Is 24th Century Trek a bad, or good, analogy to climate change?
- Thread starter suarezguy
- Start date
The Warp Speed limitation was a bad analogy.
The TNG episode "When the Bough Breaks" with Aldea having to give up their Shields & Cloaking tech to not do anymore damage to their ozone layer which causes genetic mutation and infertility is a better climate change episode IMO.
The TNG episode "When the Bough Breaks" with Aldea having to give up their Shields & Cloaking tech to not do anymore damage to their ozone layer which causes genetic mutation and infertility is a better climate change episode IMO.
We also weren't trying to hide an entire planet from the rest of the Universe by cloaking it or erecting a giant ass Force Field Shield around the planet.
Maybe, if the Borg knew they were there and working on penetrating the Cloak & Shields. Then it's only a matter of time.
Then the Aldeans are screwed because they have no known fleets and only the vessel launching pulse.
Short of knocking Borg StarShips into Stars to kill them, they don't really have any Interstellar Navy that we can see.
I don't know. If they can make good on their threat to be able to push ships so far away that 'your children will be grandparents by the time you get back' (going by Voyager, that would basically mean a distance comparable to the distance to the other side of the galaxy), that might be adequate defense against the Borg, too. At least as long as the Borg don't attack with hundreds or thousands of cubes at the same time.
The Aldeans are problematic that way. Usually, when a vastly superior technology is discovered, the tech is either:
1. Destroyed (Iconian gateways).
2. Deeply flawed (Romulan phase/cloak).
3. Buried (Federation phase/cloak).
4. Lost or unavailable (spore drive).
5. Adapted to (Dominion ability to penetrate shields).
Consider that the Aldeans...
1. Weren't destroyed.
2. While there were issues, they were probably addressable. Certainly the tech was usable on moonbases, starbases, or worlds without ozone layers.
3. Their repulsor beam and planetary shield were Federation-legal technology, and the Aldeans could use the cloaking tech as long as they were merely Federation allies (like the Klingons, who cloak all the time).
4. With no shield or cloak to hide behind, they had no choice but to join the galactic community.
5. The possibility of adaptation is uncertain at best.
And 6. They presumably owed the Federation their very continued existence.
So why do we never see their tech again?
1. Destroyed (Iconian gateways).
2. Deeply flawed (Romulan phase/cloak).
3. Buried (Federation phase/cloak).
4. Lost or unavailable (spore drive).
5. Adapted to (Dominion ability to penetrate shields).
Consider that the Aldeans...
1. Weren't destroyed.
2. While there were issues, they were probably addressable. Certainly the tech was usable on moonbases, starbases, or worlds without ozone layers.
3. Their repulsor beam and planetary shield were Federation-legal technology, and the Aldeans could use the cloaking tech as long as they were merely Federation allies (like the Klingons, who cloak all the time).
4. With no shield or cloak to hide behind, they had no choice but to join the galactic community.
5. The possibility of adaptation is uncertain at best.
And 6. They presumably owed the Federation their very continued existence.
So why do we never see their tech again?
The current batch of writers probably don't know who they are or need to go back and rewatch that specific episode to reference to them. Other wise, they'll be memory pigeon holed.
I would definitely remember them and their tech.
It's not trustworthy.
Maybe, but in the hands of Federstion scientists, it could have been refined.
Personally, I think that in terms of inconsistencies, the episode would have been vastly improved by tweaking the ending as seen here: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/when-the-bough-breaks-a-story-in-one-better-ending.311302/
Personally, I think that in terms of inconsistencies, the episode would have been vastly improved by tweaking the ending as seen here: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/when-the-bough-breaks-a-story-in-one-better-ending.311302/
One thing I have observed about the Federation approach to technology is that they are not as welcoming as they appear at first blush. They are willing to have it to examine and see it's potential. But, if there are any drawbacks they are less likely to implement or even refine it.
Maybe that's why these other interstellar polities have a tech base comparable to theirs. Maybe if they actually did some proper research and developed these technologies, the Romulans might have stayed hidden, the Cardassians would have been afraid to disobey the treaty, and the Dominion would have stayed on their side of the wormhole.
Can you show examples of this?
Warp 10 tech. Discarded after one use.
Interphase cloak. Discarded by both Klingons and Romulans and surrendered by the Federation.
Androids. Not used widely despite multiple models discovered by TOS era.
Because developing cloaking technology is a violation of a treaty the Federation signed in good faith...?
Yup. Among other technology Voyager discovered. Including that a small Borg network can promote healing.
Reread my post. Specifically, point #3.
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