Why Didn't the "Final Five" Program a Respect for Humans in Humaniform Cylons?

Question

In the newer Battlestar Galactica, the "Final Five," who are really the "Original Five" humaniform Cylons are humans who have figured out how to make artificial bodies and to live forever by creating a new body when the old one wears out.

They come upon the Cylons who are, at the time, trying to make an improved version of their own selves and help them with that, thus creating the humaniform Cylons like Boomer and Six and Brother Cavil.

Since the Cylons were originally at war with the humans, and since the humaniform Cylons were the ones in control over the Centurions and other mechanical Cylons, was there a reason the "Original Five" would not have taken the safety precaution to program a built-in respect for other humans?

And even if they didn't do that, wouldn't all the humaniform Cylons know who created them and be inclined to treat them, and humans, better than just trying to kill them all?

Answer 1

Since the Cylons were originally at war with the humans, and since the humaniform Cylons were the ones in control over the Centurions and other mechanical Cylons, was there a reason the "Original Five" would not have taken the safety precaution to program a built-in respect for other humans?

I might be misunderstanding the question here, but the fact that the Cylons had been at war with the humans would disincline them or others on their side to "humanize" (pun intended, alternatively "respect") other humans. I imagine it would have made war more one-sided as the biggest benefit in a war is dehumanizing the opposition. If you don't see them as the same as you, or non-human in some form, it makes it easier to fight and kill them.

Wouldn't all the humaniform Cylons know who created them and be inclined to treat them, and humans, better than just trying to kill them all?

The Cylons were programmed to forget who had created them, hence why there was a search for the "Final Five". Although Cavil is later revealed to have known, other models confirm that they were unable to know who the Final Five were. Whether this was done by Cavil in his machinations, or by one or more of the Final Five themselves as a protection mechanism is unknown.

Answer 2

The deal between the Five and the colonial Cylons was that the Five will help the Cylons perfect humaniform bodies and develop resurrection technology in return for a truce with the colonial humans.

The Five were like respected experts but never held any command positions in the Cylon hierarchy. Therefore Cylons would not have accepted any kind of behavioral programming from them (recall that Cylons refuse such programming even from their own -- some Centurions rebelled when the found out about the reprogramming of the Raiders).

Command was eventually taken over by the new humaniform models, relegating older models to lower positions. About 10 years later, Cavil murdered the Five, boxed anyone with exiting knowledge of their identity and withheld it from all newly created Cylons. He even erased it from the memories of the Five.

Answer 3

The Final Five respected humanity, and felt that Cylons should emulate humanity closely, hence the argument between Cavil and the Final Five. Programming motivations such as being "nice" to all humans (akin to programming in the Laws of Robotics) would be a step away from humanizing them, not towards.

The Final Fives argument is that humanity it all its flaws, is better then a perfected machine. Encoding the solution is no solution at all.

Answer 4

The final five was humans that world was destroyed by cylons aka they are the thirteenth tribe. To survive they became artificial humans aka cylons. The cylons did not know this. The one was the first made so thats why he know. He felt jealous of a 8 and killed him or mutated him. He the one that erased the memories of the five and programed the block.

The five thought if they had free will they wouldn't rebel.

Adama and his superiors started the war by crossing the boundaries and 1 took advantage.

Metal cylon has blocks. Also big twist at the end. They are all cylons. Even the humans on the twelve colonies. The stop using the resurrection tech. But the only real humans on the show is at the end. The program is why the raider reconise the five at activation. The background behind this twist is in the original they find earth and see us hinting they are aliens.