Do you have to be "dumb" to like Star Trek?

[tau136]

This reminds me of Asimov's treatise in his Foundation series . . . the relationship between Sociological & Technological development. On both sides Trek can be considered unrealistic but that surely doesn't make the fandom cretinous. On the contrary this fiction has inspired RL in a positive way from drawing people into the space sphere of work to actual technology. There was an exhibition at the London (U.K) Science Museum some years ago that I worked at and it took several all night stints to take in all the things that had begun as Trek and were now real. Admittedly not all directly derived from Trek but even so any fiction that has significantly positive effects on the world doesn't require damning.

 

[TedShatner10]

And while Star Trek technology is a bit inconsistant, the fleet strengths are smallish, ground combat's sloppy, and Starfleet doesn't seem to capitalise on its technological potential fully (like holographic foot soldiers and weaponry, etc) I don't get the impression that Star Trek is decidedly weaker than Star Wars in terms of firepower when there are plenty of examples of planet busting (or star busting) devices employed by a few factions, with two isolated UFP examples (super weapons are not officially deployed by Starfleet most likely due to UFP philosophy and political treaties).

And Star Wars has infantrymen that are better kitted out than Starfleet personnel (the Stormtroopers) because the SW movies are playing with bigger budgets per shot (only six movies) and Star Trek mainly consists countless weekly episodes that are comparatively low budget, so infantryman are not going to be so convincingly portrayed.

 

[The Wormhole]

And Star Wars has infantrymen that are better kitted out than Starfleet personnel (the Stormtroopers) because the SW movies are playing with bigger budgets per shot (only six movies) and Star Trek mainly consists countless weekly episodes that are comparatively low budget, so infantryman are not going to be so convincingly portrayed.

Ever hear of the infamous Red Shirt vs Stormtrooper debate? The Red Shirt obviously is going to die, but he can't be killed by the Stormtrooper, since the Stormtrooper can't hit a target.

 

[TedShatner10]

Ever hear of the infamous Red Shirt vs Stormtrooper debate? The Red Shirt obviously is going to die, but he can't be killed by the Stormtrooper, since the Stormtrooper can't hit a target.

Well Stormtroops can often hit the other unnamed, faceless extras.

But Star Trek, in a lot of ways, seems to have more in common with Doctor Who than with Star Wars, what with the high output of episodes and long running characters, sometimes dubious morality, producers that get constantly bitched and moaned at, the time travel, and the numerous continuity errors/retcons.

And Star Wars as the title says has "Wars" in it, so of course the setting is built around fighting, massive fleets, and conquest, with the Empire's intimidating ground vehicles that would stomp on away teams and warships that dwarf Starfleet Starbases.

 

[Praxius]

Ever hear of the infamous Red Shirt vs Stormtrooper debate? The Red Shirt obviously is going to die, but he can't be killed by the Stormtrooper, since the Stormtrooper can't hit a target.

Well Stormtroops can often hit the other unnamed, faceless extras.

But Star Trek, in a lot of ways, seems to have more in common with Doctor Who than with Star Wars, what with the high output of episodes and long running characters, sometimes dubious morality, producers that get constantly bitched and moaned at, the time travel, and the numerous continuity errors/retcons.

And Star Wars as the title says has "Wars" in it, so of course the setting is built around fighting, massive fleets, and conquest, with the Empire's intimidating ground vehicles that would stomp on away teams and warships that dwarf Starfleet Starbases.

Bah... all the Federation needs to do is direct the Borg in the direction of the Star Wars universe and they'd assimilate the whole lot of them... They'd adapt to the Death Stars and various other trinkets they use, assimilate a couple of Jedi to expand their knowledge on how they use the force..... and then case closed

Of course the Borg would also probably like the Star Destroyer ships.... they like Cubes and Spheres, why not add giant triangles to their ranks?

 

[doubleohfive]

To answer the original question, no.

 

[JarodRussell]

To answer the original question, no.

But, occasionally, some people who like Star Trek are... special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB28WMv7wUE

 

[Nerd unRage]

No, I'm not dumb for liking Star Trek. While I may not be that well versed in science and engineering (my brain just isn't programmed to think like that), I can appreciate the stories and the concepts. Plus, I keep in mind that this is science fiction. Heavy emphasis on the fiction portion. Just enjoy yourself no matter if you're a Trekkie or a whatever-the-hell Star Wars people call themselves.

 

[TedShatner10]

Bah... all the Federation needs to do is direct the Borg in the direction of the Star Wars universe and they'd assimilate the whole lot of them... They'd adapt to the Death Stars and various other trinkets they use, assimilate a couple of Jedi to expand their knowledge on how they use the force..... and then case closed

Of course the Borg would also probably like the Star Destroyer ships.... they like Cubes and Spheres, why not add giant triangles to their ranks?

Well in Darth Wong's one sided fanfiction he shows the Borg failing quite badly against the Galactic Empire in a straight fight, with their cube ships smashing themselves uselessly against the Death Star, and Captain Picard defects to the Imperial Navy.

Wong seems to have developed such an inbuilt bias in his teenage years against the franchise he assumes that Star Trek is inherently more racist than Star Wars, etc (which seems a kind of pointless and holier than thou attitude to hold, when you have characters like Nog who overcomes his Ferengi upbringing on DS9, etc). And I think Jar Jar Binks being a racist caricature is overblown anyway, as annoying and pointless as he was.

And Wong flew into a nerd rage when he saw Seven and the EMH singing in "Someone to Watch Over Me", also missing the point that the twee singing scene had more genuine feeling behind it than the relationship between Anakin and Padme in all three Prequel movies.

 

[FordSVT]

Harry Wong is the King of Nerd Rage. He sounds like he has Asperger syndrome.

It's best to stay away from any sci-fi "vs" site unless you want to be subjected to arrogant stupidity and assumptions you can shine a flashlight through.

 

[Cepstrum]

Harry Wong is the King of Nerd Rage. He sounds like he has Asperger syndrome.

It's best to stay away from any sci-fi "vs" site unless you want to be subjected to arrogant stupidity and assumptions you can shine a flashlight through.

I agree about staying away from "vs" debates. They seem silly to me. I don't care if Mr. Wong wants to write copious essays about how and why the Empire would destroy the UFP. Who cares? In fact, probably most things in Star *Wars* could defeat the relatively peaceful Federation.

But I thought he got a little out of control by saying that, because he has a BS in mechanical engineering and is a Canadian of Asian ancestry, he's more qualified to speak about science, science fiction, racism, and how horrible Trek and its fans are.

Compare his site to Bernd Schneider's (he has a PhD in electrical engineering). Bernd is able to write rather objectively about the show he likes, Trek, criticizing where appropriate, and even writing about why it's important to understand that science fiction is usually not science *in* fiction but like Trek, fictional science. We like it to be as internally consistent as possible and to conform as much to real-world physics as it can within its fictionalized setting/science. That is, it's ok to have these impossible transporters or sound in space as long as it's consistent and not *too* crazy. We don't want to one day see Tom Paris able to jump ten meters or for starships to one week move at warp 8 with the M/AM warp core and the next week move at warp 200 with a fusion reactor.

I actually like the veneer of scientific realism accomiahed via the pseudoscientific technobabble as long as it doesn't get out of hand. It appears, however, that Mr. Wong thinks most Trekkies think it's all real and plausible. I haven't seen many people believe that way. They're probably out there, but most Trek fans tend to be fairly critical of Trek when its technobabble goes overboard.

I just don't see the need to belittle fans of either show, or anyone, really. After reading through more of Wong's stuff and his personal site, I now realize is he a very angry man. He's entitled to his opinion, but I started the thread because as a research engineer (and one more advanced than Mr. Wong), I couldn't believe a Star Wars fan would have such a passionate, one-sided hatred for Trek. I would think that there is a significant correlation between SW and ST fans, actually. I like SW and ST. I happen to prefer Trek since the prequels came out, but who cares, really?

 

[I am Surak]

I think - therefore I am. It is obvious to me -Surak - that I am a corporeal being. Star Trek is real. StarWars is what we watch on movie night at the Mensa hall.

 

[Cepstrum]

^^^^^
??


Are you just being ironic, Surak? I hope so....

 

[Ghrakh]

I think you have to be dumb to take anything that site says seriously.

That is a reactionary site, where it's whole premise is to bash something else, because it can't come up with anything original as a reason to exist. By it's Empire-worshipping logic of quantifying fictitious firepower, the rebellion would never have a victory. That they're glorifying their franchise's losers is apparently lost on them. It would be funny if it wasn't so disturbing.

Admittedly, the NEM "review" was pretty funny.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Closed at the request of the OP and because we really don't need any "board vs. board" threads.