Humans are the worst?
- Thread starter RobertScorpio
- Start date
You see, you had implied before that the Federation didn't let the Romulans take them over because they are a far ideal society than the Romulans. Now you seem to be saying that it's actually because the Federation are the good guys in the show. I don't think that being the good guys means they necessarily have an ideal society. The sexism in TOS is an example of it.
Where?
It was made clear on VOY that the Borg have assimilated BILLIONS and murdered BILLIONS more. From what we saw, they have completey destroyed THOUSANDS of sentient species. In the Star Trek universe no one comes close to the Borg in terms of evil.
As for the viciousness of Human history, the Klingons no doubt had a bloodier history than us. Come on, they're Klingons.
And overall, say what you want about Humans, but at least we kept our brutality within the human family. The Borg, Cardassians, Romulans, Dominion (and countless other species) all rampaged across the galaxy and inflicted their brutality on other sentient species. The humans of the Star Trek universe on the other hand have been one of the most benign races since they entered interstellar affairs.
Well, I know. But Star Trek IV isn't exactly The Original Series.
(Don't worry, I'm just being nit-picky.
)
I'd say because, at the context in which either of them bring up human barbarism, the matter at hand concerns only Humans.
And I would think that Picard is of a higher mind than to go, "Well, we're bad, but we're not as bad as so-and-so." Frankly, that sort of logic is pretty misleading and irresponsible. Picard and Kirk always conceded that Humanity had its flaws but that it was always learning as well.
To frame it another way, it's like arguing with a 6 year old kid. It's always irritating when that kid goes, "Yeah, well Jimmy's mom lets him play at night!" Then the argument implies that the kid should have the same right as well. But the parent would rightfully go, "And you're not Jimmy."
Yeah, but what about Q's "tests" of humanity? He keeps putting humans through their "trial" and ultimately puts Picard through a test wherein if he fails all life in the Universe would ultimately cease to exist (All Good Things).
So why did he test humanity this way to see if they deserved to exist, yet he never tested the Klingons or Romulans or Cardassians in similar ways? Surely if humans are "barbarians" then they must be too, and constantly tested as well.
So why did he test humanity this way to see if they deserved to exist, yet he never tested the Klingons or Romulans or Cardassians in similar ways? Surely if humans are "barbarians" then they must be too, and constantly tested as well.
I'd say that it's because Trek writers have always implied since TOS that humanity is bound for greater things in the future. Q is perhaps the ultimate personification of humanity's trials wrapped up in one neat little package. Kirk and Picard are, for the most part, above racial prejudice, so they're not going to say "Well, we're better than them." They just believe in the advancement of humanity. But who could best show that conflict? It can't be another race, so it would have to be another lifeform altogether.
Let's also remember that for all the chaos and damage done during All Good Things, by the end Q did say that these tests were ultimately for the benefit, not the detriment, of mankind, to push them to their limits and expand their horizons past the mundanes of space travel. The goal of the test, after all, was to make Picard, and thus humanity, consider all possibilities, even the ones they would never dare think of. In that regard, it's fitting on the symbolic level that Q says the trial will never end; it's not that he'll wipe out humanity after a single hiccup, it's that as humanity progresses, so too will the challenges they'll have to face and meet, and hopefully overcome. The human adventure.
Also, Q's nigh-omnipotent. Who's to say that he hasn't tested the Klingons or Cardassians, possibly even at the same time as some episodes? There's nothing to say that he did, but there's also nothng to say that he didn't, either. He's had encounters with other entities and the El-Aurians.
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