What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

People still suits me. I wouldn’t have to spend five minutes explaining it to people not versed in sci-fi speak for a start.

 

To me people has too many other contexts, and words can be explained through the context they are used in, so there would be no need to "spend five minutes" to explain what a Sapient is. I got it the meaning right away when I first read that word (an Alien in an Excalibur comic said hello to Kitty Pryde by saying "Greetings, Sapient!") and that was even at a time when I couldn't speak English nearly as well as I do now.

I'd even go with "Intelligent Lifeforms" over "people"

But to each their own.

 

In case anyone from the franchise is visiting this forum and sees this: Sapients.

It covers every intelligent life form you can encounter in the Trek universe. Plus doesn't pigeonhole or mislabel any of them.

 

I do get what you’re saying, but I teach English as a foreign language and deal with people daily who speak English as a second or third language.

A word like ‘people’ is classified as A1 vocabulary. That means almost any English speaker will know it. This scale runs from A1 to C2 with C2 being specialised vocabulary.

The word sapient (in the dictionary, an adjective, not a noun) is what we refer to as ‘off the chart’. The Cambridge English Dictionary doesn’t even classify it using the above scale. It’s an considered an obscure word that very rarely comes into day to day conversation.

I don’t contend that ‘sapient’ is technically a better word and I get that it more fairly covers a wide range of different species in Star Trek. Just, generally in my life I’ll stick with ‘people’ because I’d be able to more quickly communicate what I am trying to say with the folks I am trying to say it to.

If the preferred nomenclature on this board is ’sapient’ though, I’m happy to go with that. It doesn’t make much difference to me and I prefer not offending fellow posters to the alternative.

There are instances where words mean more than just words and people can be legitimately offended. The change from ‘transsexual’ to the more proper ‘transgender’ springs to mind and though I used the former before, these days I certainly would use the latter.

I don’t especially worry about ‘pigeon-holing’ fictional aliens from a TV show though.

 

The Archailects approve

 

Sapient people.

 

What about the Benno-Meyerians?

 

My favorite aspirin manufacturing company.

 

As a kid growing up watching Transformers ‪‪‪‪I’ve always liked Optimus Prime’s quote “freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”

So sentient beings has long been ingrained in me as a great way to describe any and all intelligent life.

And regarding humans being the only species that aren’t named for their planet, that’s not strictly true. While it’s definitely more common that alien races’ names in Trek are derived from their planets’ name, humans aren’t the sole exceptions.

The Bandi are from Deneb IV, Kelpiens & Ba’ul from Kaminar, and though Klingons were once from Kling, that’s long since been revised, and they’re from Qo’noS. So it isn’t unheard of, and Humans shouldn’t necessarily be Terrans by default.

 

“Gentlebeings” was used at least once on the fringes of the franchise.

The very far fringes.

 

I'm sure the Klingons or the Hirogen or the Jem'Hadar would simply love to be called "gentle"-anything...

 

I remember “gentlebeings” in print…

Here is a controversial theory…
Maybe things never started with TOS after all. The new Disco-prime Enterprise was fashioned after NX-01…on to Ambassadors and Picard. Never any TMP or Excelsior. Kelvin timeline still on its own.

Discovery makes it back before they left. Behind the scenes TOS Constitutions are made…but only Enterprise herself gets 32 Century tech hidden.

Thought it was M-5 that gave Enterprise and advantage in THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER? Guess again. Withstand Nomad and V’ger? A cinch! Wonder why Scotty was a miracle worker? This was his Kobayashi Maru cheat. This is the real secret behind the STARSHIP class. The other Constitutions looked similar…but there was a reason only Enterprise came back. A Kelvin run in gave her the refit…she was actually a bit weaker as Section 31 put everything into Excelsior.

And that’s why Defiant had such problems with the Lakota.

 

“Folks”

 

"Low-Mileage Sentience Woofies."

 

Klingons would regard any human honorific to be without honor.

 

Anything not Klingon is without honor. Except for prune juice.

 

Out of interest, which Star Trek aliens qualify as something other than people?

I’d say regular ‘humanoid’ creations fall under the description. I can imagine for example, “the people of Vulcan are logical” or “it would be considered an insult to all Klingon people”…

Then I guess there are things like the Guardian from The City on the Edge of Forever where the descriptor becomes more hazy.

I like the way that you think too much! ;-)

 

Controversial Opinions:
1- TMP uniforms look great.
2- The uniforms in the original cast movies from Wrath on look like the crew is in a marching band. They are horrible. They should be in the Rose Parade instead of on a Starship.
3- All TNG movies are sub par and disappointed me.

now, pardon me whilst I run for cover.

 

Hard to disagree with these.

 

I like the TMP uniforms better than I do DSC's from Seasons 1 and 2.

And I never thought it would get that far.