Why does Skynet take prisoners?
In the Terminator franchise, extermination camps are often mentioned. But from a machine-logic POV, wouldn't it make more sense to just kill all humans on sight, period? Or herd them into small areas and nuke them? (even today's military electronics are hardened against EMPs and Skynet wouldn't care about the environment.) IIRC, the reasoning behind ghettoization / concentration camps / extermination camps / gas "showers" is to misdirect or mislead people both inside and outside the country as to what was really going on. But Skynet doesn't have to worry about bad publicity, and can manufacture all the free labor it needs. Is there any in-universe explanation for keeping large groups prisoners?
the-terminator-series skynet plot-device
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
add a comment |
In the Terminator franchise, extermination camps are often mentioned. But from a machine-logic POV, wouldn't it make more sense to just kill all humans on sight, period? Or herd them into small areas and nuke them? (even today's military electronics are hardened against EMPs and Skynet wouldn't care about the environment.) IIRC, the reasoning behind ghettoization / concentration camps / extermination camps / gas "showers" is to misdirect or mislead people both inside and outside the country as to what was really going on. But Skynet doesn't have to worry about bad publicity, and can manufacture all the free labor it needs. Is there any in-universe explanation for keeping large groups prisoners?
the-terminator-series skynet plot-device
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
1
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09
add a comment |
In the Terminator franchise, extermination camps are often mentioned. But from a machine-logic POV, wouldn't it make more sense to just kill all humans on sight, period? Or herd them into small areas and nuke them? (even today's military electronics are hardened against EMPs and Skynet wouldn't care about the environment.) IIRC, the reasoning behind ghettoization / concentration camps / extermination camps / gas "showers" is to misdirect or mislead people both inside and outside the country as to what was really going on. But Skynet doesn't have to worry about bad publicity, and can manufacture all the free labor it needs. Is there any in-universe explanation for keeping large groups prisoners?
the-terminator-series skynet plot-device
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
In the Terminator franchise, extermination camps are often mentioned. But from a machine-logic POV, wouldn't it make more sense to just kill all humans on sight, period? Or herd them into small areas and nuke them? (even today's military electronics are hardened against EMPs and Skynet wouldn't care about the environment.) IIRC, the reasoning behind ghettoization / concentration camps / extermination camps / gas "showers" is to misdirect or mislead people both inside and outside the country as to what was really going on. But Skynet doesn't have to worry about bad publicity, and can manufacture all the free labor it needs. Is there any in-universe explanation for keeping large groups prisoners?
the-terminator-series skynet plot-device
the-terminator-series skynet plot-device
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
edited Jul 12 '15 at 19:19
Major Stackings
33.5k38219484
33.5k38219484
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
asked Jul 12 '15 at 11:51
Joe L.Joe L.
23.7k476130
23.7k476130
Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
1
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09
add a comment |
Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
1
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09
Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
1
1
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The original script for The Terminator suggests that they were death camps. The implication is that the aim was to dispose of the humans with as much efficiency as possible:
Kyle: Most of us were rounded up, put in camps...for orderly disposal...Some of us were kept alive...to work. Loading bodies. The
disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out
forever...
In the novelisation for Terminator: Salvation, we learn that Skynet also attempted to extract information from some prisoners...
So they kept moving, continued to follow wordless directives, and
speculated on the manner of their impending demise. Options ranged
from the abrupt to the fanciful. A few fatalists even pointed out that
their deaths were likely to be less painful than the destruction
humans had inflicted on other humans down through history. Where
people had all too often proven themselves sadistic, willing to
inflict pain for pain’s sake, the machines were only efficient. Except
in isolated instances where there was a specific desire to extract
information from the otherwise reluctant prisoner, no machine would
kill by torture. Not because they regarded the use of torture as
immoral, but because they considered it an inefficient allocation of
resources.
And it also appears that it had been conducting medical research on their human prisoners, presumably in the hopes of creating a more believable Terminator infiltration unit.
Everything except the blood that was draining off a metal table in the
room’s center. Its smell contrasted sharply with that of the otherwise
all-pervasive disinfectant. The latter was of course unnecessary for
the protection of the machines. They made use of such chemicals
because they did not want their specimens to become contaminated.
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
add a comment |
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The original script for The Terminator suggests that they were death camps. The implication is that the aim was to dispose of the humans with as much efficiency as possible:
Kyle: Most of us were rounded up, put in camps...for orderly disposal...Some of us were kept alive...to work. Loading bodies. The
disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out
forever...
In the novelisation for Terminator: Salvation, we learn that Skynet also attempted to extract information from some prisoners...
So they kept moving, continued to follow wordless directives, and
speculated on the manner of their impending demise. Options ranged
from the abrupt to the fanciful. A few fatalists even pointed out that
their deaths were likely to be less painful than the destruction
humans had inflicted on other humans down through history. Where
people had all too often proven themselves sadistic, willing to
inflict pain for pain’s sake, the machines were only efficient. Except
in isolated instances where there was a specific desire to extract
information from the otherwise reluctant prisoner, no machine would
kill by torture. Not because they regarded the use of torture as
immoral, but because they considered it an inefficient allocation of
resources.
And it also appears that it had been conducting medical research on their human prisoners, presumably in the hopes of creating a more believable Terminator infiltration unit.
Everything except the blood that was draining off a metal table in the
room’s center. Its smell contrasted sharply with that of the otherwise
all-pervasive disinfectant. The latter was of course unnecessary for
the protection of the machines. They made use of such chemicals
because they did not want their specimens to become contaminated.
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
add a comment |
The original script for The Terminator suggests that they were death camps. The implication is that the aim was to dispose of the humans with as much efficiency as possible:
Kyle: Most of us were rounded up, put in camps...for orderly disposal...Some of us were kept alive...to work. Loading bodies. The
disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out
forever...
In the novelisation for Terminator: Salvation, we learn that Skynet also attempted to extract information from some prisoners...
So they kept moving, continued to follow wordless directives, and
speculated on the manner of their impending demise. Options ranged
from the abrupt to the fanciful. A few fatalists even pointed out that
their deaths were likely to be less painful than the destruction
humans had inflicted on other humans down through history. Where
people had all too often proven themselves sadistic, willing to
inflict pain for pain’s sake, the machines were only efficient. Except
in isolated instances where there was a specific desire to extract
information from the otherwise reluctant prisoner, no machine would
kill by torture. Not because they regarded the use of torture as
immoral, but because they considered it an inefficient allocation of
resources.
And it also appears that it had been conducting medical research on their human prisoners, presumably in the hopes of creating a more believable Terminator infiltration unit.
Everything except the blood that was draining off a metal table in the
room’s center. Its smell contrasted sharply with that of the otherwise
all-pervasive disinfectant. The latter was of course unnecessary for
the protection of the machines. They made use of such chemicals
because they did not want their specimens to become contaminated.
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
add a comment |
The original script for The Terminator suggests that they were death camps. The implication is that the aim was to dispose of the humans with as much efficiency as possible:
Kyle: Most of us were rounded up, put in camps...for orderly disposal...Some of us were kept alive...to work. Loading bodies. The
disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out
forever...
In the novelisation for Terminator: Salvation, we learn that Skynet also attempted to extract information from some prisoners...
So they kept moving, continued to follow wordless directives, and
speculated on the manner of their impending demise. Options ranged
from the abrupt to the fanciful. A few fatalists even pointed out that
their deaths were likely to be less painful than the destruction
humans had inflicted on other humans down through history. Where
people had all too often proven themselves sadistic, willing to
inflict pain for pain’s sake, the machines were only efficient. Except
in isolated instances where there was a specific desire to extract
information from the otherwise reluctant prisoner, no machine would
kill by torture. Not because they regarded the use of torture as
immoral, but because they considered it an inefficient allocation of
resources.
And it also appears that it had been conducting medical research on their human prisoners, presumably in the hopes of creating a more believable Terminator infiltration unit.
Everything except the blood that was draining off a metal table in the
room’s center. Its smell contrasted sharply with that of the otherwise
all-pervasive disinfectant. The latter was of course unnecessary for
the protection of the machines. They made use of such chemicals
because they did not want their specimens to become contaminated.
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
The original script for The Terminator suggests that they were death camps. The implication is that the aim was to dispose of the humans with as much efficiency as possible:
Kyle: Most of us were rounded up, put in camps...for orderly disposal...Some of us were kept alive...to work. Loading bodies. The
disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out
forever...
In the novelisation for Terminator: Salvation, we learn that Skynet also attempted to extract information from some prisoners...
So they kept moving, continued to follow wordless directives, and
speculated on the manner of their impending demise. Options ranged
from the abrupt to the fanciful. A few fatalists even pointed out that
their deaths were likely to be less painful than the destruction
humans had inflicted on other humans down through history. Where
people had all too often proven themselves sadistic, willing to
inflict pain for pain’s sake, the machines were only efficient. Except
in isolated instances where there was a specific desire to extract
information from the otherwise reluctant prisoner, no machine would
kill by torture. Not because they regarded the use of torture as
immoral, but because they considered it an inefficient allocation of
resources.
And it also appears that it had been conducting medical research on their human prisoners, presumably in the hopes of creating a more believable Terminator infiltration unit.
Everything except the blood that was draining off a metal table in the
room’s center. Its smell contrasted sharply with that of the otherwise
all-pervasive disinfectant. The latter was of course unnecessary for
the protection of the machines. They made use of such chemicals
because they did not want their specimens to become contaminated.
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
edited Oct 19 '16 at 18:30
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
answered Jul 12 '15 at 12:36
ValorumValorum
398k10428973130
398k10428973130
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
add a comment |
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
1
1
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
In TSCC they refer to the camp as "Century Work Camp". In the same breath they call it a slaughterhouse so there's no indication that it was anything other than a death camp.
– Valorum
Jul 12 '15 at 13:12
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
@Ernie - I'm happy to discuss this with you in chat.
– Valorum
Jul 24 '15 at 22:33
1
1
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
There was an episode of TSCC where Derek had a flashback to when he and other humans were being kept chained up in a house. There were T-700s there that kept dragging people down into the basement, presumably either to experiment on or interrogate.
– Omegacron
Jul 27 '15 at 15:33
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
Also in TSCC one Allison was shown to be interrogated by a Terminator clone of herself who was sent to deceive John Connor in the future.
– Zommuter
Oct 19 '16 at 18:11
add a comment |
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Out of universe, experimentation on more effective killing techniques, interrogation, and slave labor have been performed in real life. For example, see Nazi Germany
– atk
Jul 12 '15 at 12:16
1
They could also do it to identify individuals on their most wanted list so they could verify when resistance leaders could be removed from the list.
– Major Stackings
Jul 12 '15 at 19:27
We don't know what would make most logical sense to machines, as we aren't them.
– Möoz
Jun 19 '17 at 4:09