Spock...
The fundamental of Vulcan logic-based life; particularly the very relatable struggle of Mr. Spock between emotion and logic.
Inevitably, the price of placing reason ahead of emotion is a certain detachment from social circles and - by choice - unrelatability to other people's emotional conditions; but for me, being able to step back to and rely on the fundamental of logic has been an ongoing lesson, and one which I was inspired to pursue much because of Star Trek.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..."
Understanding the greater good has been important to me, and because of the complexities of life, sometimes hard to come to a concrete conclusion on. The above phrase has been burned into my mind as one of my core beliefs; the importance of non-objective reasoning, and the understanding that sometimes it is necessary to throw out the book of black and white morality and pick up the scales of justice. In other words, sometimes there is no right answer, and the best choice is not one to be proud of; but being able to make that choice is critical nevertheless.
"Live long, and prosper..."
This phrase is also important to me. It says much more about what life really means than the typical "Hello" that we all give and recieve. Life, longetivity, and prosperity is its theme; and for being three adjectives, it contains a massive amount of philosophy.
And Picard...
Remember the scene in
First Contact when Picard shows the earth woman - Lily, I believe her name was - earth from the viewpoint of the Enterpirse? Great stuff; and that is, naturally, the biggest lesson that
Star Trek introduced me to.
When I first started watching
Star Trek, I was just beginning to emerge from an isolationist fundamental Christian sect; long story short, my mind was closed to the world, closed to the town down the street; closed to everything except what I had been raised to believe. Star Trek played a major role in making me realize how big existence and life really is, and how much we as a human race can dare aspire to become. In a philosophical sense, it was like looking out the window of that starship for the first time.
And, of course, there is the added fact that - because of Picard - I bought my first box of Earl Gray tea packets, and liked them enough to keep right on buying them.
I would say that about 50% of my philosophical, political, and economic worldview has been impacted by Star Trek; the other 50%, from real-world history.
