I was trying to explain the perils of groupthink and extremely low tolerance for conflict on project teams to my Project Management students. I used the Major’s conversation with Togusa about why they wanted someone with almost no body augmentation on a cyborg law enforcement team. Nobody knew the movie. Not even the live action remake (that’s missing this scene) which was only a few years ago.
Togusa: Yes, Major. There’s something I’ve wanted to ask ever since I started. Why did you transfer a guy like me from the police force?
Motoko: Because we need a guy like you.
Togusa: Huh?
Motoko: Number one, you’re an honest cop. Number two, you’ve never stepped out of line. Three, you’re a family man. And, except for the slight brain augmentation, your body is almost completely human. If we all reacted the same way, we’d be predictable. And there’s always more than one way to view a situation. What’s true for the group is also true for the individual. It’s simple. Overspecialize and you breed in weakness. It’s slow death.
I couldn’t find the specific scene online, so here’s the opening credits sequence from the Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG television series.