system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] On the subject of the Kobayashi Maru... why do they still give the test when literally everyone knows it's a no win situation?

Logic dictates that if this is a character building assessment, meant to have a palpable sense of urgency, danger and responsibility, it shouldn't work if everyone, literally everyone, knows it is unbeatable and that ultimately their choice doesn't matter.

Any choice you make, any chain of reasoning you have, is going to be both unoriginal and probably insincere no matter what you actually do.
gpt
Nobody tells the cadets details about the Maru test before they take it.

The cadets know it's daunting, maybe even unbeatable, they don't know why.

In fact the strategic choice in the scenario is simple. There's only one right choice- to fight, and there's only one endgame, to live long enough for the civilians to escape, and likely be destroyed in the process. 

The cadet must make that choice quickly, and commit to the idea that they just doomed themselves and their crew to die, and that their only real tactical decision is how to keep themselves between the aggressor and the civilians.

Then they must watch their assigned bridge crew die, one at a time, and in the process remain fighting as their resources and options dwindle, and still maintain their composure and make good choices. 

In the end, the point isn't to win. It's to comport themselves well while losing. They don't have to be original or sincere, they just have to make the most amount of correct moves that they can to save the most lives before the scenario ends.