Lonely Loneliness

Taking a risk on ST:TNG

Question:

>> Case in point, Riker was still there – > …due to a promise that Q made to Picard earlier in the episode… >…that nothing Picard did in the past would have any impact > on the future, except for Picard himself.

Which is just the scriptwriter’s way of brushing the problem under the carpet, hoping that no-one would notice… The fact that Picard no longer has the influence he had, DOES alter History… Joining up all the loose ends to make *this* History appear the same involves changing many, many other people and situations, to fit in… Massive violation of the Prime Directive ! On those grounds, Picard would have refused to play along *whatever* Q promised… Of course, if the next 40 minutes *had* consisted entirely of:   Q: "Oh, come on Jean-Luc, play along."   Picard: "No, I won’t."   Q: "Yes you will."   Picard: "No I won’t."   Q: "Yes you will."   Picard: "No I won’t."      and so on… it would not have made much of an episode… ( but better than some we could mention ) So, the question is: Was it *real* – or only in Picard’s imagination ? When I saw this episode, I couldn’t help thinking it had been influenced by the David Niven film "A Matter Of Life And Death". In both cases, it is left to the viewer to decide whether the depiction of "the After-Life" is *real* or is only in the character’s imagination… remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

> In most episodes, Picard is portrayed as a man respected by colleagues > but with few – if any – friends

But no Star Trek characters in any series have many friends outside of the bridge crew, do they? Wasn’t Picard friends with Crusher’s husband, when he was secretly in love with her? I suppose Deep Space Nine had the most in depth exploration of family, especially with the Sisko clan. And of course, every "Klingon" episode involved rituals, honor, and family feuds. O’Brien had a kid who aged at a fairly normal rate, then Kieko moved to Bajor. I’m not trying to argue. KC Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

> I’m not trying to argue.

I didn’t say you were I just think that Picard suffers "the loneliness of command" more than most characters of the genre. > Wasn’t Picard friends with Crusher’s husband, > when he was secretly in love with her?

True, but I always thought that was the exception that proves the rule. But – ( this is where it gets awkward ) – even here there is an undercurrent that Picard always felt "guilty" for having such feelings, even though he had no intention of acting on them… > But no Star Trek characters in any series have many friends > outside of the bridge crew, do they?

Except when a friend is introduced – who we have never heard of before –  only to fall victim to ( insert choice of dramatic death ) or have their body taken over by ( insert choice of dangerous alien )… Except, of course, for Kirk, who knew half the women in the Quadrant remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

In article <94805i$5t…@nnrp1.deja.com>,   kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > I looked it up on Amazon, episode 144. I also recognized ep. 141, "The Inner > Light," about how an alien machine made him live the entire life of another > man over the course of 20 minutes. I might go to the store tomorrow and buy > both episodes.

That one was brilliant. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > I looked it up on Amazon, episode 144. I also recognized ep. 141, "The Inner > Light," about how an alien machine made him live the entire life of another > man over the course of 20 minutes.

Ah, yeah, that one.  I remember not liking it all that much the first time I saw it, but it really got me thinking about stuff later on. > I thought it was strange that he was by far the oldest person on the entire > ship, and no one thought it strange that he was so low ranking. How often are > any of the no name crew members like "Lt. Smith" older than 30?

Hehe, yeah, that did seem a bit weird.  But it just makes you wonder, are there Starfleet officers like that who never advance in their career?  It seems like there would be.  Not all professionals here in the 21st century climb up the corporate ladder throughout their lives. > But, I > have a hard time forcing myself to take risks, hence the appeal of > "Tapestry."

Maybe you just need to be stabbed in the heart.  ;-) > It seems to me as though Capt. Picard had close friends, family and > co-workers to support him, which I do not have.

Well, there’s also the fact that in the 24th century, anybody can greatly respect a captain in Starfleet, especially the one commanding the flagship of the Federation.  You don’t really need the support of friends and family in order to feel successful in that position.  In fact, Picard’s family DIDN’T support him when he first entered Starfleet.  In our 21st century reality, you have to consider that with every career you can think of, people will disapprove.  So you just have to be happy doing what you’ve chosen to do, and work hard toward your own goals. > When 100% of the people that > you know spend 100% of their time trying to talk you out of doing 100% of the > things that you try to do, over the course of 5.5 years, it gets very > exhausting after awhile, hence my current emotional crisis (all a long story, > not explained very well, I know).

No, definitely not explained very well.  I feel like you’ve just presented me with a puzzle that I’m supposed to try to solve!  Hmmm, 100% of the people… spending 100% of their time… trying to disrupt 100% of the things you do… for the past 5.5 years…  What could possibly lead to such a situation?  Okay, here are some of my guesses… A.  All of the people you know work for a company that you’ve been trying to run out of business for 5.5 years. B.  You’ve spent the last 5.5 years working in a mental hospital, and all the people you know are schizophrenics who think you’re out to get them. C.  You’ve spent the last 5.5 years on a solo mission to catch a fugitive, and thus, he’s the only person you know. D.  You’ve been a ruthless dictator of a third-world country for the last 5.5 years. E.  You’ve been married for the last 5.5 years. Sorry, got a little carried away there. > I sometimes think about all the sci-fi stuff about alternate universes, where > there’s an infinite number of universes. That means on an infinite number of > planets, I’m a police officer, I’m gay, I black, I’m dead, I’m a magician, > etc., forever and ever. Try to wrap your mind around that!

Heh.  I think when you take it to the ultimate extreme with the infinite possibilities, it becomes a little pointless to think about it.  But when you focus on a few possibilities with just minor differences, it becomes an interesting thing to ponder.   –Adml. Celebok

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> I thought it was strange that he was by far the oldest person on the entire > ship, and no one thought it strange that he was so low ranking. How often are > any of the no name crew members like "Lt. Smith" older than 30?

if i remember correctly, he looked young to other people, but appeared old before the camera (so that there is no confusion that this is the old picard in the young picard’s body).  or maybe it was another sci-fi episode..

Response:

> if i remember correctly, he looked young to other people, but appeared old > before the camera (so that there is no confusion that this is the old picard > in the young picard’s body).  or maybe it was another sci-fi episode..

Actually, the "old Picard in young Picard’s body" occurred during the altered past, when he was in the Academy, after he avoided getting stabbed. When he was then returned to the altered "present" time line, he was an old science officer, while everything else was just as it was during the time line that he was familiar with, when he was captain. As many characters have said through the years, "I never quite grasped temporal mechanics." KC Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

> As many characters have said through the years, "I never quite grasped > temporal mechanics."

Double that for the script-writers > When he was then returned to the altered "present" time line, > he was an old science officer, while everything else > was just as it was during the time line that he was familiar with, > when he was captain.

Which would not be right, surely… Command decisions made by Picard would have had an influence. Those decisions would have been made by a different person – who might have chosen differently… Case in point, Riker was still there – ( I forget: was he still Second-In-Command, or was he Captain ? ) but he was originally posted to the Enterprise on Picard’s request… These minor differences would have influenced minor events… which would have influenced larger events… which wuld have influenced still larger events… For a quick course on temporal mechanics – "It’s A Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

remaining_anonymous wrote: > > When he was then returned to the altered "present" time line, > > he was an old science officer, while everything else > > was just as it was during the time line that he was familiar with, > > when he was captain. > Which would not be right, surely… > Command decisions made by Picard would have had an influence. > Those decisions would have been made by a different person – who might > have chosen differently… > Case in point, Riker was still there – > ( I forget: was he still Second-In-Command, or was he Captain ? ) > but he was originally posted to the Enterprise on Picard’s request…

This was actually due to a promise that Q made to Picard earlier in the episode.  Picard refused at first to play along with Q’s game because he wasn’t willing to alter history.  So reluctantly, Q guaranteed that nothing Picard did in the past would have any impact on the future, except for Picard himself. –Adml. Celebok

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>but I’d probably want to remain a permanent resident of Earth.

HA ! You Flatlander, you ! > So I’d probably just find some kind of engineering career on Earth. > I’m sure they exist outside of Starfleet.

But StarFleet seems to have a monopoly on all the good stuff… remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

> Imagine that.  An OT ST discussion on a.s.s.  I love it.  I think that > there is some value in discussing alternate possible cultures.

See my post asking abut this topic, sent as a new thread… "Off-topic discussions: allowed or not ?" > I’d agree that traditional economics are obsolete, but that doesn’t > necessarily mean that there are no economics.

True, but *what* kind of economics ? One point to bear in mind is that the script-writers don’t really know either. They would say that they are producing entertainment, not a serious analysis of a hi-tech society. Hence the vagueness. But, the underlying assumptions that they make on such matters *will* influence the rest of the scenario. Another point to bear in mind is that whenever anyone has started talking about "new economics" – the "old economics" returns quite rapidly >>> Also, private business can flourish on DS9. >> True, but aren’t these non-human businesses > Some of them are.  There are a few human businesses, > but they don’t generally appear in more than one episode.

The only ones I remember off-hand are scams, hoaxes and such – Humans grabbing hard currency lattinum that will be of use to them *outside* the Federation… > Anyway, one of the problems with ST is that > we don’t see too much of the culture apart from Star Fleet.

Probably because Star Fleet is the "exciting" part of the society. I suppose a series about almost any other aspect of the Trek universe would be a soap opera with different scenery; ( although some episodes of TNG, DS-9 and Voyager *have* seemed to be soap operas with different scenery )… Babylon 5 did have an episode from the view-point of "the little man" – two janitors watching events around them, and not knowing what was really going on… > Up until the 1950’s, the U.S. economy was based at least > in part on silver.  There was no such a thing as a dollar bill. > Instead, they were "silver certificates" which said that they could be > turned in for "real money" (i.e. silver) at certain Federal banks.

UK banknotes still bear the motto: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of" and the value eg "Five Pounds" – reflecting the time when the note represented the equivalent value of gold in the vaults of the Bank Of England. It has been effectively meaningless since the UK came off the Gold Standard, but has been retained. Possibly some people *would* lose faith in the currency if it suddenly did *not* have those words – but, I think *most* people have never even noticed it… > But even with replicators, there surely must be an energy industry. > …Bashir uses the holosuites all the time. > He’d have to pay for it.  Where does he get the money?

" Listen Quark, let me into the holosuite, and I’ll let you know Dax’s communicator number… " These are examples of important details that are overlooked. To be honest, I think we are not *supposed* to ask questions like that remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

Imagine that.  An OT ST discussion on a.s.s.  I love it.  I think that there is some value in discussing alternate possible cultures. In article <94gc3u$mn…@nnrp1.deja.com>,   remaining_anonymous <remaining_anonym…@my-deja.com> wrote: > One change was the assumption that the widespread use of replicator > technology and other forms of automation had made traditional economics > obsolete. ( I think someone was heavily influenced by articles on > nanotechnology… )

I’d agree that traditional economics are obselete, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are no economics. > > Also, private business can flourish on DS9. > True, but aren’t these non-human businesses – from cultures that "have > not yet embraced the new economic reality" and all that ?

Some of them are.  There are a few human businesses, but they don’t generally appear in more than one episode. Anyway, one of the problems with ST is that we don’t see too much of the culture apart from Star Fleet.  Surely there must be a lot of people who don’t make it into the Academy.  We just don’t see much of that.  There are research institutions, which presumably work a lot like research institutions did back when we had them–government funding and a life of genteel poverty for the researchers.  But even with replicators, at least there surely must be an energy industry.  After all, in Voyager they don’t have much energy, which is a central plot-driver. > > there’s certainly a means of exchange. > Gold-pressed lattinum ? > That’s a Ferrengi currency – not a Federation one

I always thought that was somewhat embarassing.  Surely in the ST universe it would be silly to base a currency on a substance.  However, consider this.  Up until the 1950’s, the U.S. economy was based at least in part on silver.  There was no such a thing as a dollar bill. Instead, they were "silver certificates" which said that they could be turned in for "real money" (i.e. silver) at certain Federal banks. (Private ownership of gold was illegal at the time.)  Then it was changed so that the economy was based on the dicta of what is essentially a private corporation known as the Fed.  This is really a major change in the economy, but the nuts and bolts of how people got things done didn’t change much. > I got the impression that it was accepted on DS-9 because other > cultures – like the Ferrengi and the Bajorans – would not accept > anything less tangible.

But the point is that Bashir uses the holosuites all the time.  He’d have to pay for it.  Where does he get the money?  Barter and corruption (favor passing) would work, but that isn’t emphasized.  There must be some seamless way for this to happen. > I don’t think it has ever been definitively stated just what the > economic situation *really* is. > I always thought it was kept a little vague: > "so as to not offend those of a different economic persuasion".

Yeah.  So we might as well argue about it, nicht wahr? Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

Andrew Venor wrote: > Celebok wrote: > > And the thing that I always thought was a bit odd was the fact that Worf > > didn’t invite any of his friends from the Enterprise to his wedding! > Well maybe the Enterprise was on a war patrol in a different sector at that > time?

But they still could have tried to insert one line to explain why the Enterprise crew couldn’t make it, instead of make it seem like Worf has forgotten about his former shipmates so quickly. –Adml. Celebok

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kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > Pertaining more to the subject, elderly, low ranking officers probably end up > on distant space stations and on planets and colonies, while the best and > brightest earn assignments on the fleet’s best ships.

Yeah, I suppose that could be true.  Actually, I’ve imagined that if I were actually living in the 24th century Star Trek universe, chances are I wouldn’t join Starfleet.  There’s, of course, the reasons we’ve been talking about, that I’m just not an ambitious risk-taker, so there wouldn’t be a point in hoping to rise up in command, and I just can’t see myself enjoying working for a Starfleet captain, whether it be on a starship or space station or colony.  In fact, I’d probably drop out of Starfleet Academy after my first year if I enrolled.  Plus I don’t think I’d be much into space exploration.  I might travel to a few planets like Risa and Bajor for vacations, but I’d probably want to remain a permanent resident of Earth.  So I’d probably just find some kind of engineering career on Earth.  I’m sure they exist outside of Starfleet. Hehe, I can’t believe I’m talking about this!  :-) –Adml. Celebok http://home.earthlink.net/~celebok

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> the Star Trek universe has money. > Kirk says, "Scotty, you’ve just earned your pay for the week."

Yes, in the original series Many changes were made in the underlying assumptions for ST:TNG. Perhaps not all the scriptwriters were told  :-) Or perhaps they didn’t understand them  :-( One change was the assumption that the widespread use of replicator technology and other forms of automation had made traditional economics obsolete. ( I think someone was heavily influenced by articles on nanotechnology… ) > Also, private business can flourish on DS9.

True, but aren’t these non-human businesses – from cultures that "have not yet embraced the new economic reality" and all that ? > there’s certainly a means of exchange.

Gold-pressed lattinum ? That’s a Ferrengi currency – not a Federation one I got the impression that it was accepted on DS-9 because other cultures – like the Ferrengi and the Bajorans – would not accept anything less tangible. And don’t forget – Quark viewed gold as worthless – it was just any old common metal being used to make the container for the really valuable stuff – the liquid lattinum. I don’t think it has ever been definitively stated just what the economic situation *really* is. I always thought it was kept a little vague: "so as to not offend those of a different economic persuasion". "Listen, guys – if they think it’s Communism – we might be able to sell the series to China!"  :-) remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

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kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > Wasn’t Picard friends with Crusher’s husband, when he was secretly in love > with her?

Yeah, in fact I remember Picard even referring to Jack Crusher as his "best friend".  And that was why he never told Beverly that he was in love with her.  He felt guilty about betraying his best friend. > I suppose Deep Space Nine had the most in depth exploration of family, > especially with the Sisko clan. And of course, every "Klingon" episode > involved rituals, honor, and family feuds. O’Brien had a kid who aged at a > fairly normal rate, then Kieko moved to Bajor.

I remember a magazine article a while back that mentioned that they were trying to do that on DS9, because they wanted something different from TOS and TNG always portraying Starfleet officers as a bunch of single people.  So you have Sisko who was married but lost his wife to the Borg three years before the series began, and now he’s a single parent.  And you got the O’Brien family.  And Worf and Dax eventually got married. And the thing that I always thought was a bit odd was the fact that Worf didn’t invite any of his friends from the Enterprise to his wedding!

Response:

Ah, shoot, I must have hit a hotkey or something that made it send the message prematurely.  To continue… Celebok wrote: > And the thing that I always thought was a bit odd was the fact that Worf > didn’t invite any of his friends from the Enterprise to his wedding!

Okay, obviously from a production standpoint, this is understandable, because of the difficulty in getting all those former TNG cast members into one episode.  But they still could have tried to insert one line to explain why the Enterprise crew couldn’t make it, instead of make it seem like Worf has forgotten about his former shipmates so quickly. Actually, this observation does sort of hit home with me in a certain way.  I used to know a lot of people in college, some of whom I would have even considered friends back then.  But there are only like three of them that I’ve kept in touch with, and I only see them about once a year.  Well, one of them I see more often, especially ever since I got him to join #shyroom.  (I guess that would be kind of like Worf joining DS9… hehe.)  The point is, it just seems so easy to completely lose touch with people when you no longer have the original medium that brought you together.  You graduate college, and you lose touch with most of your college friends.  You change jobs, and you lose touch with whatever co-workers you might have befriended.  You transfer from the Enterprise to Deep Space Nine, and you lose touch with your former shipmates.  Do you think that’s common with a lot of people?  Is it a shybie thing?  (Haha, you knew I had to ask that!) Whatever.  Sorry for rambling like that.  I get excited when I get to talk about Star Trek on a newsgroup.  :-)  Well, sure, I could always go to rec.arts.startrek or whatever, but it’s not the same since I don’t know them. –Adml. Celebok http://home.earthlink.net/~celebok

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In article <3A696677.5…@earthlink.net>,   cele…@earthlink.net wrote: > Hehe, yeah, that did seem a bit weird.  But it just makes you wonder, > are there Starfleet officers like that who never advance in their > career?  It seems like there would be.  Not all professionals here in > the 21st century climb up the corporate ladder throughout their lives.

Starfleet is a military organization, not a professional one.  In the military, people don’t re-enlist ad infinitum if they don’t rise in rank.  Career soldiers are always in the minority. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

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> Starfleet is a military organization, not a professional one.  In the > military, people don’t re-enlist ad infinitum if they don’t rise in > rank.  Career soldiers are always in the minority.

In a future without money, people might feel much more free to challenge themselves in a comptetive environment like Starfleet. While some are interested in command, others are interested in science, others in engineering, others in computers. They still might spend their entire careers using the resources of Starfleet to their advantage. Pertaining more to the subject, elderly, low ranking officers probably end up on distant space stations and on planets and colonies, while the best and brightest earn assignments on the fleet’s best ships. KC Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Celebok wrote: > kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > > Wasn’t Picard friends with Crusher’s husband, when he was secretly in love > > with her? > Yeah, in fact I remember Picard even referring to Jack Crusher as his > "best friend".  And that was why he never told Beverly that he was in > love with her.  He felt guilty about betraying his best friend. > > I suppose Deep Space Nine had the most in depth exploration of family, > > especially with the Sisko clan. And of course, every "Klingon" episode > > involved rituals, honor, and family feuds. O’Brien had a kid who aged at a > > fairly normal rate, then Kieko moved to Bajor. > I remember a magazine article a while back that mentioned that they were > trying to do that on DS9, because they wanted something different from > TOS and TNG always portraying Starfleet officers as a bunch of single > people.  So you have Sisko who was married but lost his wife to the Borg > three years before the series began, and now he’s a single parent.  And > you got the O’Brien family.  And Worf and Dax eventually got married. > And the thing that I always thought was a bit odd was the fact that Worf > didn’t invite any of his friends from the Enterprise to his wedding!

Well maybe the Enterprise was on a war patrol in a different sector at that time? ALV

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In article <94cs15$26…@nnrp1.deja.com>,   kccar…@my-deja.com wrote: > In a future without money, people might feel much more free to challenge > themselves in a comptetive environment like Starfleet. While some are > interested in command, others are interested in science, others in > engineering, others in computers. They still might spend their entire careers > using the resources of Starfleet to their advantage.

I don’t see why money should make it more likely.  Quite the contrary–with money, grunts have the bonus of combat pay.  Without money, it seems to me that people would be even *more* interested in recognition. In any event, the point is moot, as the Star Trek universe has money. Kirk says, "Scotty, you’ve just earned your pay for the week."  Also, private business can flourish on DS9.  There is the assumption that there is some form of socialism such that extremes in wealth no longer exist (as in the TNG episode with the frozen industrialists), but there’s certainly a means of exchange. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

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> It seems to me as though Capt. Picard had close friends, family and > co-workers to support him…

er.. I’m going to have to disagree with you on that one… I thought the whole point of Picard is that he has *no-one*… Unlike Kirk – who seemed to know every man and have slept with every woman – Picard has sacrificed his private life for his career. His only family was the family of his brother Robert with whom he had a stormy relationship. It is also made clear that the rest of the family were opposed to him joining Starfleet. In the film "Generations" he receives a message that his brother and nephew have died in a fire – "now there is no-one to carry on the Picard name" – which makes him question whether he has made the right choices in his life. In most episodes, Picard is portrayed as a man respected by colleagues but with few – if any – friends remaining_anonym…@deja.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

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[snipped kccarter's plot synopsis of ST:TNG episode] That one ranks up there among my favorite episodes.  (The title was "Tapestry", btw.)  But would you like to elaborate on what lesson you got out of it?  From your subject, I take it it has something to do with the thing about taking risks in life in order to succeed, as opposed to always "playing it safe" like Picard did in his alternate life.  One thing that I always wonder is, would Picard have been content in his alternate life without the knowledge of what he could have accomplished?  All we saw was the Picard we know, having made a successful career for himself as a starship captain, being shown a glimpse of himself in a life in which his career never went anywhere.  Well, of course he’s going to hate his alternate life in comparison, having gone from Captain of the Enterprise to a junior-grade lieutenant science officer.  But if Picard had actually gone through life, not stabbed in the heart, and not taking risks, would he have even felt the lack of purpose in his life?   Would it have occurred to him that he could have done so much more? The reason I ask these questions is that I know there are certain types of people who would look at my life and say that I’m going nowhere.  I’m just a software engineer with no special title at the company I work for, and I just do what’s expected of me.  Outside of work, I just sort of live my life as I please, helping people when I can, and otherwise just going off and doing my own thing.  But this is the life that I’m comfortable living, and I simply have no interest in trying to move up the ranks or being a prominent figure in society.  And yet, what if there was some parallel universe in which I was an ambitious risk-taker who contantly seized opportunities and ended up in a respectful position and was possibly married by now?  And what if this alternate Celebok caught a glimpse of MY life?  He’d be quite disappointed, I’m sure.   But… in reality, he’s not me, and I’m not him.  So if I’m happy with my life, why should I care? I wrote a Celebok Report a couple of years ago that was actually inspired by this ST:TNG episode.   It supposedly took place in a parallel universe and showed me living an alternate life based on the fact that I asked out a certain girl that I was interested in back in college.  In reality, I’m still friends with her, and she’s now married and has a 7-month-old baby.  In the alternate timeline, I dated her for a little bit back when we were freshman in college, but the relationship didn’t last, and we never developed the friendship after that.  Then I got into several more relationships over the years, but in the long run I wasn’t happy with how I ended up, because I never took the time to develop any lasting friendships.  So in the end I wish I had never gone out with that girl in the past, and that’s what brings me back to this reality, in which our friendship is still strong, and I still keep in touch with other college friends. –Adml. Celebok http://home.earthlink.net/~celebok

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In article <3A677143.6…@earthlink.net>,   cele…@earthlink.net wrote: > [snipped kccarter's plot synopsis of ST:TNG episode] > That one ranks up there among my favorite episodes.  (The title was > "Tapestry", btw.)

I looked it up on Amazon, episode 144. I also recognized ep. 141, "The Inner Light," about how an alien machine made him live the entire life of another man over the course of 20 minutes. I might go to the store tomorrow and buy both episodes. But would you like to elaborate on what lesson you > got out of it?  From your subject, I take it it has something to do with > the thing about taking risks in life in order to succeed, as opposed to > always "playing it safe" like Picard did in his alternate life.  One > thing that I always wonder is, would Picard have been content in his > alternate life without the knowledge of what he could have accomplished? >  All we saw was the Picard we know, having made a successful career for > himself as a starship captain, being shown a glimpse of himself in a > life in which his career never went anywhere.  Well, of course he’s > going to hate his alternate life in comparison, having gone from Captain > of the Enterprise to a junior-grade lieutenant science officer.  But if > Picard had actually gone through life, not stabbed in the heart, and not > taking risks, would he have even felt the lack of purpose in his life? > Would it have occurred to him that he could have done so much more?

I thought it was strange that he was by far the oldest person on the entire ship, and no one thought it strange that he was so low ranking. How often are any of the no name crew members like "Lt. Smith" older than 30? > The reason I ask these questions is that I know there are certain types > of people who would look at my life and say that I’m going nowhere.

But there’s also people who would say that you were doing awesome. People would be impressed if I got a lame bank job paying 18.5 a year. They’d say I was going somewhere, moving up the corporate ladder, etc. I could very easily do that, but I have a very strong need to build something for myself. But, I have a hard time forcing myself to take risks, hence the appeal of "Tapestry." > I’m > just a software engineer with no special title at the company I work > for, and I just do what’s expected of me.  Outside of work, I just sort > of live my life as I please, helping people when I can, and otherwise > just going off and doing my own thing.  But this is the life that I’m > comfortable living, and I simply have no interest in trying to move up > the ranks or being a prominent figure in society.

Some people tell me that aslong as I’m happy, I should keep doing what I’m doing. Other people, I don’t know what their motivation is. I would be perfectly content with spending the rest of my life sleeping 18 hours a day and watching TV the rest. But it wouldn’t be a very rewarding life. The stuff that I find rewarding, like writing, or sarting my own business, or some combination of the two, is very difficult to do when you have no one to support you, and everyone else is pressuring you to do something else. It seems to me as though Capt. Picard had close friends, family and co-workers to support him, which I do not have. When 100% of the people that you know spend 100% of their time trying to talk you out of doing 100% of the things that you try to do, over the course of 5.5 years, it gets very exhausting after awhile, hence my current emotional crisis (all a long story, not explained very well, I know). And yet, what if > there was some parallel universe in which I was an ambitious risk-taker > who contantly seized opportunities and ended up in a respectful position > and was possibly married by now?  And what if this alternate Celebok > caught a glimpse of MY life?  He’d be quite disappointed, I’m sure. > But… in reality, he’s not me, and I’m not him.  So if I’m happy with > my life, why should I care?

I sometimes think about all the sci-fi stuff about alternate universes, where there’s an infinite number of universes. That means on an infinite number of planets, I’m a police officer, I’m gay, I black, I’m dead, I’m a magician, etc., forever and ever. Try to wrap your mind around that! > I wrote a Celebok Report a couple of years ago that was actually > inspired by this ST:TNG episode.   It supposedly took place in a > parallel universe and showed me living an alternate life based on the > fact that I asked out a certain girl that I was interested in back in > college.  In reality, I’m still friends with her, and she’s now married > and has a 7-month-old baby.  In the alternate timeline, I dated her for > a little bit back when we were freshman in college, but the relationship > didn’t last, and we never developed the friendship after that.  Then I > got into several more relationships over the years, but in the long run > I wasn’t happy with how I ended up, because I never took the time to > develop any lasting friendships.  So in the end I wish I had never gone > out with that girl in the past, and that’s what brings me back to this > reality, in which our friendship is still strong, and I still keep in > touch with other college friends.

Wild. KC Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

I was thinking of a memorable and inspirational episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation today… I don’t know the title of the episode, and I’ll try to explain for anyone who may not be familiar with the series. It’s been many years since I saw this episode, and might have gotten details wrong, so don’t shoot me. Capt. Picard’s artificial heart failed, and he died. In "heaven," he’s confronted by Q, his omnipotent, god-like archnemisis. Q takes Picard back to the time where Picard was knifed in the chest, necessitating his artificial heart. Q gives Picard a chance to change the past, to prevent himself from being stabbed, and therefore preventing himself from dying early. Picard accepts; he’s returned back to life in the present. Instead of being Capt., however, he’s a low level science officer who never achieved anything noteworthy in his career, and isn’t friends with the people he had otherwise been friends with, because he never learned to assert himself and take risks. He has Q again transport him back through time to make sure that he gets stabbed in the chest, presumably to die prematurely but after living a much more rewarding life. And for whatever reason, Q lets him live. There’s a really good lesson in there. KC Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/

Response:

Filed under: Loneliness

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