Thought Collage: Set your phaser to level 8

In case you do not get the reference (for which you should stand in front of a mirror and call yourself a PATAK), this collection is going to be entirely about Star Trek.

I used to watch a lot of Star Trek: TNG as a child, which as far as I can recall was my first exposure to situations involving ethical and moral dilemmas. (Incidentally, the other show that I found fascinating from a similar point of view was the ‘Practice’). Of course, as a child I could not fully comprehend all the subtleties of the issues being explored and whenever they veered off the pure scientific mystery (which was so much more interesting) I would get tempted to ‘change the channel’ but was invariably drawn in. However, revisiting the show has allowed me to appreciate the episodes in greater detail (in this case, I am primarily referring to 'The Next Generation’). It is a pity that being a Star Trek fan carries a nerd stigma in mainstream American culture as I am sure this discourages a lot of young kids from watching it in the first place. It would definitely be more wholesome than Keeping up with the Kardhasians (or should I have said, Cardassians. ;)..Ok…no groans allowed)

Spurred by the recent movie, I ploughed through the entire 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, revisited 4 seasons of Star Trek: TNG and right now am going through Star Trek: TOS on youtube. The by-product of doing that has been some thoughts about the Star Trek universe which I shall promptly spit out.

1of4) Economy: One of the major aspects of the Star Trek universe is the lack of money. From what I have seen (and read on the net), the economy in place during the 23rd century has never been explored properly. The only bit of information that is thrown out in episodes/movies is whenever someone is talking to an anachronistic person and says the line “we don’t have money in our time” (or something similar). It seems like an idea that was incorporated because of its novelty and awe-factor but without being fully fleshed out. Make no mistake; I have no problem in suspending disbelief. I just feel that this would have been a very interesting area to explore. Personally (and unrelated to Star Trek) I am convinced that having money (or any form of currency) is an inevitable product of any economy. At the risk of oversimplification, I feel it is as simple as the fact that you need to exchange goods with others to live productively in a society (no one can be absolutely self sufficient). To exchange goods efficiently you would need an easy form of payment leading to an accepted form of currency. An economy that does not have currency is intriguing. I did do a little bit of searching and discovered something called ‘Participatory Economics’. It is nowhere mentioned in Star Trek canon that this is the model in place but I did find a website arguing that it is the closest. Talking about this economic model is digression but it makes for an interesting read here.

2of4) Cloaking: Humans in Star Trek have both allies (Vulcans) and enemies (Romulans). Although, the Starships of the humans are generally considered technologically superior, there are many episodes where a Klingon or Romulan warship uses ‘cloaking’ to out-battle the Starships. This ‘cloaking’ technology is something the Starships lack. I am willing to suspend my disbelief again but it is hard to keep forgetting that Starships which are very often touted as having the superior destructive and maneuvering capability (once the warbirds have de-cloaked i.e) do not possess this one technology. Wouldn’t an arms race (on which many uneasy truces depend on) lead to massive resources being invested in figuring out this vital piece of technology? There are only so many episodes where someone shouts “RED ALERT! Romulan warbird…de-cloaking portside” before it makes you wonder why at the end of the day the captains don’t go “Captain's log, supplemental: Was taking a relaxing bath. Got taken by surprise again. Must figure this cloaking thing out”. The interesting aspect to this is that according to at least one movie (and possibly other episodes), humans were able to capture a functioning Klingon warship. Someone surely lost their job for dropping the reverse-engineering ball!

3of4) The Borg: After the Vulcans, the Borg are my favourite species in the Trek universe. The Borg are cybernetic creatures which assimilate other species and outfit them with technology to make them part of their collective. They do this to incorporate the species’ biological and technological knowledge into their own know-how in order to become stronger. The Borg have wiped out many races in this manner and are not to be fucked with. If one considers brute force, only one other species (Species 8472) have managed to beat the Borg. Simply put, they are the bad-asses of the 23rd century. But how did they come about? To my knowledge the origins of the Borg have not been explored at all. I find it disappointing that no writing team could come up with a plausible storyline. How about making SKYNET the forerunner of the Borg? Surely it is lazy writing but at least it is something. Or maybe it is time for me to explore my fan-fiction skills! 

4of4) Deanna Troi: Finally, my boyhood crush Deanna Troi!

Oh Counselor Troi

I was only a little boy

When I first laid my eyes on you

Your phaser was set to stun

I could neither hide nor run

For I loved you deeply and truly

But you liked William Riker

How I hated that motherf****

I knew it was in vain

Yet I yearned for you silently

I did move onto Agent Scully

I am a grown man now

And though my words might be sleazy

My love for you comes easy

So this I declare to you

You are welcome in my house

To lay down on my couch

For oh Counselor Troi

I am no more a little boy

The End!
Live Long and Prosper!