Cerebral?

[Butters]

For many years I've heard that Star Trek is Cerebral. Is it though? I mean, what does that mean anyway? So Roddenberry was told the original pilot episode was too cerebral, so he made another with fisticuffs. That's the history of it to the extent of my knowledge.

Now, in many threads here we're told that Trek is more cerebral, more intellectual, or just plain superior to other forms of entertainment because its science fiction, because it deals with issues, because it is, but is it?

Is Star Trek full of cutting edge real science?
Does it present a path to enlightenment?
Do you have to be intellectual to enjoy it?
Is it consistently well written?
Does it represent a realistic vision of the future?
Does watching it make you a better person?

I'd have to answer no to all of the above. I'm not trying to diminish trek, I enjoy it, but to some who post here and elsewhere it's entering the realms of false god. It has a canon, supposedly, and it's debated as heatedly as any theology. What examples from any incarnation can demonstrate what makes the show so special, relevant or intellectual?

I can't ask people to justify why they might love Star Trek, but I do believe that some of the more extreme attitudes need to be challenged occasionally, especially that intellectual superiority complex.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think "The Cage" was called "too cerebral" in a non-literal sense--the NBC execs thought it dealt too much with the brain and how the brain could be fooled and simply just didn't have enough action. All Roddenberry did with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was add a good ole' fashioned Hollywood-style fistfight at the end.

Since then, the biggest complaint about Trek (by non-Star Trek fans) is that it simply is boring in comparison to other sci-fi franchises.

Less talking, more stuff blowing up and people beating the crap out of each other.

 

[Jadzia]

I think the space and science components are only circumstances, used as dressing for the show. You could still have something feel very star trek like without space or science. In fact, some episodes were.

I think the space and science adds an additional layer to the programme, as well as flexibility: the semi-realistic science will make the show appealing to science buffs; the ships armed with guns galore appeals to those with interests in militia and naval lore. The space environment opens the door to many strange new situations without stretching the imagination as much as it would risk doing if it were an earth based series.

The cerebral-ness is in the way it invites contemplation over paradigms of real world issues: political, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. We are invited to look at these issues from the pov of a 'visiting alien', ie, someone uninvolved, or as we like to say "objectively". It shrugs off prejudices, and is embracing of diversity and difference, and exploring how people do (and should) deal with diversity. It allows us to explore the concept of the ideal world.


And this leads to the second important factor, that Trek takes a moral high ground. It looks at problems and likes to find solutions that are virtuous. The characters make decisions through compassion, through justice, through honour, through valor, through honesty, through sacrifice, through sprirituality, etc.

Its delightful to see virtues being used to solve problem situations, because the outcomes usually feel comfortable.

objectivity + virtues = a pretty cake.