Q and Data (and Mark too)
Mark Goodacre has a post today in which he succinctly sets out one of the key planks of his argument against Q. Fans of ST:TNG will know that Q is very good at distorting reality, or making new realities. Data is no more immune to his power than the human (and other species) crew of the Enterprise.
Whatever solution to the synoptic problem one prefers, Mark does illustrate a perennial problem. The theories we choose to examine the data, and turn it into information, themselves tend to determine which data we look at, and how we classify it. His example of the way in which certain material is classified as Mark-Q overlaps, while other material is classified as “minor agreements”, is a very clear example of how the data is massaged by the theory in order to prove the theory.
The data do in fact reveal the kind of continuum he outlines. That could still be a Q-continuum. But perhaps we should remember that (as Wikipedia says) “Q is a mischievous, seemingly omnipotent being.” For his tricks, Q depends on that “seemingly” and, as Mark shows, Q-theorists too are not above their own smoke and mirrors. The accurate description of data should not simply be determined by theory which purports to explain it. Unfortunately, all too often it is.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
You are forgetting that Q also has godlike powers and will not simply sit by and take criticism in this fashion!
November 6th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
The Q I am thinking of, whether played by Desmond Llewelyn or John Cleese, has no godlike powers, but plenty of skill at “making new realities” in the world of technical gadgets. Perhaps we need this kind of wizardry rather than the supernatural variety to make progress on the synoptic problem.
November 7th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
This seems like a good place to answer the question you posed on my blog!
When I first started blogging (April 2005), I wasn’t blogging on theology. I adopted the name “Q” in reference to the hypothetical document, hypothetically utilized by Matthew and Luke in the construction of their Gospels. It was a joke — a nod to my liberal Protestant inclinations. And it was solely for my personal amusement, since I couldn’t expect any of my readers to guess its origins.
Now the joke is on me, because I’m a biblioblogger.
That said … it’s also true that Q is my favourite character from Star Trek: The Next Generation.