[Warning: Contains spoilers for the Battlestar Galactica episode A Disquiet Follows My Soul] Even as Zarek and Gaeta sow the seeds of insurrection against Adama and his Cylon alliance, it is amazing how integrated the Cylons and humans have become. While it is true that a large portion of the fleet seems opposed to their alliance, it is nonetheless remarkable that Adama lets the Cylon Tigh remain as his second in command, even though Tigh is a member of a species of machines responsible for the destruction of the human race.
The ties of old friendship would seem to reach across species barriers and instill great trust. Also, as Gaeta laments, Cylons now appear to be priority candidates for Galactica’s strained medical resources.
While Athena had to prove her loyalty to the humans again and again throughout the years, such proofs of loyalty were not required of the final four Cylons, perhaps because the lines between human and Cylon have become increasingly blurred. Perhaps the best illustration of this is at the beginning of the episode, when during a meeting about providing Cylon technology that would greatly increase the fleet’s FTL jump capability, Tyrol says “their technology…our technology is way ahead of ours…yours,” to which Tigh retorts: “Maybe you’d like a chart to keep it all straight.” In exchange for their superior FTL technology the Cylons ask for citizenship in the fleet, a request the Adamas are willing to entertain. Instead of the final four being locked up as once would have been done with any Cylon (if they weren’t air-locked), it is Vice President Zarek who is ultimately locked up, after passing a resolution allowing ships to forgo the Cylon FTL upgrades, and then helping them resist Galactica’s attempted upgrades.
It would appear that the deep ties and similarities between the Cylons and humans have at least the potential to allow the coexistence of the two species, but I would argue that it is not the Cylon’s humanity that gives their lives value. It is their sentience and intelligence, not their personality and biological traits that are similar to humans, which make their lives worth preserving. For all the Cylons have in common with humans, they are their own species, and have their own unique characteristics: they are machines; instead of perceiving the world as we do, they can project forests or oceans onto their surroundings; instead of the countless variation amongst human individuals, they have only twelve models; their Centurions are sentient, and their ships alive; and until recently they preserved themselves through resurrection instead of sexual reproduction. The Cylon species should not be assigned worth because their differences with humans are minor, rather sentient life should be valued in all its diversity.
Even within our own species in the twenty-first century, while many fears and prejudices exist in part because we do not appreciate just how much we all have in common, our similarities are not the only reason we should overcome our fears and prejudices. We should value not only those people we can strongly relate to, but also those who have a background or personality so different that they approach problems in new ways we would never imagine. Diversity isn’t something we should strive for because despite our appearances and customs we are all the same, rather we should treasure and take advantage of our genuine differences.
Many people claim to encourage diversity. I hope not only that their commitment to that ideal is sincere, but also that they will be committed to the full implications that diversity will take on in the future. As human enhancement technologies come into fruition, and as we create new manifestations of life, the possibilities for variation open to sentient life will increase many fold. If by that time we have better learned to see differences not as something to be overcome, but instead something to be rationally evaluated and even cherished, we shall be much better equipped to responsibly tackle the issues of the future.
In the meantime, I look forward to next week’s episode, and seeing how the Colonials deal with the controversies and mutiny in their fleet over the acceptability of their Cylon allies.
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