the wife and I maintain that data naming his cat “spot” is yet more evidence of his deep vein of ironic humour
literally everything data does that isn’t mission-critical is on like three levels of irony
the reasoning:
a logical choice would be to pick a name for his cat that represents either the statistically most popular cat name chosen by speakers of his native language (usually a human name like Oliver), or to follow the custom of taking the cat’s name from its fur pattern, like “socks” or “tiger” or “spot”
but data strives not just to become more human but to be an individual, and he respects individuality and uniqueness in others
giving his cat the most popular name would not be respecting the cat’s uniqueness
naming his cat after its fur pattern would be respecting its individuality but reflect none of his own
therefore data names his cat, who is orange with stripes, spot
there is absolutely no way he doesn’t think this is funny, in that 1000% deadpan way he expresses himself
There’s also an iconic, very well known set of children’s books in which Spot is a dog, not a cat.
Giving a cat a name typically associated with dogs is a lovely bit of irony.
repeated viewings as an adult have definitely convinced me either the writers were bing more clever than is usually assumed, or that Data turned out as a very different character from the creative intent. He’s funny, passionate, and deeply emotional. Just… not in neurotypical ways.
I would also like to point out that a Spot is a small round marking and a point can also be a small round object. So by naming his cat Spot he made the cat a Data Point
