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Important questions about Star Trek


Road Runner

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I have been watching more of the various Star Trek series on TV recently.  I watched some of the original shows back in the 60's, but just now I am watching the other versions which air almost every night on broadcast TV.  I like the Next Generation series the best.  But I find them hard to enjoy at times because I am constantly questioning Roddenberry's basic concept of the universe and of life in space.  For instance:

Why is it that in all the Star Trek franchises, almost all aliens look very much like humans and, in many cases, they can even procreate with humans?  (Spock was half Vulcan, half human)  Apes are very close to us DNA wise, yet we cannot procreate with them.  How would it be possible that Earthlings, Vulcans, Klingons or Romulans could mate with beings that evolved completely separately on distant planetary systems?    :huh: 

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8 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I have been watching more of the various Star Trek series on TV recently.  I watched some of the original shows back in the 60's, but just now I am watching the other versions which air almost every night on broadcast TV.  I like the Next Generation series the best.  But I find them hard to enjoy at times because I am constantly questioning Roddenberry's basic concept of the universe and of life in space.  For instance:

Why is it that in all the Star Trek franchises, almost all aliens look very much like humans and, in many cases, they can even procreate with humans?  (Spock was half Vulcan, half human)  Apes are very close to us DNA wise, yet we cannot procreate with them.  How would it be possible that Earthlings, Vulcans, Klingons or Romulans could mate with beings that evolved completely separately on distant planetary systems?    :huh: 

I think the premise of that whole thought process is that for planets (class M on Star Trek) to have humanoid life forms they must have similar environments to earth, therefore their species would have followed a similar evolutionary path as humans and therefore would turn out somewhat similar to us.  That or the theory the God created more than one 'earth' and so made us all somewhat the same.

I am not trying to start a P&R post, I have seen this written out as explanations for ST life forms

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And in every show I have seen, the crew of the Enterprise will willy-nilly beam down to strange planet surfaces or even to other starships without ever wearing any protective gear to isolate them from alien germs/bacteria, etc.  And they never need to carry any oxygen or even wear extra clothing.  The atmosphere and temperature of these other environments seems to be perfectly suited for humans.  Even the gravity of these various planets seems to be almost identical to that of Earth.

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I think the above explanation ... while probably accepted by many... or at bare minimum giving the viewer something they can relate to...  Is grossly inadequate and limiting. The randomness of life possibilities of shapes and forms can take on millions uf not billions of forms.

Just don't ask me for an example. :)

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One relatively mild science fiction tale with some aliens that were difficult to understand or relate to was "The Mote in God's Eye".  It's a story of misunderstanding between two races that have less in common than was believed at first.  I always thought of it as a more realistic concept of first contact and assumed information.

Even at that it's still a story only slightly removed from the Western World opening Japan.

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22 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I have been watching more of the various Star Trek series on TV recently.  I watched some of the original shows back in the 60's, but just now I am watching the other versions which air almost every night on broadcast TV.  I like the Next Generation series the best.  But I find them hard to enjoy at times because I am constantly questioning Roddenberry's basic concept of the universe and of life in space.  For instance:

Why is it that in all the Star Trek franchises, almost all aliens look very much like humans and, in many cases, they can even procreate with humans?  (Spock was half Vulcan, half human)  Apes are very close to us DNA wise, yet we cannot procreate with them.  How would it be possible that Earthlings, Vulcans, Klingons or Romulans could mate with beings that evolved completely separately on distant planetary systems?    :huh: 

Because when the big fella spread the folks after the "Tower of Babel" incident, he really spread them out there. Variations in color / size / features are micro-adaptations to local sun/gravity/food/sensory input.

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Doing aliens was limited by time and budget constraints. But they were also limited by a series of problems. The less we have in common, the less interaction is going to make sense. A critter swimming in the plasma of the sun is going to be hard to talk to.

Roddenberry got around the dna problem by saying there was an ancient race that seeded the galaxy with their dna. That most of the races in the Trek universe were distant cousins.

The casual side of Trek displays a lack of interest in the science, esp when it gets in the way of the story.

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2 hours ago, Road Runner said:

I have been watching more of the various Star Trek series on TV recently.  I watched some of the original shows back in the 60's, but just now I am watching the other versions which air almost every night on broadcast TV.  I like the Next Generation series the best.  But I find them hard to enjoy at times because I am constantly questioning Roddenberry's basic concept of the universe and of life in space.  For instance:

Why is it that in all the Star Trek franchises, almost all aliens look very much like humans and, in many cases, they can even procreate with humans?  (Spock was half Vulcan, half human)  Apes are very close to us DNA wise, yet we cannot procreate with them.  How would it be possible that Earthlings, Vulcans, Klingons or Romulans could mate with beings that evolved completely separately on distant planetary systems?    :huh: 

This is why I stick with I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriet.  

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19 hours ago, Road Runner said:

And in every show I have seen, the crew of the Enterprise will willy-nilly beam down to strange planet surfaces or even to other starships without ever wearing any protective gear to isolate them from alien germs/bacteria, etc.  And they never need to carry any oxygen or even wear extra clothing.  The atmosphere and temperature of these other environments seems to be perfectly suited for humans.  Even the gravity of these various planets seems to be almost identical to that of Earth.

It was a simpler time, plus people were tougher then.

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19 hours ago, Dottie said:

I think the above explanation ... while probably accepted by many... or at bare minimum giving the viewer something they can relate to...  Is grossly inadequate and limiting. The randomness of life possibilities of shapes and forms can take on millions uf not billions of forms.

Just don't ask me for an example. :)

I would like an example, please.

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  • 2 years later...
On 9/16/2019 at 12:39 PM, Road Runner said:

And in every show I have seen, the crew of the Enterprise will willy-nilly beam down to strange planet surfaces or even to other starships without ever wearing any protective gear to isolate them from alien germs/bacteria, etc.  And they never need to carry any oxygen or even wear extra clothing.  The atmosphere and temperature of these other environments seems to be perfectly suited for humans.  Even the gravity of these various planets seems to be almost identical to that of Earth.

It is generally checked out before beaming down, then verified by tricorder readings.

If alien chicks are hot, there will be rutting.  Human guys are human guys, after all, so we breed with everything and see what sticks.  There is no gloving up in space, you see.

Anyway, the aliens are all human-like so makeup and wardrobe is less involved.  Plus, we all want to bang aliens.

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On 9/16/2019 at 12:17 PM, Road Runner said:

I have been watching more of the various Star Trek series on TV recently.  I watched some of the original shows back in the 60's, but just now I am watching the other versions which air almost every night on broadcast TV.  I like the Next Generation series the best.  But I find them hard to enjoy at times because I am constantly questioning Roddenberry's basic concept of the universe and of life in space.  For instance:

Why is it that in all the Star Trek franchises, almost all aliens look very much like humans and, in many cases, they can even procreate with humans?  (Spock was half Vulcan, half human)  Apes are very close to us DNA wise, yet we cannot procreate with them.  How would it be possible that Earthlings, Vulcans, Klingons or Romulans could mate with beings that evolved completely separately on distant planetary systems?    :huh: 

And how is it that Banner turns into the hulk.

These movies are for enjoyment and to really enjoy you have to suspend your belief sometimes.

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On 9/16/2019 at 12:39 PM, Road Runner said:

And in every show I have seen, the crew of the Enterprise will willy-nilly beam down to strange planet surfaces or even to other starships without ever wearing any protective gear to isolate them from alien germs/bacteria, etc.  And they never need to carry any oxygen or even wear extra clothing.  The atmosphere and temperature of these other environments seems to be perfectly suited for humans.  Even the gravity of these various planets seems to be almost identical to that of Earth.

Low budget. :)

 

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So, when God scattered the humans after that whole Tower of Babel fiasco, He really, REALLY, REALLY, scattered them. Not just across the planet, but across the galaxy( or maybe universe, even).

Different planets had different gravity, sunlight, food, climate, chemistry & hence the variation on a theme in "human-ish" physiology.

Many scattered folks didn't fall into the whole "dark ages" thing & continued to progress more rapidly thru the ages (Talosians & Q & Douwd & Worm-Hole Aliens (DS9,), the guy who hijacked Barkley, etc.). I mean, look what we humans have done in the last 100 years (Kitty Hawk to SpaceX; leaches to MRIs; etc.), can you imagine how far along we'd be if civilization hadn't fallen to the barbarians circa 500AD??

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