In the Star Trek films and TV shows, a thing called the Kobayashi Maru pops up every now and again. Itâs a simulated test where cadets at Starfleet Academy, captaining their own vessel, are required to rescue another vessel in distress. But out of nowhere, several Klingon ships turn up and give them a vigorous phasering. Everyone dies. Afterwards, the chastened cadet is told that there was no way they could have saved the other vessel or their own crew: the whole point of the Kobayashi Maru is that it is a no-win scenario. It was actually a test of character; of how the cadet deals with failure.