What Makes Descartes Ship In A Bottle

The Television series show Star Trek: The Next Generation’s episode “Ship in a Bottle” has several connections to Descartes Meditations. For instance, in Meditations 1, Descartes talks about the evil genius argument which ultimately is referring to having reason to doubt the totality of what your senses tell you as well as the mathematical knowledge that it seems you have (At 22). In the “Ship in the Bottle” episode, James Moriarty, also known as Sherlock Holmes arch enemy, was a hologram character created as an opponent for Starship Commander Data in this story. However, the character became ‘self aware’ expressing it may be a mystery but its real. Moriarty cast seeds of doubt on the believed reality the men lived in, by defying the laws,
He then somehow physically left the holodeck, but only by tricking the men into thinking that they were off of the deck as well as himself. Descartes speaks instead of assuming that God is the source of our deceptions, we will assume that there exists an evil demon, who is capable of deceiving us in the same way we supposed God to be able. In this case, it would be Moriarty deceiving Lt. Barclay, Lt. Commander Data and Captain Commander Jean-Luc Picard into believing things that were perceived as impossible. The Descartes argument about an evil genius with godlike powers could be controlling his mind so that the heavens and the earth and all of them are illusions. Seems relevant in this case considering that Moriarty was creating illusions. Commander Data saw the illusion by the slight differences the computer wouldn't pick up, like whether someone uses right hand or left hand for catching or writing. Plus, the problem with the transporter not keeping track of the data log was also another indication of a simulation inside a simulation. The first thing he can be sure of on the basis of this alone is his own existence which Commander Data and Captain Picard experienced when they didn't know who to trust after realizing they too were still in a
Descartes shows two ways in which mind and body seem to have different properties, and how they then must be different things. He reaches this conclusion by arguing that the nature of the mind is a thinking, non extended thing (At 27 & 78). Completely different from that of the body which is an extended, non-thinking thing, therefore, it is possible one exists without the other (At 78). Descartes argues that the less real cannot cause something that is more real, because the less real does not have enough reality to bring about something more real than itself. This principle applies on the general level of substances and modes. However, Moriarty argued his belief of that, he was more than a simulation, that he was in fact actually real. He defied the rules of regular simulation character built. He had developed self awareness. If I have a mind, then why can I not have a body was Moriarty’s argument. James Moriarty quoting Descartes famous Latin phrase “Cogito ergo sum… I think, therefore I am” set the mood when he stepped threw the holodeck door on to the starship deck. That is where the deception of reality is played upon. Something so life like appearing almost life like in every way, but how were they certain? I can be certain that my mind exists, but I cannot be sure that my body