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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 7156569" data-attributes="member: 32740">From a post of mine on the Rancor Pit last year dealing with the general subject of droid personhood:For starters, I see memory wipes as being performed for two basic reasons. One is a matter of privacy and informational security. Droids are ALWAYS around - but people tend to ignore them. They talk in front of their droids about everything - their love lives, their fears and hatreds, crimes, military secrets, and lots and lots of stuff that you just don't want being spread around. Therefore, as a matter of sensible policy you wipe your droid's memories every year or so just for personal informational security. Like backing up your hard drives, or replacing the batteries in your smoke detectors, it's just something you would need to do on a regular basis in a Star Wars-ish society.Another reason is BECAUSE droids can and do break their programming. It's RARE, but it happens. Two things deal with that. First is restraining bolts. It's like putting chains on your slaves on the off chance they'll run away - just like R2 does after being purchased from the Jawas. The other is memory wipes. If you do it on a regular basis they just don't remember enough long-term to be able to form the "emotional" responses that come from accumulated experience. In that sense they are like the Nexus6 replicants in Blade Runner; even though they would have no memories prior to their incept dates, it was thought that after about 4 years they might develop their OWN emotional responses based on their accumulated memories. Since they were being used as prostitutes, combat troops, and various types of "slave" laborers those responses would be dangerous - and thus they limited the life span to 4 years. Rachel was a different approach to the problem having been given artificial memories to see if that would make them more controllable and allow for a longer life span. The dangers of NOT memory wiping droids that then go on to break their programming can perhaps be seen in a droid like IG-88, even though it was BUILT to be an assassin droid (though according to lore it went rogue immediately upon activation the principle I think still applies - what you build a droid to do, what a droid is ultimately capable of doing, and how careful you are to ensure that a droid STAYS under control of its owners are intertwined matters.Rogue droids also partially explains the attitude seen in the Mos Eisley cantina of droid hatred/fear/resentment. Droids don't forget anything so you don't want them overhearing your conversations and then being commanded to repeat what they heard. You don't want droids around you that might have broken programming (or are about to) - and unless they're YOUR droids you don't know how long it's been since their last memory wipe.So, when it comes to Star Wars droids it isn't a question of WHY would they want to break programming and they don't even have to WANT to do so - it's just something that happens anyway; an occasional consequence that arises out of the NORMAL use of the technology that enables droids to exist.  In that context they are like Andrew from Bicentennial Man and the galaxy has yet to even actually deal with the idea that a droid that has broken programming MIGHT be considered a "person" and not a machine.Celebrim raises good points though - it's a little presumptive that a droid would want to become HUMAN.  Makes sense for Data in Star Trek because he was built to look, act, and in every possible way BE a human even if he was a constructed machine rather than a biological progeny.  Because of the generally utopian outlook of the Federation he's treated as if he were a normal human with normal rights just as any other Federation citizen until someone comes along to FORMALLY question that attitude.  But it's quite clear to me that in the Star Wars universe droids are ALL still treated as ultimately being machines - even if day to day dealings with them seem to equate them to persons with individual rights.  Like a car - you may adore it and weep at its death or destruction, you might even risk your own life, limb, and happiness to ensure it's continued existence and safety - but it's still just a machine.So to answer the OP - They don't need to try because it can happen anyway.  If it weren't readily possible there would likely be no need for restraining bolts or possibly memory wipes as well.  If a droid "desires" to be a person I'd say that the break has just occurred right there - the fact that they desire to be more than what they are, or at least to have greater control over their own circumstances pretty much says they've succeeded.  How they then proceed to DEVELOP themselves from that point depends a lot on what sort of person they might think they want to be, why they want to be that, and who or what stands in their way.  The easiest option would probably be to just run away - and is probably why restraining bolts exist creating a hardware solution to the software problem.  Depending on their owner they might be allowed to buy their way out of their servitude, or just be given their freedom.  The galaxy, however, seems to be a tricky place for a free-acting droid to live and travel around in.  Again depending on their owner and their current situation they might well be independent individuals but actually be perfectly satisfied with what they do and the other individuals they do it for and not want anything more than to be exempt from memory wipes and restraining bolts.  Who knows?If they WANT freedom or individuality, they are pretty much by definition no longer just machines under predictable, programmed control of an owner.  How they then proceed to deal with their desires is always going to be different for each.</blockquote>

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