What's Special About DS9?
- Thread starter Spot's Meow
- Start date
Some guys just got it, and some don't. The "Cautious Picard" in Tapestry was a Jr. Lieutenant, and Picard is supposed to be in his 60's. I bet even Ensign Kim could get promoted more than once in 40 years.
Picard is a strange one. IRL it's the victims of assault that are held back and timid not to mention plagued by PTSD not the ones who were smart enough NOT to get stabbed. I find it outrageous that the gist of this story is that the only way someone like Picard (always gets the highest grades, winner of the school marathon as a junior student, etc...) could be promoted beyond a humiliating "junior grade" at SIXTY!! is by getting stabbed through the heart and nearly dying. I don't get how they were able to save him btw, seems impossible even with ST tech, but that's ST for you.
How they save him is science fiction. This is real life:
It's the C students that learn how to achieve through the mental aspects of grit, determination and learning how they work, study habits, that usually achieve. Krall wanted a body count, but he wasn't wrong. We learn by failure because those never want to fail again, show resolve, and gain insight into how to problem solve.
So, have you faced death before? You have to remember that Picard has a "Carpe Diem" moment. Why you seize opportunities, don't fritter your time challenging Nausicans, and live with the purpose of exploration.
He wants to be a great man. He is committed to adding to that lineage that his family told him about. So, "The Picard who died from a Nausican wound to the heart," or "The Picard who seized the center chair when the Captain died on the Stargazer?" He is aware of that choice.
He presses on, through nightmares from The Borg, PTSD symptoms, not for fun, but for legacy. He is lying to Robert when he says "I never sought that rubbish!" It's not gentlemanly for him to admit it, but that is what he sought. It is his drive to add to the Picard legacy that deepens the wounds about the Wolf 359 incident.
Three-fold: Q was right, He killed people when he looked to the stars with wonder, and he shamed his family name.
Because he sees himself as a white Knight, a hero, with a legacy to protect, killing 11,000 of his friends in Starfleet might deepen the wound--and cause him to take too much credit for what happened. The Borg didn't just wound him, they were more powerful than he was. He did fight them; he couldn't win. Mourn the dead, but someone who has a better perspective, more balanced, would accept, ultimately, it was not his fault.
"I tried...I tried so hard. I wasn't strong enough! I wasn't good enough!"
His abilities made him arrogant. He believed that he could stop them because he has stared down every enemy. He couldn't.
I am sorry but this isn't real life this is exaggerated bullshit. If you are successful, you'll get more hype if you invent a story about how hard it's been for you to get there than if you honestly say that it wasn't all that hard. I've always been an A student, except one time when I was in an accident that almost cost me my life (one of the two times I was talking about) and necessitated my hospitalization for some time and then I got the measles (likely from the hospital), I mean talk about bad luck!!
My grades were a little lower than usual for a couple of months but I still managed to ace the final exam.
Most people who succeed are A students, the ones this biased video is talking about (if truthful) are "exceptions that prove the rule." at best.
That's grit--your accident. You stayed committed to the process of raising your grades. Picard wants to be a man of history, and these are men of history.
Curiosity, raw intelligence, perseverance, creativity, emotional pliability are all necessary. So, by the way, is income. Life happens to us. We are not a story, but a narrative helps. And when you told the story of you academic success, you spoke about the challenges.
The grade "C" shouldn't be there; quantitative. But, there are many sides to success, various backgrounds. Without adversity, we cannot generalize the skills to overcome hardships and challenges.
Often, these accomplishments can turn us arrogant "I can do anything!"
But, in terms of achievement, this is easy--
Anything worth achieving has hardships. Failures happen. The trick is to stay committed to the process.
What this has to do with Picard is that he failed to defeat the Nausican. So, he learned to seize moments because his failure led to almost dying. He seized them, with the purpose of legacy, to becoming Captain of the Flagship of the Federation. A post he kept for 15-20 years (unclear).
PTSD is not a death sentence, and As are not a predictor of success. Commitment and perseverance are the predictors of success, from what I have read. Opportunities help, too, through family income.
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