Eu sugiro que os borgs estejam vivos. O raciocínio para isso vem da conversa entre Data e Beverly em A qualidade de vida .
DATA: Doctor, what is the definition of life?
CRUSHER: (pause) That is a big question. Why do you ask?
DATA: I am searching for a definition that will allow me to test an hypothesis.
CRUSHER: Well, the broadest scientific definition might be that life is what enables plants and animals to consume food, derive energy from it, grow, adapt themselves to their surroundings and reproduce.
DATA: And you suggest that anything which exhibits these characteristics is considered alive?
CRUSHER: In general, yes.
DATA: What about fire?
CRUSHER: Fire?
DATA: Yes. It consumes fuel to produce energy, it grows, it creates offspring. By your definition, is it alive?
CRUSHER: Fire is a chemical reaction. You could use the same argument for growing crystals, but obviously we don't consider them alive.
DATA: And what about me? I do not grow. I do not reproduce. I am considered to be alive.
CRUSHER: That's true, but you are unique.
DATA: I wonder if that is so.
CRUSHER: Data, if I may ask. Have a seat. What exactly are youe getting at?
DATA: I am curious as to what transpired between the moment when I was nothing more than an assemblage of parts in Doctor Soong's laboratory, and the next moment, when I became alive. What was it that endowed me with life?
CRUSHER: I remember Wesley asking me a similar question when he was little, and I tried desperately to give him an answer, but everything I said sounded inadequate. Then I realised that scientists and philosophers had been grappling with that question for centuries without coming to any conclusion.
DATA: Are you saying the question cannot be answered?
CRUSHER: No, I think I'm saying that we struggle all our lives to answer it, but it's the struggle that's important. That's what helps us to define our place in the universe.
DATA: I believe I understand, Doctor.
O fogo não está vivo e nem os cristais estão crescendo. No entanto, os dados são únicos e estão vivos. Também no mesmo episódio, os Exocomps foram determinados a serem sencientes e vivos.
O ponto aqui é que não existe uma definição singular de vida. Como disse Beverly, eles vêm lutando com essa questão há séculos. Sim, os Borgs estão vivos: singularmente (um drone individual pode ser removido e é considerado vivo) e coletivamente ( o Borg é essencialmente um grande organismo singular).