O'Hura: "Captain, I'm picking up a signal! It sounds like someone's trying to contact us from a great distance, but I can't quite make out the language!"

Kirk: "On screen!"

Alien: "Reinforcement . . .[hiss, crackle] . . . behavior . . . strengthened . . . [static, screen flickers momentarily] . . . by its consequences! . . . [buzz!] . . . environmental conditions . . . established control . . .er . . .ehavior!"

McCoy: "Good lord, Jim, whatever it is it seems to be trying to tell us something!"

Kirk: "Spock, what do you make of it?"

Spock: "Judging from what little of its message I was able to piece together, it would appear that this creature belongs to a primitive form of life such as existed on Earth in the early twentieth century. If my calculations are correct, it is a species of animist!"

"Well, let's see if we can talk some sense into it! Computer! Execute program six-one-five-alpha: the e. coli simulation! O'Hura, see if you can lock onto the alien's screen and transfer the simulation there!"

O'Hura: "Locking on, captain. Simulation commencing!"

Kirk: "Spock, what's happening?"

"Captain, the alien appears to have launched a simulation of his own. He has replaced some of our code. It is different, yet there is something oddly familiar about it. I believe it represents some kind of control system, although it is not the one we had originally intended."

McCoy: "Dammit Jim, now I remember! I've run into something like this before! These creatures are psychopaths! You can't make them understand ordinary perceptual control theory, no matter how often you go over it with them! Next thing you know, this fugitive from the twentieth century will be trying to convince us that there is some relationship between PCT and that old discredited S-R psychology, and just when we're beginning to make headway with the Romulans!"

Kirk: "Well I guess I have no choice. Shields up! O'Hura, pass out the emergency earplugs! If this alien takes over our intercom system, the whole crew could be affected! Sulu, bring her around 180 degrees! .... Warp 9 on my command! .... NOW!"

Spock: "Captain, it would appear that we have evaded the creature. His low technology was no match for the Enterprise."

Kirk: "I wouldn't be so sure. I don't think we've seen the last of him."

>McCoy: "Dammit Jim, now I remember! I've run into something like this before! These creatures are psychopaths! You can't make them understand ordinary perceptual control theory, no matter how often you go over it with them!

Spock: They are not psychopaths, Scotty. They are just control systems, like you and me. That's why we can't make then understand control theory. They have to want to understand it on their own. ... Darn it! (Sorry, Scotty. That outburst was not logical).

Spok: One moment captain. I have communicated to the aliens that they have programmed a control system and they concur. I am going to send them another simulation, in which pressing the space bar causes the E. coli organism to tumble just as before, but now the screen remains blank until the end of the run, when it shows the final position of the spot. I have asked them whether pressing the space bar still controls the movements of the spot. Please stand by ...

Spok: Just as I thought, Captain. They say that even though the entity pressing the space bar can't see the movements of the spot, the presses of the space bar still control its position. They say ... one moment.

Spok: Captain, they are saying that I described the original simulation incorrectly. Pressing the space bar, they say, is controlled by the changes in spot position. So now they are saying that if we can't see the spot position, it does not control the behavior. Fascinating. Kleebo? [Spok listens] Ah. They are saying that something else must be controlling the behavior in the second simulation.

Kirk: Thank you, Mr. Spok. This is interesting. Can you find any way to show them that the person is controlling the spot? Report.

McCoy: Jim, they've got me half convinced that they're right.

Spok: Possibly, Doctor. Ah, yes. I will send them a simulation in which the movements of the spot are caused by a model of the E. coli system, but the space bar has no effect. So if the person presses the bar, that behavior must be controlled by the spot movements.

McCoy: Hell, Spok, that will prove they're right!

Spok: We shall see. I shall simply send them the simulation and ask them whether it, too, demonstrates control of behavior by the spot.

Uhura: Channel open, sir.

Spok: As I thought. They have not been able to find a participant who will go through the whole simulation run. The participants begin as they did before, but they soon stop and complain that the apparatus is broken. The spot seems to control behavior at first, but evidently some other contingency comes into play, or perhaps a new discriminative stimulus, or an extinction effect, and participants cease to behave as before. The Lord High Klopno, they say, actually destroyed the keyboard by pounding on it, shouting something that means "Behave, expletive deleted!"

McCoy: Dammit, Spok, you tricked them! That's not fair!

Spok: I am simply subjecting their system of explanation to logical tests. Fairness is a subjective human judgment. Captain, do I have your permission to conduct further tests?

Kirk: Hold on a bit, Spok. I'll have to check this with Starfleet. We may be in danger of violating the Prime Directive here.

Kirk: Starfleet says to exert extreme caution. This race has been known to launch vicious attacks when cornered. Proceed carefully, Mr. Spok. Condition Yellow.

Spok: Very well, Captain. While you were away I modified the first simulation so that every 14 kneebnits, about 12 Galactic seconds, the program displaces the spot by a small distance toward the bottom of the screen. By their reasoning, this should control the behavior in a way appropriate to the spot's missing the target by about 15 centimeters. Of course we know that the participant will be able to bring the spot to the target as usual. It will be most interesting to see how they explain the result.

McCoy Well, hell, Spok, it _will_ miss the target, won't it?

Kirk: Dr. McCoy, I know you believe in good old fashioned medicine, but I do wish you would attend Scotty's seminars on control theory. Proceed, Mr. Spok.

Spok: I will transmit the simulation now.

Uhuru: Message acknowledged, sir.

Spok: Captain, the aliens say that an important emergency has arisen, and ask if we could continue this conversation later today.

Kirk: Condition Red!

Spok: I do not believe that will be necessary, Captain. They simply need time to consider the results. As Dr. McCoy would say, I believe their hearts are in the right place, which in this case is in their lower thoraxes.

Kirk: Cancel Condition Red. Very well, Mr. Spok, suggest to them that we resume at 20:00 hours.

Spok: Yes, that is logical.

McCoy Dammit, Spok, what did they say?

Spok: They have found an explanation, as I suspected they would. They say that the noncontingent movements of the spot were actually not instances of controlling variations in spot position, but discriminative stimuli which occasioned the momentary shift to a new schedule under which noncontingent spot movements controlled the behavior in such a way as to compensate for the sudden movements of the spot.

McCoy: Shit, they did it.

Kirk: Bones....

Spok: I believe we almost have them, Captain. What I propose to do now is to permanently bias the randomness of the tumbles so they favor a direction away from the target. Now there will be no discriminative stimulus that can be seen, so ....

Kirk: Hold on, hold on, Mr. Spok. We all know what will happen. The subject in the experiment ...

Uhuru: Participant.

Kirk: Thank you, Lieutenant. The participant in the experiment will control the movement as usual and bring the spot to the target. _We_ know that, Mr. Spok. Every child entering a Federation high- school knows it. Even Starfleet knows it. But this race does not know it. You and I and every officer in Starfleet have taken an oath, Mr. Spok. We have sworn to uphold the Prime Directive, not to interfere in the development of alien races until they have shown themselves capable of assimilating an advanced technology without damage. I must call a halt to this endeavor; you are leading these sentients where they are not ready to go.

Spok: Very well Captain. You are right. What shall I tell them?

Kirk: Tell them that they are right.

McCoy: But cripes, Jim, they _are_ right!

Spok: Very well, Captain.

Kirk: Helm, set course for the Sprague sector, Warp 3. Mr. Spok, the bridge is yours. Dr. McCoy, may I see you in my ready room?

Being: Greet us. What do you like?

Data: I believe you wish to speak to our Captain.

Being: Good speaking, very good, very good. What do you like?

Data: Do you mean me personally?

Being: Oh, excellent. Better and better. Greet us. What do you like?

Data: Strictly speaking I do not like or dislike anything. But I prefer some things to others; For example, I prefer the color of apples to the color of lemons and the symmetry of lemons to the symmetry of apples. I prefer violin music to the sound of kettledrums. I prefer ....

Being: Well done, well done [whips a violin into view a plays 2 second snatch of Capricioso Aggravato by Salubrious]. Greet us.

Data: [Looks puzzled for a moment, then comprehends]. Ah. Greetings to you from the Starship Enterprise. Do you require assistance?

Being: [Plays a longer segment]. Greet us.

Data: Greetings to you from the Starship enterprise. Do you require assistance? Would you like to speak to our Captain?

Being: [Furiously fiddles for 15 seconds but says nothing].

Data: [Touches com badge] Captain Picard to the bridge, please.

Picard: What can we do for you? Are you in need of assistance?

Being: What do you like? Assist us.

Picard: What do I like? I'm not sure I follow you, sir.

Being: [Silence for 15 seconds, then] Assist us. What do you like?

Picard: One moment please. [switches his laptop to hold and goes out onto bridge] Mr. Data, what is this -- person -- talking about?

Data: I have been consulting the records about this planet, sir. It seems to be populated by a group from Earth that was reputed to be extinct some 500 years ago. The people live by controlling each others' behavior, which they do by a social process they call "shaping." If they know what you like, they will offer it to you when you do something that resembles what they want you to do.

Picard: Ah, I see. So we play Twenty Questions with them to find out if they need assistance?

Data: That appears to be the case, sir.

Amb: .... three million dozen glorf eggs, 24 hundred thousand 1/4 by 20 machine screws, and last but not least rewarding, 50 billion pints of chocolate bleevis milk.

Picard: You demand a great deal, Mr. Ambassador. I doubt that our replicator could supply anything like such a volume of goods, not to mention the services. Isn't there some reasonable amount of assistance that will rescue your people from whatever the present emergency is?

Amb: Actually I would do almost anything for a half-pint of chocolate milk. But you know how these schedules go. A little dribble here, a tiny dab there. If you will sign the agreement, we will of course not expect to get everything at once.

Geordi: Excuse me, Captain, Mr. Ambassador, but what IS that thing?

Amb: Oh. It's a pet. A BlueFuzzy.

Geordi: It seems able to support itself in the air without any effort. My tricorder shows no unusual energy emanations, but it just -- floats there.

Amb: It has been rewarded for doing so. In fact, it is very well trained, if I do say so myself. Observe...

Amb: Maintains the behavior, you see, after the discriminative stimulus.

Geordi: That's fantastic. How does it -- I mean they - do that?

Amb: It's just a matter of patience. At first I gave them a worm just to come a little nearer to me. Then for obeying the verbal command to float in one place. Then to refrain from dividing except when presented with three flashes of this light. But watch this -- this took a lot of doing, you can believe me:

Data: That is a unique phenomenon, Mr. Ambassador. I do not think I have every seen or heard of any organism that splits and then merges again, and all while floating in the air without support.

Amb: [Preening]. It's all a matter of scientific technology.

Geordi: Ooooh, I see. It's an artifact. I thought for a minute there that it was alive. I suppose you're using some sort of transporter technology...

Amb. Oh, no, no, no. Nothing as crude as that. No, this is a perfectly natural organism on our world. But our advanced technology of behavior control has brought its floating, dividing, and merging behavior completely under our control. We can make it do many other things that are seemingly even more astonishing. Some of them are illegal, but very enjoyable.

Geordi: Well, sure, I suppose so, but what bugs me is how it's able to do those things. What sort of animal is it?

Amb: Actually we breed them now. You have to use a standardized strain to get the best results. The real trick is that we keep them at 1% of their free-feeding body weight; they'll do anything for a worm. In fact, on a variable-interval schedule of one tenth of a worm per hour, they will shuttle back and forth between feeding stations 500 stads apart at three times the speed of light. We fasten little messages to them.

Riker: [looks at Geordi] That's nearly Warp 1, isn't it? On one tenth of a worm per hour?

Amb: Well, we have to feed them a bit more the rest of the time or they die.

Riker: [rousing himself from paralysis] Mr. Ambassador, these creatures -- they may be a solution to your shortages. Do you realize that they have capabilities of tremendous value that are completely unexplainable?

Amb: I just explained them. You start by offering them a worm if they move in the right direction. Then you ...

Riker: I mean how they are able to do those things at all. Haven't you wondered how they can float there in the air for hours and hours?

Amb: I don't understand. That is the behavior they emit. I have explained what makes this one hover, and split, and merge. We use the same technology to keep them on their commercial shuttle routes. I can see that you are unfamiliar with behavioral technology. We pride ourselves, sir, on being highly advanced in this regard. If you would just name some act you would like to see the BlueFuzzy perform, I guarantee you that within half an hour I will have it performing it. I am beginning to see what you mean. Captain, do you think there might be a commercial outlet in your Federation for services that Bluefuzzies and their trainers could perform?

Picard: Oh, yes, I'm sure of it. But I think that my Second Officer was raising a different point. Somehow these creatures are performing actions that we could only simulate on a holodeck, and are doing them with an incredibly small amount of energy. I am sure that the Federation would consider some rather substantial grants if you were to allow us to study these creature, without harming them I assure you, to see how they are able to do these things.

Amb: [In conflict]. Well, all this strikes me as crass reductionism. The point isn't how they do it, but that we can train them very quickly and efficiently to do anything we want them to do. I could do the same thing to control your crewmen, you know. Just tell me what they like and pretty soon I'll have them eating out of my hand. I'll be happy to handle any personnel problems, if you could just see your way clear to releasing a few hundred cartons of chocolate ...

Troi: We have no personnel problems.

Amb: Just tell me what you want, Captain, I'll do anything. It's been ages since we ran out of chocolate bleevis milk. My children are out of control. My wife is out of control. So is my husband. [Begins tapping on the table].

Picard: Well, Mr. Ambassador, we will certainly take your requests under advisement.

Picard: Oh, for God's sake. Mr. Data, will you please look up the replicator code for choc ...

Data: On my way, sir.

Ricker: I'll come with you.

Troi: Hurry back.

Picard: Computer, tea, Earl Gray, hot. Mr. Ambassador, have you tried this drink? It's really quite delicious and invigorating .... here, let me hold it for you...

Spock: Captain, I have programmed the ship's computer to translate the alien's language.

Kirk: Put him on.

Alien: Greetings, Enterprise. We had no sooner transmitted our last message when we became aware of a fatal oversight in our ECOLI4 simulation; perhaps it is the flaw to which your first officer alluded in his as-yet-unreceived message. In converting ECOLI3 to ECOLI4, our simulation engineer had overlooked the code that integrates dNut over timecycles. Thus we were under the false impression that there was no carryover of dNut from pre- to postreinforcement time. Given this false belief, it seemed that the simulation was proof of principle. We were in error.

Spock: It is only logical.

Alien: Yes, we see that now. Apparently we are suffering from having made too many trips through the transporter room. We now realize, as your Mr. Spock pointed out, that there is no way for reinforcement to operate on the tumbling response. This had been our initial conjecture, but we had come to believe that the three- term contingency would provide a solution. Having seen the result of our own corrected simulation, we now know that it does not, and why. You had tried to explain it to us, but there was interference in the hyperspace channel and we were not able to completely decode your message.

Spock: As you are doubtless now aware, the consequences of tumbling are as likely to produce negative as positive dNut, regardless of the conditions existing prior to the tumble. Thus there can be no systematic change in p(Tumble|S+) or p(Tumble|S-).

Alien: Correct, as usual. And that is why, in our initial simulation, we chose to work with the consequences of forward motion rather than with the consequences of tumbling. At that time we recognized that tumbling could not be the response on which reinforcement would operate. Reinforcement can produce consistent changes in response probabilities only when the consequences of the response are reasonably consistent. But tumbling's consequences are completely inconsistent. It was your insistence that we attempt to model reinforcement of TUMBLING that led us to thinking that the addition of discriminative stimuli might provide this consistency. We now see that it does not.

Spock: Then you agree that the "three-term contingency" of which you spoke does not work.

Alien: Yes, not when tumbling is modeled as the response on which reinforcement acts. However, our mistaken simulation with dNut carryover does nicely illustrate how a control system can learn to develop and maintain a negative feedback relationship between tumble rate and dNut. We take it that this is not a feature of your own e. coli simulation, although we have no doubt that you could have provided it had you wished to do so.

Kirk: So what do you propose as the next step?

Alien: As we indicated in our previous communication, we will modify our simulation so that it explicitly models a feedback-regulated control system that is able to learn appropriate behavior that will keep its perceptions close to its internal reference level.

Perhaps there is hope yet for this species, don't you think?

Spock: We shall see, captain, we shall see.