Make it So!

"Make it so!"

- Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation

What a cool tag line. 

Who says that? 

Only Captain Picard. 

Okay, I'll admit it. I've said it before too and I will probably say it again. It's just cool.

Governed by Laws

“Take Today underscores his view that all life – mental, material, spiritual, physical – is governed by laws, laws that no one else has even noticed, let alone considered worthy of discussion between the covers of a book. …

The laws are infallible – as precise as mathematics, as ubiquitous as weather – and, after wrestling with them for almost five decades, he has finally grasped them in all their glory.”
- Fitzgerald, Judith. Marshall McLuhan: Wise Guy. XYZ Publishing: Montreal, 2001. pg 152
- Take Today was authored by McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt in 1972

This metaphor sounds like Story and it also uses a storybook to help frame the metaphor. What more can be said about this quote? It’s brilliant.

It immediately reminded me of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek Bible. It was a book that he composed to contain all the rules within the Star Trek mythology. He created a beautiful world based on science and wanted it to be believable. This book was available to every writer of the show so that they would know what could and couldn’t happen in the stories they created.

The fictional world of Star Trek has precise laws. And maybe that is one of the reasons the franchise is timeless. It relates to the real world. It makes sense in so many ways. And it never tried to make us believe in something different every week. It had a beautiful consistency.

Life is like this as well. I believe that there is a Life Bible that contains all the rules of the universe. And like McLuhan says, no one seems to be searching for it. We know some of the precise rules but nothing that ties everything together, except for Story. And brilliantly enough that is even mentioned in this quote. Perhaps McLuhan knew something about the important role story has in the nature of reality. It seems to be like he was one of the best thinkers of our time. I think I need to explore his works more closely.

Time is the Fire

“They say time is the fire in which we burn. Right now, Captain, my time is running out. We leave so many things unfinished in our lives. I know you understand.” – Dr. Soran. Star Trek Generations.

Great metaphor. I always liked this quote.

Original Klingon

"You can't appreciate Shakespeare until you've read him in the original Klingon."
- General Chang (Star Trek VI)

This is cinematic history. It has become a catch phrase that has spread well beyond the film. This is partly because it is hilarious, and partly due to the debate over the actually author of the works of Shakespeare.

Some scholars argue that William Shakespeare could not have actually written all of the plays attributed to him. Some of it is quite compelling as well. There are a lot of interesting theories out there, this one was so out there and hilarious that I think it will remain a classic moment in film for quite some time.

Beautiful Death Scene

This is a beautiful death scene. I love the shared dialogue. Spock is trapped inside an engine room. He and Kirk are separated by thick plastic walls.

Kirk, “Spock.”
Spock, “Ship... out of danger?”
Kirk, “Yes.”
Spock, “Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh...”
Kirk, “...the needs of the few.”
Spock, “...Or the one. I never took the Kobayashi Maru test until now. What do you think of my solution?”
Kirk, “Spock...“
Spock, “I have been and always shall be your friend.
[Holds up his hand in the Vulcan salute] Live long and prosper.”
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Kobayashi Maru Test is a role-playing game that Captains in Starfleet need to go through in order to achieve their rank. The test presents a no-win situation and is meant to show captains that difficult decisions need to be made and sometimes life gives you a no-win situation.

Only one person in the entire history of Starfleet has ever beaten the odds and passed the test. Kirk reprogrammed the computers so that he would be able to make a decision where the ship did not get obliterated during the demonstration. When asked about cheating, Kirk simply states that he doesn’t believe in the no-win situation. Neither do I. This back-story makes the above exchange even more meaningful.

Needs of the Many

"In any case, were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." - Spock
"Or the one." - Kirk from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

This is another one of those rare examples where the sequel far exceeds the original. Star Trek II is a brilliant movie. I like the way the movie dealt with this theme and all of the different ways to interpret it.