They do exhalt warrior-based careers above all others, which suggests their doctors, engineers, etc would not be up to snuff. (I think Martok might have mentioned that once, wanting to go to a Federation doctor for an injury rather than the sketchy Klingon ones.) But they could also steal technology or make alliances to gain technology in exchange for their considerable fighting skills.
There were a few scientists, engineers and doctors scattered throughout the series' if you knew where to look. One that sticks in my head is in TNG where Crusher invited a bunch of scientists to the E-D to work on a new type of shield to enable a shuttle to enter a star.
Another example of course is the doctor from ENT who was involved in the augment debacle. It was also him who said IIRC that the empire had been slowly running itself into the ground since the warrior class took total power of state some decades prior.
Eh. I see their belligerence as a species trait, not a function of culture.
People have mentioned this before but I find it unlikely. We all know humanity's track record. Any species that was significantly
more inherrently belligerent (as an underlying genetic trait rather than learned behaviour) would be very unlikely to survive once their tech level entered the nuclear era. As it is, we almost pressed the button a few times during the cold war. A species that was like us but with extra inbuilt aggression, would almost inevitably have crossed the line, and wiped themselves out.
What held them back was probably their lack of engineering prowess. Couldn't figure out how to make a warp drive till the Rommies came along...?
If they were that bad they would be incapable of maintaining the ships they have. Operating and maintaining a complicated space drive full of antimatter requires extreme competence. Slacking or bungling around that stuff = spectacular splodey death for you and anyone within 100 miles or so...
Worf shouldn't be taken as an indication of the Klingons. He was a very special case, having been raised by humans and then exhibiting his idea of what Klingons are like, which isn't at all the same as how they are like. He's a lot more restrained than they're usually portrayed. His scenes with Martok are very revealing.
For truth. It's interesting that other Klingons have remarked on more than one occasion that he seems very human to them. He comes off as very insecure in much of TNG. Ever count how many times he defensively or sometimes even bombastically announces "I AM A KLINGON". (It's a lot) As if he's trying to convince himself.
Martok is my idea of what a Klingon is "really" like - aggressive but not a nutcase, disciplined enough to get the job done but far from priggish.
I liked him. He's a straight up no nonsense competent military commander. Something not often seen in ST. You can really tell he has been "through the wars" quite literally and knows how to fight his battles.
Another factor is that he is low-born. Remember Klingon society is a pretty heavily stratified caste system, and Martok was the son of a farmer. It gives him a down to earth (qonos?) quality that most of the other Klingons in TNG onwards didn't have. Before Martok, most TNG/DS9 era Klingons that were seen were from noble houses, basically the Klingon aristocracy - and they had a lot of pretentious bullshit going on, which was absent with Martok.
Comparing Martok to the likes of the Duras sisters and Gowron suggests that he's on the more-ethical side of the continuum, and some Klingons can be real bastards. But none of them act like they have a stick up their butts like Worf always did. Klingons probably thought he was the weirdest guy they ever met.
The Durases were sleazy sellouts from a family of sleazy sellouts who had been in bed with the Romulans for 2 or 3 generations. Gowron was a classic power hungry, backstabbing politician who couldn't see past his own ego. It's no surprise that they are nothing like Martok. As for Worf - I think I have him covered further up the post.
