Elon Musk?

[zenophite]

I wonder if anyone else finds name dropping contemporary public figures in a show set in the future to be a bad practice and a sure fire way to date a series; even if only in a minor way.

It seems especially true in the case of Musk who is, rather inexplicably, such a media darling despite having done nothing truly new or groundbreaking in the sense that is meant by Lorca mentioning him in the same breath as the Wright Brothers or the fictional Zefrem Cochrane?

 

[Lior .B.]

yeah it did stand out, to me, as a namedropping for the sake of name dropping (for trying to be "modern").

 

[Butters]

Haven't decided how I feel about this sort of thing. I suppose it connects us to that future, but it could date the show.

Depends if Elon Musk is still a thing in fifteen years or so. Only other example I can think of is Hawking.

 

[cultcross]

References are always a risk in a show set in the future. Data's pronouncements about Fermat's last theorem spring to mind. But then you've also got to balance it against the weird fact that we have lived through one of the most dramatic technological and cultural periods of change ever and yet Star Trek almost never acknowledges any impact from it!

 

[dahj]

It seems especially true in the case of Musk who is, rather inexplicably, such a media darling despite having done nothing truly new or groundbreaking in the sense that is meant by Lorca mentioning him in the same breath as the Wright Brothers or the fictional Zefrem Cochrane?

I suppose he (fictionally) succeeded in colonizing Mars. That would certainly be a milestone in human exploration of space worthy of mentioning in the same sentence as the Wrights and Cochrane.

 

[Spot261]

Did he provide any funding towards the show?

 

[EnderAKH]

You'd think Henry Starling would have been mentioned ;-)

 

[F. King Daniel]

Let's just hope he doesn't turn out to be something nasty.

And if his space stuff pans out, cool.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

"I wonder if anyone else finds name dropping contemporary public figures in a show set in the future to be a bad practice and a sure fire way to date a series; even if only in a minor way."

I think it kinda depends on the "why" they dropped it, but to me it stinks of "lets try to appear as relevant as possible"

I always vote to stay away from that stuff but, it didn't detract from the show either. I still say 8 outta 10 for me personally

 

[Kor]

Maybe. But it feels equally as odd when they mention some historic figures from decades or centuries ago, and then in the same sentence mention some future innovator like "Xqpasdkjf the Seventeenth of the Venusian colonies."

Kor

 

[Charles Phipps]

Weirdly, I just assumed they were really impressed with the electric self-driving cars of the past.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Wright Brothers: Built the world's first successful airplane and made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.

Zefram Cochrane: Built the Earth’s first successful warp drive and made the first human light-speed flight.

Elon Musk: Co-founded PayPal.

 

[Longinus]

Maybe. But it feels equally as odd when they mention some historic figures from decades or centuries ago, and then in the same sentence mention some future innovator like "Xqpasdkjf the Seventeenth of the Venusian colonies."

People from decades and centuries ago whose names we can still recognise have already stood the test of time, so it is safe to assume that they could be remembered in the future as well. I'd prefer not name dropping contemporary figures unless they have already achieved something pretty monumental. John Lennon is pretty OK, Musk not so much.

 

[zenophite]

Maybe. But it feels equally as odd when they mention some historic figures from decades or centuries ago, and then in the same sentence mention some future innovator like "Xqpasdkjf the Seventeenth of the Venusian colonies."

Kor

I think the difference with dead historical figures is that at least you know the sum of their contribution to society - it is a closed book. In the case of Musk his success or failure at...whatever...is hardly assured. At the very least they could pick someone doing pioneering or interesting work that does already have an overly inflated public profile.

It seems Longinus and I were on the same wavelength

 

[Cyrus]

In the After Trek show one of the showrunners said they added this to the script hoping to get a free Tesla.

 

[Charles Phipps]

In the After Trek show one of the showrunners said they added this to the script hoping to get a free Tesla.

Elon would do it, too.

The biggest problem with Mosk is not mentioning him because Stephen Hawking has shown up after all (even though some of his work has been discredited--none of it means he's not an important figure in 20th century physics) but two:

1. He's a figure who would exist in Star Trek's "new" timeline after the apocalypse
2. Mosk is still a corporate executive whose contributes to space is making it a privatized business.

He's an odd figure for Trek to venerate.

 

[Blamo]

The only time it dated itself was when it referred to Khan and the war in the 90's.

 

[Tesophius]

I wonder if anyone else finds name dropping contemporary public figures in a show set in the future to be a bad practice and a sure fire way to date a series; even if only in a minor way.

It seems especially true in the case of Musk who is, rather inexplicably, such a media darling despite having done nothing truly new or groundbreaking in the sense that is meant by Lorca mentioning him in the same breath as the Wright Brothers or the fictional Zefrem Cochrane?

Uhm, there are a lot of reasons to criticize STD, but I don't think that this is one of them. Elon Musk is pioneering medium and heavy lift capable reusable / vertical lift launch vehicles, he's already made history. Not to mention the Interplanetary Transport System which he claims is going to be ready in five years, the importance of ITS, if successful, cannot be overstated.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Maybe. But it feels equally as odd when they mention some historic figures from decades or centuries ago, and then in the same sentence mention some future innovator like "Xqpasdkjf the Seventeenth of the Venusian colonies."

Kor

That was one of my responses in the "Five things needed to make DSC 'Star Trek'" thread (or whatever that thread was called).

I said that they needed to make a list of historical figures or events, with that list necessarily containing (1) a past figure or event, (2) a contemporary (to us) figure or event, and (3) a fictional future figure or event.

My example, in hypothetical dialogue, on that thread was a character who says:
"Some of the greatest scientific minds in history often grappled with that very same question, such as Archimedes, Stephen Hawking, and Donarias Tolg of Antares IV".

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Wright Brothers: Built the world's first successful airplane and made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.

Zefram Cochrane: Built the Earth’s first successful warp drive and made the first human light-speed flight.

Elon Musk: Co-founded PayPal.

I think Musk's achievements in private (non-government) spaceflight with SpaceX Corporation is more relevant to the question at hand than PayPal or Tesla Motors.

SpaceX has already provided a spacecraft that resupplies the space station, and it is on track to soon provide human ferry service to the space station for NASA (supplanting NASA's current need to use the Russians for this purpose).

If (big if) SpaceX gets to Mars in the time frame he proposes, that will be a really huge leap for spaceflight.