Amish

[Hey Missy]

I read it once years ago and was left fairly baffled by it.

I honestly have no idea what Diane Duane was thinking with that one. It's not a TNG book, it's not even a Star Trek book. It's... this thing.

 

[The Wormhole]

Spoiler: In case this is story idea territory

Their having emigrated to America for religious freedom (and they continue to start new settlements - one recently in PEI) makes it a natural extension for them to later be ideal interplanetary colonists as well.

I think that was already done on Futurama.

 

[Stevil2001]

I really like Intellivore. I didn't even think it was particularly weird; I'm surprised at the reactions here.

It strikes me that the very nature of Amish-ness means that a 24th-century Amish romance would be a lot like a 21st-century one. I mean, in both they wouldn't be using shuttlecraft or automobiles.

 

[Idran]

I really like Intellivore. I didn't even think it was particularly weird; I'm surprised at the reactions here.

It strikes me that the very nature of Amish-ness means that a 24th-century Amish romance would be a lot like a 21st-century one. I mean, in both they wouldn't be using shuttlecraft or automobiles.

A small few Amish do drive cars today, though, and most Amish communities are fine with hiring vans for hauling stuff around. And they'll still use buses or trains; I used to see Amish people on the Greyhound all the time.

They don't say no to technology, they just want to avoid having it integrated fully into their way of life. They're fine with, like, medical technology and things in that vein, things that definitely provide for life. They'll even let Amish citizens run power to their homes for those sorts of things.

Edit: Here's a good example on the variation you can see in what's acceptable from one Amish subgroup to another. It's only Old Order Amish that are as strict as the popular conception.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish...of_technology_by_different_Amish_affiliations

Edit2: Thinking on it I guess I should actually make a point rather than just being needlessly corrective. I do think it might potentially be an interesting approach to show how the Amish way of life, of acknowledging the benefits that advancing technology can bring while still persisting in their original ways, has continued into the Trek era. But I'm not sure how much so; the fact that they prefer to avoid technology is like one small part of their existence, and a lot of the "way of life" they want to preserve is incompatible with a lot of the vision of Star Trek for reasons completely unrelated to their having technology or not. Their pacifism is definitely laudable, but their treatment of women, their insistence on child labor, and the lack of interest in providing for education in their people beyond what's needed to work are all awful. This is from a degree of personal experience: my grandmother was raised Mennonite, which while not the same as Amish shares a lot of beliefs, and her upbringing was absolutely horrid.

 

[Stevil2001]

A small few Amish do drive cars today, though, and most Amish communities are fine with hiring vans for hauling stuff around. And they'll still use buses or trains; I used to see Amish people on the Greyhound all the time.

They don't say no to technology, they just want to avoid having it integrated fully into their way of life. They're fine with, like, medical technology and things in that vein, things that definitely provide for life. They'll even let Amish citizens run power to their homes for those sorts of things.

Edit: Here's a good example on the variation you can see in what's acceptable from one Amish subgroup to another. It's only Old Order Amish that are as strict as the popular conception.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish...of_technology_by_different_Amish_affiliations

Edit2: Thinking on it I guess I should actually make a point rather than just being needlessly corrective. I do think it might potentially be an interesting approach to show how the Amish way of life, of acknowledging the benefits that advancing technology can bring while still persisting in their original ways, has continued into the Trek era. But I'm not sure how much so; the fact that they prefer to avoid technology is like one small part of their existence, and a lot of the "way of life" they want to preserve is incompatible with a lot of the vision of Star Trek for reasons completely unrelated to their having technology or not. Their pacifism is definitely laudable, but their treatment of women, their insistence on child labor, and the lack of interest in providing for education in their people beyond what's needed to work are all awful. This is from a degree of personal experience: my grandmother was raised Mennonite, which while not the same as Amish shares a lot of beliefs, and her upbringing was absolutely horrid.

I was mostly being flip, so thanks for the actual insight!