# A Stupid Thing in Star Trek That Has Annoyed Me For Years (Add Your Own!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414 "2008-07-14T09:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/61 "2008-07-14T19:06:24Z")
There’s a great series of books that list all these things and more The [nit-pickers guide](http://tinyurl.com/6cqcvr) series by Phil Farrand. They examine each individual episode for plot holes, changed premises, equipment oddities, etc, plus discussion of general silliness, such as the number of planets that are just like Earth at a particular point in history. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/62 "2008-07-14T19:12:56Z")
[QUOTE=Wheeljack] I can’t cite the episode (movie?) but I’m pretty sure the “Vulcans don’t lie” thing was conceived as a strategic myth on the part of the Vulcans right from the get-go. Vulcans can and do lie when it suits them, they just want people to think that they don’t. [/QUOTE] In the non-canon radio play _Spock vs Q_, Spock cheerfully admits to lying by omission when it suits him. Edit: Well, okay, not _cheerfully_, but, you know. Without hesitation. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/63 "2008-07-14T19:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] And I could buy that it’s in their interests to let non-Vulcans believe it, but it was used as a crutch in at least one TNG episode - _Data’s Day_. T’Pel’s a Vulcan, Vulcans cannot lie, therefore if she seems to be lying _something’s afoot!_ It was rather like basing an episode on one of Troi’s convenient empathic sensings. [/QUOTE] I’ma have to go back and watch that one. What a boneheaded move! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/64 "2008-07-14T19:24:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] In the non-canon radio play _Spock vs Q_, Spock cheerfully admits to lying by omission when it suits him. Edit: Well, okay, not _cheerfully_, but, you know. Without hesitation. :smack: [/QUOTE] But again, in _The Enterprise Incident_, Spock _wasn’t_ lying by omission - he was flat out and blatantly laying bullshit a mile thick. For that matter, he was also duplicitous in _The Menagerie_. On further reflection, the “Vulcans cannot lie, _for real_” likely got its start in the second film: Saavik: You lied. Spock: I exaggerated. Unfortunately, what was merely a cute moment was blithely accepted as fact by later writers, to the franchise’s detriment. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/65 "2008-07-14T19:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] First off Cite? That was never mentioned in TOS and secondly, did those shields prevent transporting? [/QUOTE] In _Voyager_ I think they were referred to as “deflector shields” but I am going by memory only. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/66 "2008-07-14T19:35:48Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] And related to holograms: Data is considered soooooo advanced, because of his positronic brain. He can think very fast, has almost limitless capacity, and can eventually feel emotions. . . . So why couldn’t they just take the same hologram program they have, load it up into a flash drive, and stick it in the back of an empty android shell? I can’t imagine that Data’s body is the hard part they the scientists never got right. [/QUOTE] My fanwank has always been that it’s not the fact that Data can do what he does, it’s the fact that he’s done with such a compact brain! Keep in mind that every one of those holograms has an entire starship computer running behind it. The Doctor is special, because his magic armband is another 2-3 centuries advanced, if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/67 "2008-07-14T20:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=PharmBoy] This thread is funny because virtually everything on Star Trek is incoherent or impossible (read The Physics of Star Trek). You just need to relax and enjoy the story (when there IS one) because expecting real science in science fiction is like expecting honesty in politicians. [/QUOTE] That’s not really the point though; the question here is one of consistency, not accuracy. If your SF story establishes that everyone in the future wears antigravity boots, then it’s inconsistent if a character is unable to reach a high shelf. Whether antigravity is actually possible or not is immaterial. Trying to force this stuff into something resembling a unified whole is all part of the fun. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/68 "2008-07-14T20:47:24Z")
The whole communaction thing i never got… Picard to Riker! Riker here… How does the comptuer send it in real time? How does it know who to send it to before its been said? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/69 "2008-07-14T20:51:13Z")
Oh yeah and time travel. Its hard to do but its easy getting back. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/70 "2008-07-14T21:14:24Z")
[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12] The whole communaction thing i never got… Picard to Riker! Riker here.. How does the comptuer send it in real time? How does it know who to send it to before its been said? [/QUOTE] Everybody hears it, but the communication system (being actually tied directly into their brains) makes everyone but the target forget having heard it immediately afterwards. -FrL- okay I just made that up. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/71 "2008-07-14T21:21:14Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] In TOS, people talk to each other over shipboard teleconferencing when it’s obvious there wouldn’t be a camera in the direction they’re facing. [/quote] 😕 Video calls are done facing a screen, which no doubt has a little camera behind it. When Kirk talks from the bridge, there is a camera mounted above the screen. We see pictures of it from the log in \*Court Martial \*. > [@](#): > > Jamming a single turbolift door utterly isolates the Bridge. Yeah. The plans show a stair in front of the bridge, but it was never used in the show. > [@](#): > > When the _Enterprise_ travels back in time and is orbiting the Earth (“Assignment: Earth,” “Tomorrow is Yesterday”), the ship cannot be seen by observers on the ground because it has its shields up. Riiiiiiiiight. The shields blocked radar, not visual. The Enterprise is big, but is going to be a bit hard to see from the surface unless someone was looking and got real lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/72 "2008-07-14T21:23:33Z")
[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12] The whole communaction thing i never got… Picard to Riker! Riker here.. How does the comptuer send it in real time? How does it know who to send it to before its been said? [/QUOTE] I’m having trouble remembering, since it’s been a while since I’ve actually watched any Star Trek, but does the “Picard to Riker” part actually go through? I seem to remember that, in those cases, Riker would only hear a beep, slap his communicator, and say “Go ahead.” The “Picard to Riker” part didn’t actually get transmitted. I may be misremembering horribly, though. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/73 "2008-07-14T21:25:52Z")
[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12] The whole communaction thing i never got… Picard to Riker! Riker here.. How does the comptuer send it in real time? How does it know who to send it to before its been said? [/QUOTE] Given that Picard calls Riker all the time, I bet the computer has the circuit just about established at Ri and completes it when he finishes the name. It had recorded it, and pipes it to Riker when he opens the channel. This is all done in the pause between Picard saying it and Riker answering. Which sometimes is edited out of the show for better flow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/74 "2008-07-14T21:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] I’m having trouble remembering, since it’s been a while since I’ve actually watched any Star Trek, but does the “Picard to Riker” part actually go through? I seem to remember that, in those cases, Riker would only hear a beep, slap his communicator, and say “Go ahead.” The “Picard to Riker” part didn’t actually get transmitted. I may be misremembering horribly, though. [/QUOTE] That would make it easier, but then how would he know who’s calling? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/75 "2008-07-14T21:27:41Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] The shields blocked radar, not visual. The Enterprise is big, but is going to be a bit hard to see from the surface unless someone was looking and got real lucky. [/QUOTE] Which they actually did in First Contact, once Geordi knew where to point the telescope. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/76 "2008-07-14T21:28:39Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Whence comes this? I read all the Star Trek stuff in the early years (including the Technical Manual) and I don’t recall ever hearing of “nadions”. This sounds like some post-Next Generation retconning. [/quote] It was mentioned in one of the Technical Manuals, and occasionally the term “nadion” was used in the series. I THINK that it was used in the episode where a renegade Klingon brainwashed Geordie, and Geordie was analyzing some captured phaser rifles. [QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’d be REALLY interested if you could recall where you read about the coherent-light-selecting crystal. [/QUOTE] _Scientific American_, I believe. No idea which issue. [QUOTE=BwanaBob] adding to that; true, the transporters were unsafe for human transport, but why not beam down a shitload of bricks and other materials so they could at least build a hut? So what if they duplicated, you can’t pile up duplicate bricks? [/QUOTE] Didn’t you see what happened to Kirk ?! They would have been EVIL bricks ! [QUOTE=What Exit?] First off Cite? That was never mentioned in TOS and secondly, did those shields prevent transporting? [/QUOTE] “Navigational deflectors” is the term used for navigational shields. [QUOTE=Daerlyn] My fanwank has always been that it’s not the fact that Data can do what he does, it’s the fact that he’s done with such a compact brain! Keep in mind that every one of those holograms has an entire starship computer running behind it. [/QUOTE] Except that they downloaded Professor Moriarty and his girlfriend into a little box, complete with a simulation for him to live in. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/77 "2008-07-14T21:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] That would make it easier, but then how would he know who’s calling? [/QUOTE] How would you know who’s calling when you pick up a phone (that doesn’t have caller ID)? 🙂 “Go ahead.” “Hello Mr. Riker! My name is Hector and I’d like to talk to you about switching to MCI’s long-distance comm-unit plan…” “Not again! Damn commarketers!” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/78 "2008-07-14T21:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Didn’t you see what happened to Kirk ?! They would have been EVIL bricks ! Or merely bisexual, with beards. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/79 "2008-07-14T21:48:29Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] But what really bugs me, is that it’s clear from many holograms we have seen (Dr. Moriarty, The Doctor, etc…) that someone, _somewhere_ in the Federation is capable of doing the same type of advanced programming for these holograms that was done for data. Hell, even in TNG lots of these holograms had emotions before Data did. So why couldn’t they just take the same hologram program they have, load it up into a flash drive, and stick it in the back of an empty android shell? [/QUOTE] The holodeck was able to draw upon all of the [non-classified] resources of the ship’s computer, which was much larger and more powerful than Data’s positronic brain, in order to build personalities for its constructs and only had to download what information was needed at any given moment. Soong’s achievement was that he was able to pack Data’s capabilities into a package the size of a human brain, and make him sentient. Remember that Data still had to access the ship’s computer quite often to obtain information he didn’t already know. > [@silenus](#): > > Actually, ships always travelled with at least a screening shield up to prevent strikes from random debris. The famous Deflector Dish! Basically the high-tech equivalent of a train’s cow pusher. You’re correct - the deflector dish projects a cone-shaped force field far in front of the ship to push aside debris, as opposed to the shields, which form a rough sphere around the entire ship. > [@What Exit?](#): > > First off Cite? That was never mentioned in TOS and secondly, did those shields prevent transporting? See my answer to **silenus**. The deflector dish indeed had a standard function that it performed when Geordi wasn’t rerouting things through it 😃 It wouldn’t interfere with transporters as it didn’t surround the entire ship. > [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > The whole communaction thing i never got… Picard to Riker! Riker here.. How does the comptuer send it in real time? How does it know who to send it to before its been said? From the _Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual_, page 92: > [@](#): > > During voice operations, the normal procedure involves a crew member stating his or her name, plus the party or ship area being called, in a form that can be understood by the computer for proper routing. Examples: “Dr. Selar, this is the captain,” or “Ensign Nelson to Engineering.” The artificial intelligence (AI) routines in the main computer listen for intraship calls, perform analyses on the message opening content, attempt to locate the message recipient, and then activate the audio speakers at the recipient’s location. > > During the initial message routing, there may be a slight processing delay until the computer has heard the entire name of the recipient and located same. From that point on, all transmissions are realtime. > > \ > > During most Alert conditions, the communications system is automatically switched over to high-speed operations optimized to afford the Bridge uninterruptable links to the rest of the ship for contact with other departments … Also, while it’s not specifically mentioned in the _Technical Manual_, \ it would not surprise me to learn that all of the senior officers were on each other’s “speed dial” - so that as soon as the computer determines that one of them is opening communications it opens channels to _all_ of the other officers, and then shuts down the unneeded channels as soon as the specific recipient’s name is spoken. So they would all hear “Picard to Riker” in real time, but once “Riker” is spoken only Riker’s channel would remain open. I recall plenty of calls, like “Picard to Astrophysics”, where there _was_ a slight delay before somebody in Astrophyics answered. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414/80 "2008-07-14T22:05:55Z")
[QUOTE=BwanaBob] adding to that; true, the transporters were unsafe for human transport, but why not beam down a shitload of bricks and other materials so they could at least build a hut? So what if they duplicated, you can’t pile up duplicate bricks? [/QUOTE] There was an attempt to cover that hole with a throwaway line about beaming down heater units, causing them to duplicate and fail to function. Of course, that’s still ridiculous – if duplicates can’t perform such basic energy conversion, the transporter duplicates of Kirk should have dropped dead immediately – but at least they thought of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-in-star-trek-that-has-annoyed-me-for-years-add-your-own/456414.md?page=5)