Who Watches the Watchers?

[Amaris]

It IS an art piece, no doubt about it.

Oh, absolutely.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I agree with this as well, and in regards to your position on WWIII/Post Atomic Horror, all we can do is hope it really doesn't come to that, that perhaps humanity will change just enough to find the idea of more war reprehensible.

I hope not...but I think the war may well come. Let's just hope we survive it without destroying ourselves physically OR destroying our diversity.

 

[Amaris]

I agree with this as well, and in regards to your position on WWIII/Post Atomic Horror, all we can do is hope it really doesn't come to that, that perhaps humanity will change just enough to find the idea of more war reprehensible.

I hope not...but I think the war may well come. Let's just hope we survive it without destroying ourselves physically OR destroying our diversity.

Then hope is what we will do.

 

[Destructor]

I agree with this as well, and in regards to your position on WWIII/Post Atomic Horror, all we can do is hope it really doesn't come to that, that perhaps humanity will change just enough to find the idea of more war reprehensible.

I hope not...but I think the war may well come. Let's just hope we survive it without destroying ourselves physically OR destroying our diversity.

It's not a new concept in science fiction- but sometimes I think we aren't meant to survive. We're too short sighted. Once we achieve a certain level of technology, we seem almost destined to destroy ourselves. No wonder we never pick up signals from other civilizations- they've probably done themselves in too quickly for us to notice them. We're just a curious blip on the timeline of the earth, the animal that built a gun to shoot itself with.

I read an article yesterday about a massive die-off of fish in a certain breeding ground. They bred and they bred and they bred until they used up all the oxygen in the water. Then they all died, every one of them. That's us. We think we are smart enough to see the end coming, and we do, we do see it. But we don't do anything to stop it. That's us. We'll breed and breed and breed, and we'll say: "What about the oxygen?" shrug our shoulders and keep breeding. Then we'll use up all the oxygen and we'll all be dead. It'll happen faster than we could imagine. We'll hit some tipping point and... boom. The quiet earth. Earth will keep going. Maybe someday some other creature will arise the way we did, get technology, study our remains, learn how we died, tut over their newspapers saying: "We won't let that happen to us!" And they'll see the signs, ignore them, and do it all over again.

That's us. Maybe we're not meant to survive.

I watch Star Trek to keep these feelings at bay. But Star Trek is a dream. Reality is our future. God help us.

 

[Mr_Homn]

I think it enhances it. I'm glad the writers took a stance, instead of teetering on the edge of 'let's not offend anyone.' I'm so sick of pandering on TV.

Definitely agree. It's one of the reasons I love this episode.

I agree with this as well, and in regards to your position on WWIII/Post Atomic Horror, all we can do is hope it really doesn't come to that, that perhaps humanity will change just enough to find the idea of more war reprehensible.

I hope not...but I think the war may well come. Let's just hope we survive it without destroying ourselves physically OR destroying our diversity.

It's not a new concept in science fiction- but sometimes I think we aren't meant to survive. We're too short sighted. Once we achieve a certain level of technology, we seem almost destined to destroy ourselves. No wonder we never pick up signals from other civilizations- they've probably done themselves in too quickly for us to notice them. We're just a curious blip on the timeline of the earth, the animal that built a gun to shoot itself with.

I read an article yesterday about a massive die-off of fish in a certain breeding ground. They bred and they bred and they bred until they used up all the oxygen in the water. Then they all died, every one of them. That's us. We think we are smart enough to see the end coming, and we do, we do see it. But we don't do anything to stop it. That's us. We'll breed and breed and breed, and we'll say: "What about the oxygen?" shrug our shoulders and keep breeding. Then we'll use up all the oxygen and we'll all be dead. It'll happen faster than we could imagine. We'll hit some tipping point and... boom. The quiet earth. Earth will keep going. Maybe someday some other creature will arise the way we did, get technology, study our remains, learn how we died, tut over their newspapers saying: "We won't let that happen to us!" And they'll see the signs, ignore them, and do it all over again.

That's us. Maybe we're not meant to survive.

I agree, unless we can finally get off this planet some day and spread out. That's why I think space travel is fundamental to the survival of mankind. But it seems like most people either don't feel that way, or don't care anymore.

 

[gomtuu20]

Nerys Ghamor I appreciate your posts. They are eloquent and thoughtful. I don't agree with everything you say, but your posts are thought provoking.
I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with Picard objecting to extremism and it would be perfectly fine for Picard to be upset that they are worshipping him as a god. I agree with the earlier post that states that this lessens Picard as the moral center of the show. I had not thought about how DS9 took the opposite approach. I wonder if it was a reaction to TNG's anti-religious hypocracy. I had not really considered that before, but it does kind of make sense.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Thank you very much for your kind words!

 

[BolianAuthor]

This episode is one of my absolute top favorites... it was well-written, had a good story, and was just all-around well-executed.

 

[bensmalls]

I know it's generally a pretty popular episode, but I didn't really care for it. It had good story, but came off a little cheesy and over the top for me.