Star Trek: Voyager, "Natural Law" Syndicated TV episode, May 2001

As Star Trek: Voyager comes to its final episode, we see that it is addressing the issues we've been discussing in this column. In the episode, "Natural Law" Tom Paris must take "driving lessons" in the Delta Flyer for violating a planet's local traffic regs. Meanwhile Chakotay and 7 of 9 are trapped in a Forcefield protected Preserve for the genetic forebears of the dominant species of the technologically advanced planet.

Anyone who has ever had to take a "Defensive Driving Course" will relate easily to Tom Paris's plight with his piloting instructor. The air-driving instructor walks him through basic maneuvers requiring him to do them at the sedate pace of the elderly and infirm.

Anyone who has had a close encounter with workaholism or intense overload will relate to Seven of Nine's plight while trapped with primitive people who value beauty above efficiency.

Anyone who has mourned the loss of our untouched wilderness and the indigenous peoples who live a stone-age existence, anyone who has studied humanity's ancestors and puzzled over how they survived to become -- us -- will relate to the final problem presented to Captain Janeway.

It's a problem in values, a problem in the ethics of magick, a problem in defining law, culture, and the difference between rights and privileges, and it's a problem in Divination. It is the exact same problem our culture is facing as we stand within the trend of Trendlessness. And I've seen this problem "discussed" in several other works of fiction lately.

The problem is often called "Informed Consent."

The Situation is this. Party One has the power and ability to do something that will be effective. Party Two needs this effect but does not have the power or ability to do that something -- and therefore does not know such an action or effect is an option. A Choice must be made within time constraints.

The current politically correct way of choosing a course of action is for Party One to "inform" Party Two of the options so that Party Two can make the Choice by "Informed Consent."

Our society does not ponder the question of whether Party One can present all relevant information, and especially avoids considering whether Party Two can absorb that information -- except in the case of children and the "legally incompetent."

In many cases, as ST:Voyager has pointed out, "Informed Consent" is not either possible or desirable because "informing" breaks the Prime Directive.

In the episode "Natural Law" Janeway had to regard both the dominant species of the planet and their protected primitive ancestor-species as protected by the Prime Directive. She had the option of retrieving her crewmembers by breaking the force-shield that protected the primitives, not realizing that the "advanced" species would immediately invade the Preserve and start teaching the primitives modern ways for their own good.

Meanwhile, Tom was the victim of a driving instructor who was teaching him the proper way to drive for his own good, regardless of his opinion in the matter.

The viewer (presumably a good driver) could see the driving instructor's point of view. A good driver drives down to the level of the least-able driver on the road, not up to his own maximum ability to control his vehicle. Tom on the other hand is a combat pilot by nature, and his idea of a "good pilot" is one who routinely out-drives all other pilots, in or out of atmosphere and scares the life out of anyone who dares to compete with him.

This attitude allowed Tom to obey Janeway's command to extract the high-tech invaders from the Preserve and reboot the force-field that protected the primitives.

That was Janeway's decision based on the Prime Directive, -- don't interfere -- but was that the decision a White Magician would make? The Choice Janeway faced is very much the one that any Power-User must face over and over again -- it is one that any practitioner of Divination must face at every Reading -- act on what you know and believe or let others make dire errors in ignorance.

Ultimately, no mortal ever really knows the future or even the consequences of their actions. No "consent" can ever really be "informed." We all must choose on the basis of incomplete information only dimply understood.

The Primitives protected by that force field had been divided off from their world's progress by the act of an alien species who erected that force field. Who were they to determine the future of that planet and its indigenes? But who is Janeway to change that situation? Would Kirk have put things back to the way they were before the Aliens had created the Preserve?

The force field had been created when the dominant technological species could not conceptualize such a Forcefield nor see any reason not to educate the primitives for their own good -- and thus no amount of "informing" would be sufficient for their "consent" to the actions taken by Aliens.

The Primitives were even less able to understand what was at stake or what the price would probably be.

Could those primitives have been given a choice by Janeway? If the choices were explained to them, they would then no longer be the Primitives they had been. The very act of explaining would take the Choice out of their hands.

And how could she possibly know their future well enough to explain the options and consequences?

That is the question that every practitioner of Magick is facing today. Understanding the dynamics of Group Minds, the Magician can understand the Trendlessness of the moment. Groups of Magicians have the Power to influence the next direction that this planet will take, but those who will Be Influenced do not have the background, training and education to understand that Group Minds exist, nevermind that they can be influenced by Magick. And, like Janeway, none of us know the price. Divination can't give us that information.

These questions in the use and abuse of Power, in the application of principles of Honor, and in Divination are being addressed by many sf/f writers currently.

In A Still Point In Time, Marsha Briscoe gives us a Romance novel involving Reincarnation, and thus another chance to solve a problem this time with awareness of the price. There are many Reincarnation Romances being e-published today. Actions have consequences that reach through time to future incarnations and only the future incarnations are "informed" enough to "consent.".  Many Reincarnation Romances are about Second Chances where love makes things work out better the second time around.

In Rules of Conflict, Kristine Smith gives us a heroine who is in the Voyager Situation -- something was done to her genetic makeup "for her own good" (and the benefit of a non-human) -- and now, decades later, the doers must deal with the consequences. But so must she, and what has been done cannot be handily undone. Rules of Conflict addresses matters of Honor and Informed Consent.

In Borrowed Tides, Paul Levinson explores a Primitive's understanding of space travel and the nature of time, of informed consent turning out to be uninformed, and he also explores 7 of 9's problem in choosing Efficiency over Beauty. Is there any "information" more important than scientific fact when giving "consent?" Suppose "science" as we know it has missed something crucial about the structure of the Universe -- something that our primitive ancestors knew well?

If that knowledge had been preserved, if the cultural continuity of those who knew had been taken seriously and preserved, would we be making these mistakes today?

When implementing Choices in life, we never have enough time to ponder and we never have enough information to give "Informed Consent." Like the Combat Pilot driving on city streets, we must act smoothly, continuously, reflexively in order not to become paralyzed by the fear of doing the wrong thing (8 Swords in the Tarot).

And above all remember what it feels like when someone does something to you for your own good.