Interesting article.

[DarKush]

I knew this. It doesn't contradict my point. T'Pol was trying to experience emotions but avoid the negative extremes.


To be honest, I'm glad they didn't show it. I can't think of any way they could have done it which wouldn't have been boring.

I wasn't trying to contradict your point. It seemed to me that you were arguing that Vulcans did not have emotions period. And that T'Pol was taking drugs to gain emotions. I took issue with that because Vulcans have emotions so there was no need to take drugs to access them. All she had to do was release her repressive grip on her emotions. I never said anything about Vulcans having human emotions. I just said emotions, though in some posts I did try to show that Vulcans have more extreme emotions than humans. But from what we've seen on Trek I would argue that Vulcan emotional displays are similar to humans, just like many other species on Trek.

Though what proof do you have that T'Pol was trying to avoid the negative extremes of her emotions? From what I recall she said she was taking the drug to experience emotion, not to experience blunted emotions.

The whole drug addiction thing was just dumb. I wish they hadn't gone that route period. However, since they did it would've made more sense for her to completely repress her emotions and maybe take Trellium-D to do so. I say that because T'Pol in a highly emotional environment with all the angry and grieving humans on Enterprise, it could've been overwhelming and threatened to upset her own emotional controls. Plus she might have convinced herself that complete negation of her emotions would make her a better aide to the crew while in the Expanse. Though my old thoughts of her using Trellium-D to inoculate against the effects of the Expanse, but unwittingly becoming addicted could've worked better too, IMO, than the reason they came up with.

 

[TIN_MAN]

I think the central issue everyone is dancing around here is that there is a schism among the fans, creating in effect, basically two fanbases? One is the older generation of TOS fans that wanted ST: E to be a TOS prequel, and then the younger generation of fans of ST: TNG onwards that wanted ST: E to be a ST: TNG era prequel that paved its own way forwards. The older TOS fans felt that seasons 1 through 3 were ignoring TOS continuity and the younger TNG-etc fans felt like season 4 was all (TOS) fan service?

 

[eyeresist]

I wasn't trying to contradict your point. It seemed to me that you were arguing that Vulcans did not have emotions period. And that T'Pol was taking drugs to gain emotions. I took issue with that because Vulcans have emotions so there was no need to take drugs to access them.

I'm not saying Vulcans don't have emotions. They have control over them. If we compare with anger management therapy, for instance, people who have that therapy don't learn to disguise their anger, they learn to actually change their reaction so they don't get angry. Well, they can still experience anger, but it doesn't develop into a full-blown rage fit. You can do the same thing with meditation, and change your mind-set so that life doesn't upset you so much.

I think the Vulcans basically do the same thing, but more extreme. They are capable of emotions, but choose not to experience them fully because they are afraid of losing control.

Though what proof do you have that T'Pol was trying to avoid the negative extremes of her emotions?

This is shown in the episode "Fusion", when T'Pol meets some Vulcans who are trying to embrace emotions. T'Pol experiments by not doing her usual meditation, and experiences a dream she finds disturbing. Later, one of the emotional Vulcans attacks her by refusing to stop a mind-meld. All this reinforces T'Pol's idea of emotions as too dangerous to deal with.

The whole drug addiction thing was just dumb. I wish they hadn't gone that route period. However, since they did it would've made more sense for her to completely repress her emotions and maybe take Trellium-D to do so. I say that because T'Pol in a highly emotional environment with all the angry and grieving humans on Enterprise, it could've been overwhelming and threatened to upset her own emotional controls.

I agree - this would have been a better approach.