Borg philosophy The principal philosophy of the Borg Collective was a drive towards achieving a state of " perfection " for themselves and , in their view , all life . The Borg achieved their " perfection " in several ways , all of which assimilated the individual into the greater hive mind of the collective . Born into perfection . Their most common method was augmenting their infants ' organic bodies at birth , outfitting them with synthetic systems and organs . They placed such " neo - natal drones " in maturation chamber s for accelerated growth for an approximate average of seventeen cycles / days , though sometimes this lasted a mere few days up to several months . ( ) Upon maturation , these Borg had highly advanced technological abilities that were purposed for roughly two broad categories : physical and mental enhancements , and controlling mechanisms to minimize individuality and maximize uniformity . The former group included such powerful tools as personal adaptive defensive force field s , body armor , ocular implant s , prosthetic limbs , enhanced artificial internal tissues , assimilation tubule s , and brain computation - enhancing neural processor s . The latter group of " controls " consisted of devices such as neural interface s , which connected them to the hive mind of the Collective , and cortical node s . Together , these two styles of components ( along with a few others ) rendered all Borg devoid of individual volition and caused them to work in unison and in constant contact with the Collective , unencumbered by emotion or autonomy . The cortical node also served to ensure that any nascent emotions or emergent individuality would be minimized and , if necessary , terminate the " malfunctioning " Borg , ensuring complete unanimity and obedience to the will of the Collective . ( , ; ; ) Their other method was the forcible and usually violent assimilation of other lifeform s and technologies to enhance the biological and technological distinctiveness of the Collective . This was necessary for the Borg to innovate , adapt , and incorporate both the beneficial physiological and technological achievements of the assimilated species and was their principal method of expansion ; they were otherwise unable to independently improve themselves and could neither understand nor mimic that which they did not assimilate . ( This limitation was responsible for their inability to devise any countermeasures against Species 8472 . ) They would then distribute such new benefits and knowledge throughout the Collective via a network of a collective consciousness . Thus , by combining the advantages of myriad species , they sought to bring themselves and the rest of life closer to an integrated , homogeneous , " perfected " state . A not - inconsequential side effect of this was the elimination of the individuality and autonomy of its members ( " drones " ) and thus a fierce resistance to the Borg by all other species . ( ) Assimilation frequently occurred on a small , individual scale but often comprised the assimilation of entire species and / or worlds . ( ; ; , et al . ) While in general the Borg tried to assimilate most species , they were in fact highly discriminating with respect to which species they would assimilate : those deemed unfit for enhancing the Borg Collective were either ignored or , if they posed a threat , destroyed . Seven of Nine told Neelix that the Kazon were " unworthy " of assimilation and would only detract from the Borg ' s quest for perceived perfection . ( ) When summarizing their worldview and its effects in a general terminology , the entity Q described the Borg as " the ultimate users , " and their chosen targets for assimilation as things " they can consume . " ( ; ) Death is irrelevant . To the Borg , the concept of death was an irrelevant idea in their philosophy . ( ) Instead of elaborate rituals or burials , when a drone was damaged beyond repair , it was simply discarded . All of its experiences and memories continued to live on inside the collective consciousness . This was considered a form of immortality by the Borg . ( ) Assimilation of other species . The Borg viewed the significant practical benefits conferred by assimilation as both desirable for themselves and the victim species ; they seemed to genuinely fail to comprehend what they saw as the narrow - minded resistance shown toward assimilation and its attendant loss of individuality of the other species . Freedom , self - determination , and individual rights were viewed as archaic concepts necessary only to less advanced , authority - driven cultures , as noted by Locutus . ( ) Later , the Borg Queen variously described former Borg drone Seven of Nine ' s new - found individuality as both a strength and " weakness " , though the former was from Seven ' s unique ability to bring a greater understanding of individuality to the Borg to aid their quest to assimilate Humanity . The Queen also attempted to explain the Borg Collective in innocuous terms to a child by describing it as a place where everyone were " friends . " ( ) While working towards perfecting themselves through assimilation , the Borg rejected certain species they perceived would detract from their goal . In other cases , the Borg specifically targeted a species considered especially qualified to assist in achieving it . As mentioned above , the Kazon of the Delta Quadrant were an example of the former , as Seven later testified to crewman Neelix , " " Their biological and technological distinctiveness was unremarkable ; they were unworthy of assimilation . " " ( ) As an example of the latter , the Borg repeatedly went to great lengths – including two frontal assaults and even time - travel ( ; ) – to assimilate Human ity , even though the Borg Queen described their physiology as " unremarkable " and deficient . Nonetheless , the Queen recruited Seven to develop a pathogen that would surreptitiously and slowly assimilate Humanity , as those previous direct attempts had failed . ( ) Jean - Luc Picard had earlier confirmed this view of the Human race as an example of a species desirable for assimilation , believing his assimilation to have been an attempt " " . . . to bridge the gulf between Humanity and the Borg . " " ( ) Quasi - religious / spiritual aspect . The Borg considered Particle 010 , known as the " Omega molecule " to Starfleet , to be an expression of perfection ( in effect , a technological " holy grail " ) and were willing to pay any price to assimilate it . The only current or former member of the Collective known to have witnessed this perfection was Seven of Nine , who saw the spontaneous stabilization of several Omega molecule s in a harmonic resonance chamber while aboard the " Voyager " , an experience Kathryn Janeway subsequently described as the equivalent of a spiritual experience for Seven . ( ) Morality and ethics . The Borg were essentially amoral , neither wishing to inflict undue pain upon others nor hesitating to do so when necessary . According to Arturis , whose people had been mostly assimilated ( in essence , wiped out ) , the Borg were no more guilty than a " force of nature , " similar to a hurricane . When discussing their alliance with the Borg in their war with Species 8472 , Chakotay made a similar reference to the amoral nature of the Borg by reciting the story of the scorpion and the fox . He likened the Borg ' s inability to embrace traditional morals , such as trust , as a mere morally - neutral artifact of their nature . ( ) When the crew discovered a band of disconnected , " rogue " Borg under the leadership of Lore , they were initially shocked to see these Borg act with both emotions and a sense of ( im ) morality , further indicating by way of contrast the Borg ' s usual amoral , dispassionate behavior . ( ) Unlike most other belligerent species , the Borg did not invest themselves emotionally in their conflicts : in all their conquests , they displayed a straightforward , dispassionate goal of assimilating other species to add to their own perfection . In fact , they would ignore " enemy " ships and individuals unless they perceived them to be either a threat or useful for assimilation . The Borg also did not seek revenge or desire to settle vendettas against others . ( ; , et al . ) This dispassion , while in some ways preferable to an enemy who wishes to exact revenge , torture , or pain upon its enemies , nonetheless added to most humanoids ' perception of the Borg as an emotionless , mechanistic species and added an unsettling quality to them : though the Borg did not go out of their way to inflict harm or barbarity , it was not possible to appeal to them for compassion , reason , or other typical , humanoid characteristics . An example of this was their lack of interest in the possibility of destroying the Kazon species and seize their ( unsatisfactory but still numerous ) assets and population , as mentioned above . This was also demonstrated when Captain Janeway attempted to forge a temporary alliance with the Borg that would have been mutually beneficial to both , during the Borg ' s war with Species 8472 : the Borg were unable to resist their tendency to attempt to assimilate " Voyager " , even though it was not in their best long - term interest . ( ) Alleged parallels to the UFP . Michael Eddington , the disaffected former Starfleet officer who became a prominent leader of the rebellious Maquis , once unfavorably compared the United Federation of Planets ' philosophy of adding new member species and worlds to that of Borg assimilation . He suggested the relative homogenization process effectively enforced upon all UFP member worlds was not unlike that undergone by assimilated Borg drones . Furthermore , he asserted that the Federation ' s apparent intolerance for its citizens to voluntarily secede was not unlike how the Borg denied its drones the choice of leaving the Collective . In both cases , suggested Eddington , neither the UFP nor the Collective could countenance that any of its population would " willingly choose " to leave " paradise " – Eddington ' s ironic derogatory description of the UFP – or the " perfection " offered by the Borg . Indeed , in Eddington ' s view , the UFP was " more " " insidious " than the Borg , for unlike the latter , the Federation did not explicitly announce their intent to " assimilate " , instead doing it surreptitiously yet with similar results . ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to Melinda Snodgrass , early inspirations for Borg philosophy included the genre of science fiction and . Also influential was Maurice Hurley ' s original conception of the Borg – as a race of insects . Hurley sought to retain an " insect mentality " of relentlessness despite the budget - mandated change to a cybernetic race . ( " " , pp . 179 - 180 ) Locutus of Borg told Worf in that the Borg sought to improve the quality of life for " all " species . Seven of Nine in , however , provided a seemingly different explanation when she described the Borg ' s lack of desire to assimilate the ( apparently unworthy ) Kazon species . Her statements indicated the Borg were interested only in assimilating species they believed would improve their own technological and biological distinctiveness in their quest for perfection . A complete understanding , however , of Borg theories on such advancement - through - assimilation is difficult to attain from the few canonical references regarding the matter . A possible reconciling interpretation is that the Borg simply had no urgency in assigning any priority to assimilating the Kazon ; perhaps they believed they would effect ultimate gain for species deemed otherwise unworthy of assimilation via the homogenizing , perfecting expansion ( and the attendant extinction of lesser species ) of the Collective . Another possible explanation , stated above , is that the Borg changed their philosophy and / or assimilation techniques in the interim between the two episodes . Finally , it is possible the two statements were made under differing motives and that Locutus was trying to mollify the " Enterprise " - D crew by lying .