybe, lack confidence or whatever, but not a challenge, while Lauren is also not a challenge, I can understand that if the writers were not censored away from her being sex addiction, then that would been a challenge.

  • ShaunKL@startrek.websiteEnglish
    31·
    6 days ago

    I don’t believe what we see from the genetically-engineered characters in DS9 is representative of the intellectual disabilities they possessed beforehand.

    The implication is that, as Khan and the augments from the 20th Century developed a superiority complex and compulsion to enact their desires on the world, personality traits from Lauren, Patrick, and the others also became heightened. Lauren may have had learning disabilities and a high libido before her cognitive abilities were enhanced. The learning disability was removed, but her enhanced cognitive abilities tipped the high libido into a permanent state of nymphomania.

    Likewise, Patrick may have had learning disabilities and emotional processing issues. The learning disabilities got “fixed” but the cognitive enhancements supercharged his emotional processing issues.

    Also inferred from dialogue is Bashir’s enhancements were less intensive than the others, which prevented him from developing the kinds of neurosis the others suffered from. Jack, for instance, mentions a “full package” implying a full augmentation, à la Khan and his supermen.

    I agree that there was likely censorship involved that toned down the presentation of the neurosis (a great deal of TV was like this at the time) along with a lack of nuanced understanding of the subject matter.