But still, Vulcans having some super special strong emotions cannot be true. We have seen logicless Vulcans and plenty of Romulans, and they do not seem any more emotional than humans.
Well, an element in play may be that the suppression
itself concentrates and intensifies the underlying emotions, because they are allowed no outlet. Bones theorized as much with respect to
pon farr...
"Amok Time" (TOS):
MCCOY: And they still go mad at this time. Perhaps the price they pay for having no emotions the rest of the time.
As for those so-called "logicless Vulcans"...
"Fusion" (ENT):
TAVIN: "Vulcans without logic." It's a name the Elders give to anyone who disagrees with the ancestral teachings, but it's not entirely accurate. We haven't abandoned logic. We've simply learned to exist without the need to continually repress our emotions. It's taken years of experimentation, but we've managed to find a balance between the two.
T'POL: That's not possible.
TOLARIS: Here we are.
TAVIN: Logic is an essential part of Vulcan existence, but it has to complement emotions, not exclude them.
[...]
ARCHER: It seems to me like you've been busy avoiding them. I can understand that you might not approve of what they're trying to do, but for all we know they're onto something.
T'POL: That's unlikely.
ARCHER: Is it? Eight years. That's a pretty good track record.
T'POL: Just because they smile and eat chicken doesn't mean they've learned to master their emotions.
ARCHER: Maybe I'm just relieved to finally meet some Vulcans who aren't giving me a hard time. Then again, if they have found this balance...
T'POL: They're not the first ones to attempt this, Captain. Others have tried to re-integrate their emotions. They all failed. What they're doing is dangerous.
[...]
TOLARIS: Your emotions are much closer to the surface than other Vulcans. They're easier to read.
T'POL: I have yet to meditate this evening. Perhaps that's what you're sensing.
TOLARIS: This may surprise you, but we still meditate. The balance between emotion and logic requires constant discipline.
T'POL: So you've said. You and your colleagues have chosen a reckless path.
TOLARIS: Have we?
T'POL: History's shown that Vulcans who attempt to embrace their emotions often revert to their primal nature.
TOLARIS: That's a myth. Propaganda from five thousand years ago. Our primal nature, T'Pol, is not as dangerous as you think.
[...]
T'POL: It's curious that people who reject Surak's teachings would display his likeness.
TOLARIS: We don't reject his teachings. We simply disagree with how they're interpreted. Have you read his original text? He never intended for us to purge our emotions. He wanted us to master them, and then carefully integrate them into our lives.
T'POL: I doubt many would agree with you.
TOLARIS: That doesn't mean we're wrong.
(And then he raped her. Of course, it's not as if the others were all that bad. But they were playing with fire, is the point.)
A bit more on that "primal nature" and the process of suppressing it...
"All Our Yesterdays" (TOS):
MCCOY: Are you trying to kill me, Spock? Is that what you really want? Think. What are you feeling? Rage? Jealousy? Have you ever had those feelings before?
SPOCK: This is impossible. Impossible. I am a Vulcan.
MCCOY: The Vulcan you knew won't exist for another five thousand years. Think, man. What's happening on your planet right now, this very moment?
SPOCK: My ancestors are barbarians. Warlike barbarians.
MCCOY: Who nearly killed themselves off with their own passions.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier:
SYBOK: My Vulcan ancestors were ruled by their emotions. They felt with their hearts. They made love with their hearts. They believed with their hearts.
"Shockwave, Part II" (ENT):
T'POL: The concept of learning from one's mistakes shouldn't be difficult for a Vulcan of your wisdom to understand, Ambassador. Our ancestors discovered how to suppress their volatile emotions only after centuries of savage conflict.
"Meld" (VGR):
DOCTOR: First we have to take away his ability to control his violence. We do this in short bursts over a period of time and hope it provides a shock to his system. If it works, his own neural controls will take over again. I believe we're about ready. Revive him.
TUVOK: Something has changed.
DOCTOR: We've temporarily removed all of your emotional suppression abilities, Lieutenant. How do you feel?
TUVOK: I feel.
JANEWAY: Tuvok, do you know where you are?
TUVOK: [laughing] Of course I know where I am, Captain. I'm just not sure I know who I am.
DOCTOR: Try to relax. The treatment still has about three minutes to go.
TUVOK: Oh, it must be working, because I feel very strong. Very powerful. Quite euphoric. This must be how my ancestors felt. Doctor, would you consider allowing me to remain this way for a while? It would be a valuable opportunity for me to study primal Vulcan behavior.
DOCTOR: Sorry, I'm not prepared to do that. The course of treatment is very specific.
TUVOK: You are not invulnerable, hologram! A few well chosen commands to the computer and you will cease to exist! [throws wheelchair against forcefield]
"Innocence" (VGR):
TUVOK: Vulcan children learn to detach themselves from their emotions at an early age.
ELANI: How?
TUVOK: First, you must focus on the object of your fear. Picture the Morrok clearly in your minds. That image is accompanied by an emotional response. Describe for me what that feeling is like.
TRESSA: It makes my stomach all tight.
ELANI: I feel like I want to run, but my legs won't work.
TUVOK: Now, if you could see this emotion in physical form, what would it look like?
CORIN: It's like this big, black cloud with lots of thunder and lightning all around us.
TUVOK: Then imagine a strong wind is pushing that cloud away. Watch as your fear grows more distant. It is no longer a part of you. Once you begin to detach yourselves from your emotional responses, you come closer to controlling them. Eventually, they will be eliminated altogether.
ELANI: Do you live your whole life without feeling anything?
TUVOK: More accurately, we strive to control our feelings.
Now, those last two
do rather make it sound like once these patterns of thinking and behavior have been well-established and long-sustained that they indeed take on
some degree of self-regulation, in the absence of impairment, which makes sense given the principle of
neuroplasticity. (Repetitive actions and other stimuli can over time physically alter and restructure human neural pathways as well, in real life.)
Regarding the volatility of Romulans...
"Balance Of Terror" (TOS):
SPOCK: And if Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood, and I think this likely, then attack becomes even more imperative.
MCCOY: War is never imperative, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: It is for them, Doctor. Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive colonizing period. Savage, even by Earth standards. And if Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.
"The Enterprise Incident" (TOS):
ROMULAN COMMANDER: Romulan women are not like Vulcan females. We are not dedicated to pure logic and the sterility of non-emotion. Our people are warriors, often savage. But we are also many other pleasant things.
"The Neutral Zone" (TNG):
TROI: As you know, there is very little available on the Romulans.
PICARD: Counselor, anything would be helpful.
TROI: They seem to be creatures of extremes. One moment violent beyond description, the next tender.
But I will certainly grant you that such statements might equally be made of humans!
"The Forge" (ENT):
SOVAL: We don't know what to do about humans. Of all the species we've made contact with, yours is the only one we can't define. You have the arrogance of Andorians, the stubborn pride of Tellarites. One moment, you're as driven by your emotions as Klingons, and the next, you confound us by suddenly embracing logic.
FORREST: I'm sure those qualities are found in every species.
SOVAL: Not in such confusing abundance.
FORREST: Ambassador, are Vulcans afraid of humans? Why?
SOVAL: Because there is one species you remind us of.
FORREST: Vulcans.
SOVAL: We had our wars, Admiral, just as humans did. Our planet was devastated, our civilisation nearly destroyed. Logic saved us. But it took almost fifteen hundred years for us to rebuild our world and travel to the stars. You humans did the same in less than a century. There are those on the High Command who wonder what humans would achieve in the century to come, and they don't like the answer.
I see it less as a matter of
not understanding than one of understanding
all too well. Surak certainly understood. Or at least, Spock must believe He would...
"The Savage Curtain" (TOS):
SURAK: The image of Surak read in your face what is in your mind, Spock.
SPOCK: As I turned and my eyes beheld you, I displayed emotion. I beg forgiveness.
SURAK: The cause was more than sufficient.
Note that I'm not suggesting it's impossible to overplay the "Spock gets emotional or is otherwise out of sorts" card, but it
is a well-established element of his character, and has often served as an effective shorthand for "something must be up here." It has always seemed to me that "The Naked Time" provides one of the single best glimpses of who Spock "really" is (or was then) beneath his aloof exterior. As with everyone in that episode, he may be "under the influence," but that influence isn't actually
imposing those feelings on him. It is merely
revealing them by reducing his inhibitions and carefully-cultivated defenses. That's the "true" Spock we're seeing there, as much as we are at any other time during TOS.
(Sorry to belabor this. Carry on.)
-
MMoM
