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Um, yeah, no. All life on Earth developed from single cellular organisms way back when, that doesn't make all Earth life human.
Besides, by the end of the second episode the anomaly didn't do much of anything thanks to having essentially been retconned out of existence.

Batman wrote:Um, yeah, no. All life on Earth developed from single cellular organisms way back when, that doesn't make all Earth life human.

I'm talking about an episode of Star Trek, not real life. "The Chase" clearly indicated that the development of the Alpha Quadrant powers was largely due to the ancient humanoids. The fact that they were able to combine the DNA of the various Alpha Quadrant species to generate that message is proof enough, as well as the fact that they can inter-breed. Yes, the idea is absolutely absurd from a scientific basis - but it's also canon. And there's no evidence to suggest it's been retconned; the Klingon and Cardassian captains clearly chose to ignore the message and probably didn't even tell anyone, the Romulan captain may have acknowledged the message but probably didn't tell anyone less it disturb the status quo, and while Picard may have told Starfleet HQ, they probably classified the knowledge for similar reasons. The rest of the Alpha Quadrant powers didn't even get to hear the message, so it's not like it would effect them in any way.

Besides, by the end of the second episode the anomaly didn't do much of anything thanks to having essentially been retconned out of existence.

The point I was trying to make was that the anomaly clearly destroyed all of the Alpha Quadrant powers, seeing as covered the entire quadrant. A little excessive of the Q if their goal was to simply wipe out humans on Earth, don't you think? Especially as they have been known to avoid collateral damage - Amanda's parents were killed by a tornado dropping on their house and disappearing, though the Q could have just as easily blown up the whole planet. They could have just as easily come up with a test that involves humanity and left everyone else out of it. However, if the test actually included all of the Alpha Quadrant powers and Picard represented everyone, then perhaps having the anomaly span the entire Alpha Quadrant makes more sense. Maybe Q chose the Federation to pay attention to in particular as they are seen as the most advanced and seem like the leaders of the Quadrant, rather than just because they include humans from Earth.

Easy way to sum this up:

Q Weapons cause Supernovas as a side-effect. In the same way a modern pistol displaces Air as a side-effect.

That's the level of power it takes to kill a Q, and that's the level of power they are capable of throwing around.

The Organians; made everyone think their tools/weapons were to hot to handle. I don't remember anyone actually being burned.
A Douwad wiped out a single species? Bah, that's nothing

The Q create worlds/realities for the purpose of cosplaying as Robin Hood.
The Q can wipe out and restore life with a click of the fingers, and can toss ships across all of time and the universe., we've seen the Q can, and will use Time Travel.
(And that was just Q and 'Quinn' essentially playing hide and seek).

The problem with the hypothesis of "Q's powers are purely technology, not magic", is it requires a whole lot of twisting and turning to try and explain how, for example, Riker was granted comparable powers back in season 1 of TNG.

No it doesn't. The evidence for it being Riker actually doing all he seemingly did instead of Q is...?

You'd have a much better case with Amanda Rogers, who from all available information did inherit her powers.

Batman wrote:No it doesn't. The evidence for it being Riker actually doing all he seemingly did instead of Q is...?

That's still a case of "twisting and turning" the available evidence. Yes, we technically can't prove it wasn't Q doing it, but that still cuts against Occam's razor. It doesn't mesh well with what happened in the episode, especially with Q getting in trouble with the continuum at the end. Yes, it's a possible argument you can make, but, like the rest of the technology arguments, still requires subverting what actually happens in the episodes to a degree that just gets silly. I mean, we might as well just say that Q was just an illusion created by a Douwd.

Ziggy Stardust wrote: I mean, we might as well just say that Q was just an illusion created by a Douwd.

prove he wasn't

Prometheus Unbound wrote:

Ziggy Stardust wrote: I mean, we might as well just say that Q was just an illusion created by a Douwd.

prove he wasn't

We, we do know that ENT was just a holodeck simulation...

So yes, I'll run with that. Maybe Douwd created the Q continuum while bored. Or maybe he has a split personality.

Simon_Jester wrote:This is totally in keeping with his character, surely? Would Q ever straight-up admit a mistake with such horrible consequences?

I got the idea pointing them at each other was the point.

It'd wake the Federation up- which as a side effect, got them to do some weapon research and ship design *right* before the Dominion War- and it caused the Borg to get embroiled in the Fed, which has caused them to lose multiple ships in the Alpha Quadrant, the creation of a small splinter thanks to Hugh, and all the Voyager stuff... which in turn lead to the Federation meeting 8472 and making peace with them.


I'm not convinced things didn't go exactly as planned... and with so much Borg-and-Fed related stuff there, I can see where Q wouldn't want alterations made to his valuable chess piece that moves so predictably. Hm, the Borg are basically his rook, I think