Whatever the reason, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the costs of alien makeup/effects and the TV show budget.
How come humans are a leading power?
- Thread starter josborn
- Start date
In ENT, it shows Humans brought Vulcans, Andorians, and Talerites together. They united into a Coalition, later fought the Romulans, and then founded the Federation. Without the Coalition, there's no keeping the Romulans at bay. There was also internal strife within the Klingon Empire in ENT. Apparently it became bad enough to keep the Klingons largely out of the picture until the beginning of DSC.
So, with the Romulans staying behind a border and the Klingons preoccupied, that left a vacuum for the Federation to rise to prominence. Earth was the Federation's center of gravity from the beginning, being responsible for holding the Coalition that came before it together, so as the Federation rose, Earth rose.
Earth just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
So, with the Romulans staying behind a border and the Klingons preoccupied, that left a vacuum for the Federation to rise to prominence. Earth was the Federation's center of gravity from the beginning, being responsible for holding the Coalition that came before it together, so as the Federation rose, Earth rose.
Earth just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
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The way the politics worked out due to how the shows progressed is that humans dominate the Federation because they are the species most interested in expanding and colonizing. The Vulcans have had spaceflight for a very long time and their only major colony is the Romulans. At least we never heard of another Vulcan colony. They had a few Vulcans in Starfleet, but only one ship crewed almost exclusively by Vulcans. We see a majority of humans mostly because Star Trek is made here on Earth and that is what costs the least amount of money. Following that they are humanoid because that is the next cheapest (and for most of the time since The Cage was greenlit is was the only real option for casting an alien).
So we get a Starfleet dominated by humans. In Federation gatherings we see the other species in greater numbers. In TMP we see that the Enterprise crew is largely human but has a number of non-humans including Andorians.
So we are left with the human urge to explore and expand done in cooperation with the other members of the Federation. The humans become the protectors of the Federation. One likely explanation is that humans have shorter lives and so reproduce more. Compared to the other species they seem to reproduce like rabbits. Though many who go into Starfleet have smaller families, there must still be quite a few humans out there having larger families.
So we get a Starfleet dominated by humans. In Federation gatherings we see the other species in greater numbers. In TMP we see that the Enterprise crew is largely human but has a number of non-humans including Andorians.
So we are left with the human urge to explore and expand done in cooperation with the other members of the Federation. The humans become the protectors of the Federation. One likely explanation is that humans have shorter lives and so reproduce more. Compared to the other species they seem to reproduce like rabbits. Though many who go into Starfleet have smaller families, there must still be quite a few humans out there having larger families.
Tuvok was born on a Vulcan colony.
P'Jem.
Sure it was just a monastery (and an espionage installation) but the fact that the Vulcans use whole planets/colonies just for a monastery all but confirms that they must have had more.
I'm not convinced it's even possible to be "genetically" more intelligent.
As for humanity, I think it makes a decent amount of sense. United Earth is just good at diplomacy - not only to seek its own allies, but to make sure all of those allies work together.
As we've seen, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites are all naturally stubborn, in their own way. So Earth is just good at getting them all to the table? Doesn't seem that much of a stretch. If Earth isn't particularly notable in terms of, say, technology or resources, it finds something else it's good at.
Indeed.
Star Trek was never about what the actual future of humanity would be like. It's about what we, present-day humans (i.e. the viewers at home) would do in such a future.
I should perhaps have used the word 'intrinsically', or some such word. I just meant intelligence as a general built-in trait of a specific species (such as humans, or baboons, or earthworms, or Vulcans)- with individual variations, of course.Besides that, why would it be impossible for an alien species to be more intelligent than us?
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Evolutionarily? lol
Root Beer really isn't that good.
Hand crafted is good
Would you say humans are genetically more intelligent than ducks?
Then why can’t Vulcans be genetically more intelligent than humans?
In any event, humans are presented as the most socially flexible and adaptable race. Which is why most of the hybrids we see are part human, and a big part of the reason humans are such a big power in the Federation.
You notice it’s always humans acting more Vulcan to get along with Vulcans, more Klingon to get along with Klingons, more confrontational to get along with web finger people, and rarely vice versa. Humans are usually the only ones willing to adapt.
Then why can’t Vulcans be genetically more intelligent than humans?
In any event, humans are presented as the most socially flexible and adaptable race. Which is why most of the hybrids we see are part human, and a big part of the reason humans are such a big power in the Federation.
You notice it’s always humans acting more Vulcan to get along with Vulcans, more Klingon to get along with Klingons, more confrontational to get along with web finger people, and rarely vice versa. Humans are usually the only ones willing to adapt.
I always thought DS9's greatest contributions to the Trek mythos was that it made it clear that, to all the other aliens, humans are as much as a "one trait" race as the logical Vulcans, warrior Klingons, greedy Ferengi, etc. Our one trait is just our cheerful determination to get everyone working together. We're the try-hard Humans!
Of course, Enterprise then did a hard swing back to humans just being the greatest and most specialest and most multi-dimensional beings in all the universe, which Disco then doubled down hard on, so... oh well.
Of course, Enterprise then did a hard swing back to humans just being the greatest and most specialest and most multi-dimensional beings in all the universe, which Disco then doubled down hard on, so... oh well.
Not sure how Discovery “Doubled down” on that. Besides maybe not having enough aliens in the cast they’re no less three dimensional than any other Trek.
Yeah, Discovery was one where it felt there was more variety in the aliens, not less. Humanity felt like a mixed bag, not the best around. I mean, Saru, even while sick, was more capable in solving a translation problem than the entire crew.
Yes, I've always felt, or dare I say, known that TOS was not about futuristic people but about 1960s Americans with 1960s American values in a futuristic setting.
Sure, the makers of TOS tried a little to make it somewhat progressive but they didn't try very hard. At least some of the other contemporary shows did better with sexism for example.
Robert
I actually think that TOS was much better about portraying future Earth as something other than Space USA. Scotty, Uhura, and Chekhov were all explicitly non-Americans. Compare this to say Disovery, where they even had the British actors speak with American accents.
I think Disco, particularly in the first season, is laced throughout with clunky dialogue that's emphasizing the one-trait-ness of various aliens. The example that sticks in my memory the clearest is Burnham's speech in "The Wolf Inside" about "prideful Andorians" and all that. Meanwhile, human compassion has "impossible depths". I just feel the show is laced throughout with that kind of thinking... humanity is impossibly complicated, while the aliens, with some exceptions, are much more reduceable.
Which, of course, is an attitude shared by more Star Trek shows than just Disco. It's just not an attitude shared by my favorite Star Trek shows.
Which, of course, is an attitude shared by more Star Trek shows than just Disco. It's just not an attitude shared by my favorite Star Trek shows.
