"Unification" dialogue question

[alpha_leonis]

When Data was placed in command of one of the anti-Romulan task force ships, he was assigned a first officer who did not believe that an Android could be effective as a ship's captain.

I recall he made a couple of other "bad-fit species" arguments to justify his claim, one being that Klingons would not be good ship's counselors. (Check. I can see the point.)

I seem to recall he made another such comparison -- I forget the name of the species, but whoever they were would not make good engineers, according to Mr. Tentative XO. Anybody remember the species name? Is it a species we've seen elsewhere in Trek? If so (or if not), what quality of that species would make them bad at being engineers?

My thought (too impatient to wait for answers): the species in question tends to move in a rather shaky or jumpy manner -- a race of Parkinsons sufferers, more or less -- thereby making them unsuitable for the precision work that Engineering requires.

Anybody else?

 

[DonIago]

You're thinking of "Redemption", not "Unification". May want to fix the subject line if you can.

 

[The Borg Queen]

Re: "Redemption" dialogue question

The Borg? No, wait...

Pakleds?

 

[Crewman6]

According to my memory (and confirmed by the script), the race referred to is "Berellian."

Which seems very stupid that an entire race would be too dumb to be engineers. How they hell would the Federation know about them? Obviously they wouldn't have made it into space.

Just another example of Trek's moronic and chronic way of painting an entire species with a ludicrously broad brush - ALL Ferengi are greedy merchants, ALL Klingons are angry warriors, etc.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

 

[pookha]

we dont really know why the berellians wouldnt make good engineers. what is said in memory alpha is just speculation.

and as far back as tos the federation did have contact with species that didnt have warp drive or least appeared not to.
see friday's child.
it is possible another race without a prime directive already made contact with these species and because of this the federation also would have contact with them.

for all we know in fact the berellians could be a non warp capable or even primative race that hasnt been contacted but is under observation by the federation so hobson would have heard of them.

 

[Timo]

It's quite possible that the Berellians do not have the required manipulative organs. For example dolphins would make for abysmal engineers because their beaks are far from ideal manipulators - being smart would be of no help to them.

It wouldn't be particularly discriminatory to call a handless species "unsuited for engineering". Similarly, there is no good reason to hold Klingons to human standards and expect at least some of them to have the empathy required for successful counseling. Empathy may simply have been evolved out of the entire species (or never evolved in); asking a Klingon to sympathize would be no different from asking a human to rape babies. Perfectly doable, but so against the nature of the species as to amount to mental dysfunction.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Crewman6]

I'd lay the blame at Hobson for being a racist prick, but considering Trek's penchant of endowing an entire species with a single blanket characterisitic, I can't hardly blame him.

 

[The Borg Queen]

All Borg are perfect is "a single blanket characterisitic" I can live with.

 

[SmoothieX]

Klingons are aggressive, warlike, proud, strong, etc. Sitting around talking about how you don't think Lt. so-and-so likes you is a sign of weakness to them.

Not right or wrong. Just the way their culture works.

Maybe Berellians renounce technology. They wouldn't have the knowledge or inclination to work on engines.

 

[Finn]

^unlikely. The fact Hobson mentioned Berellians implies they are space-faring. If they were pre-warp, why would Hobson even mention them? It also suggests there might be Berellians in Starfleet.

 

[Nebusj]

SmoothieX said:
Klingons are aggressive, warlike, proud, strong, etc. Sitting around talking about how you don't think Lt. so-and-so likes you is a sign of weakness to them.

Not right or wrong. Just the way their culture works.

No? Let me spin that scenario out a bit.

LIEUTENANT REDSHIRT: I think Lieutenant Goldshirt likes me.
COUNSELOR WORF: What is the problem?
REDSHIRT: I'm not sure it is a problem.
WORF: You thought it worth mention. Either you are bothered, you feel you should be bothered, or you seek permission to do something.
REDSHIRT: I ... don't know that I'd put it in terms like that.
WORF: You would not seek counseling if you would.
REDSHIRT: ...
WORF: You will be unlikely to attack your problem successfully until you identify it.
REDSHIRT: I need to give this question some thought.
WORF: Yes.

That may not beat out Bob Newhart, of course, but I could see it working rather successfully, at least for some people.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Finn said:
^unlikely. The fact Hobson mentioned Berellians implies they are space-faring. If they were pre-warp, why would Hobson even mention them? It also suggests there might be Berellians in Starfleet.

The costuming/makeup notes for ST:TMP mention that Rhaandarites live for over 200 years and are good at obeying orders but not making them. The Rhaandarite ensign (Billy Van Zandt) was said to be "80 years young" - and described in the credits as "Alien Boy". Essentially he was decades younger than all the officers giving him orders and, if his race aren't typically good at giving orders, his path up the promotions ladder would have been difficult. Or he's an atypical Rhaandarite.

(Actually, the ST novel, "Ex Machina", spends quite a bit of time on this.)

 

[David cgc]

Nebusj said:

SmoothieX said:
Klingons are aggressive, warlike, proud, strong, etc. Sitting around talking about how you don't think Lt. so-and-so likes you is a sign of weakness to them.

Not right or wrong. Just the way their culture works.

No? Let me spin that scenario out a bit.

-snip-

That may not beat out Bob Newhart, of course, but I could see it working rather successfully, at least for some people.

Reminds me a little of a Tellarite counselor in one of the recent Trek novels. The straight-and-fast school of advice-giving.