Mass Effect 2 has presented us with a wide plethora of difficult ideas and decisions to mull over (as great art is apt to do). From the questionable morality of destroying or saving the genophage cure, to preserving or blowing up the Collector Base, ME2 really threw some complicated shit at the player. None more so, however, than the question of the Geth Heretic destroy/re-write.
At first glance, this is already a deeply complicated and tricky philosophical decision. The way it's essentially presented is the question of which is preferable: freedom of will or basic survival? Which fate is worst: unwilling belief or genocide? Even at its topmost layer of consideration, players were already faced with an intensely personal choice, forcing them to consider their own deeply held convictions and beliefs in idealism versus basic pragmatism. But the truth is, the problem goes even further than this.
Consider how the Geth are presented to players. The Geth are not a conglomeration of individuals, but neither are they a true collective. They are a vast collection of limited programs that conglomerate to form a "Gestalt Intelligence". In one sense they are a single being, only able to identify "individual" geth in regards to "platforms", housing a certain number of VI's to perform set functions, technically ceasing to exist as individual persons once they upload their experiences at hubs, yet shown to have, in these "platforms", a limited form of individuality (yet to be truly determined though). Therefore, it is not unreasonable to consider all Geth as one person (described by EDI as a "single mind expanding the breadth of the galactic arm"). Even the heretics were still viewed as part of this one Geth (confirmed by Shepard's statement "In a way, what you do to them, you do to yourselves"). In this sense, the two Geth factions seem less like separate persons, simply two personalities within the same person. In this sense, the problem of re-write becomes even more complicated because now it's no longer just a problem of philosophy. Maybe it's a problem of psychology. In that sense, would re-writing the Geth be akin to simply curing a personality disorder? But then the question becomes even more complicated when Legion is shocked to discover that these heretic Geth have severed their connection to the other Geth, hiding new data and subroutines. In a sense, putting themselves on the path to becoming a new "person." Is it wrong to stifle or destroy the creation of that new person? And if you treat them as separate factions, but still "single minds," is wiping them out still genocide, or is it more like homicide (killing one person)? Opinions people?
At first glance, this is already a deeply complicated and tricky philosophical decision. The way it's essentially presented is the question of which is preferable: freedom of will or basic survival? Which fate is worst: unwilling belief or genocide? Even at its topmost layer of consideration, players were already faced with an intensely personal choice, forcing them to consider their own deeply held convictions and beliefs in idealism versus basic pragmatism. But the truth is, the problem goes even further than this.
Consider how the Geth are presented to players. The Geth are not a conglomeration of individuals, but neither are they a true collective. They are a vast collection of limited programs that conglomerate to form a "Gestalt Intelligence". In one sense they are a single being, only able to identify "individual" geth in regards to "platforms", housing a certain number of VI's to perform set functions, technically ceasing to exist as individual persons once they upload their experiences at hubs, yet shown to have, in these "platforms", a limited form of individuality (yet to be truly determined though). Therefore, it is not unreasonable to consider all Geth as one person (described by EDI as a "single mind expanding the breadth of the galactic arm"). Even the heretics were still viewed as part of this one Geth (confirmed by Shepard's statement "In a way, what you do to them, you do to yourselves"). In this sense, the two Geth factions seem less like separate persons, simply two personalities within the same person. In this sense, the problem of re-write becomes even more complicated because now it's no longer just a problem of philosophy. Maybe it's a problem of psychology. In that sense, would re-writing the Geth be akin to simply curing a personality disorder? But then the question becomes even more complicated when Legion is shocked to discover that these heretic Geth have severed their connection to the other Geth, hiding new data and subroutines. In a sense, putting themselves on the path to becoming a new "person." Is it wrong to stifle or destroy the creation of that new person? And if you treat them as separate factions, but still "single minds," is wiping them out still genocide, or is it more like homicide (killing one person)? Opinions people?
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