I was just looking at voyager clips on YouTube and I saw one where Tuvok felt emotions. He said he felt powerful and he speculated that that was how primitive Vulcans must have felt.
When we first saw Vulcans in the original series, we were told that Vulcans were 100% logical. If Spock ever felt an emotion it could be attributed to the fact that he is half human.
Later we learned that Vulcans were in fact the most emotional race and that their logic came from training and that without that training the Vulcan race would not have survived.
Perhaps the Ferengi were in the same situation. Perhaps the primitive Ferengi were generous to the point of what humans would consider insanity. This would have destroyed them if it had continued unchecked just as the Vulcans would have been destroyed by their emotions if they had not embraced logic. The Ferengi embraced greed and profit as a way to put a stop to their unbridled generosity.
There is some evidence for this in DS9.
When The Nagus went to see the prophets, he was changed to a more primitive form. The Nagus became too generous.
Rom is an obvious example of a more primitive Ferengi. Imagine a race full of Roms. They would get wiped out quickly.
The rules of acquisition often state that Ferengi must value profits over attachment to family. Many people think this means that Ferengi are greedy and that they value profits over family. But the fact that there is a rule against a thing means that people want to do the thing that the law doesn’t allow. Imagine if scholars in the future were researching our current society. They would see laws against using heroin. Would they then conclude that no one used heroin because it was illegal? I don’t think so. The Vulcans are always talking about logic because deep down they want to be emotional. The Ferengi are always talking about profits because deep down they want to be compassionate.
When we first saw Vulcans in the original series, we were told that Vulcans were 100% logical. If Spock ever felt an emotion it could be attributed to the fact that he is half human.
Later we learned that Vulcans were in fact the most emotional race and that their logic came from training and that without that training the Vulcan race would not have survived.
Perhaps the Ferengi were in the same situation. Perhaps the primitive Ferengi were generous to the point of what humans would consider insanity. This would have destroyed them if it had continued unchecked just as the Vulcans would have been destroyed by their emotions if they had not embraced logic. The Ferengi embraced greed and profit as a way to put a stop to their unbridled generosity.
There is some evidence for this in DS9.
When The Nagus went to see the prophets, he was changed to a more primitive form. The Nagus became too generous.
Rom is an obvious example of a more primitive Ferengi. Imagine a race full of Roms. They would get wiped out quickly.
The rules of acquisition often state that Ferengi must value profits over attachment to family. Many people think this means that Ferengi are greedy and that they value profits over family. But the fact that there is a rule against a thing means that people want to do the thing that the law doesn’t allow. Imagine if scholars in the future were researching our current society. They would see laws against using heroin. Would they then conclude that no one used heroin because it was illegal? I don’t think so. The Vulcans are always talking about logic because deep down they want to be emotional. The Ferengi are always talking about profits because deep down they want to be compassionate.
