Editing Prime Directive (section)

==== ''The Next Generation'' ====
*In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (''TNG'') first-season episode "[[Symbiosis (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Symbiosis]]", Captain [[Jean-Luc Picard]] of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|starship ''Enterprise''-D]] states that, "The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules; it is a philosophy... and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well-intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."
* In the third season episode "[[Who Watches the Watchers]]", the crew of the Enterprise expose a pre-warp civilization on Mintaka III to Federation technology. Despite an attempted mind wipe, the Mintakans remember and now revere Picard as a god. Picard intentionally breaks the Prime Directive again by beaming one of the Mintakans aboard the Enterprise and explaining they are on a starship, and not gods, showing them their world from space and encouraging them to spread the truth to the others. Eventually, he allowed himself to be shot by an arrow to prove he was mortal.
*In the fourth season episode "[[The Drumhead (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Drumhead]]", the captain of the ''Enterprise'' is being interrogated by retired Admiral Norah Satie, who says the Prime Directive is "Starfleet General Order Number One". She claims that Picard had "violated the Prime Directive a total of nine times since you took command of the Enterprise". (To this he responds "My reports to Starfleet document the circumstances in each of those instances".)
* In the fourth season episode "[[First Contact (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|First Contact]]", [[Commander Riker]] goes undercover to scout a pre-warp civilization that is on the verge of discovering warp technology, preparing to establish diplomatic relations. When he is captured, Captain Picard and [[Deanna Troi]] make first contact early, but Picard refuses to share Federation technology with them due to the Prime Directive. After worries of social upheaval, the alien scientists developing warp travel believe their society isn't ready for knowledge of extraterrestrial life, and they ask the ''Enterprise'' to leave without announcing their presence to the public, agreeing to delay developing warp technology until their culture is ready.
*In the seventh season episode "[[Homeward (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Homeward]]", it is said that Starfleet had allowed 60 races to die out rather than interfere with their fate. However, in the episodes "Homeward" and "[[Pen Pals (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Pen Pals]]", the crew debates the Prime Directive and the saving of civilizations.