# Beverly Crusher and her sanctimony are single-handedly ruining TNG for me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439 "2014-07-30T19:38:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/101 "2014-08-06T20:13:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve complained about this many times. Laying aside the “felony endangerment” issue, children on a starship would be the ultimate in nonessential personnel. > > “Oh,” someone always says, “you can’t keep people separated from their families for such long periods of time.” Bullshit! People who serve in the military can be and are separated from their families all the time. If you don’t want to be separated from your family, don’t sign up! And with Holodecks you can see and interact with your family any time you want. At home. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/102 "2014-08-06T20:18:46Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > But according to Picard Starfleet is _not_ a military organization! He said it so it must be true. More BS. If it ain’t military, I dunno what it is. Saying it’s only “semi-military” is like saying the National Guard isn’t _really_ made up of soldiers. A moot point, actually, since deep space exploration and fighting off alien invasions involves the same hazards as a “purely” military organization would encounter. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/103 "2014-08-06T20:26:01Z")
_Please_, let’s not open the “Is Starfleet military” can of worms again. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/104 "2014-08-06T22:19:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Isotons. You need a computer with a lot of kiloquads to add up all those isotons. Heh. “Iso.” The last refuge of the scoundrel—well, lazy _Voyager_ writers. 😉 (And, [del]just to be pedantic[/del] for the educational fact of the day, the combined yield of a _Galaxy_-class’ torpedo loadout would be about 6200 Isotons. But official quoted figures for the antimatter “warhead” about a Photon Torpedo allow the calculation of a yield in real-world figures, which comes out to about 64 megatons. The More You Know!) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/105 "2014-08-06T23:40:26Z")
Remember, while it was controlled, or at least guided, by Gene, his Technology Unchained Utopia was the backdrop. As he he became less and less of a show runner, certain more realistic ideas finally started bleeding thru. Like Picard battling terrorists in “StarShip Mine” or seeing the ugly side of Federation politics thru the eyes of the Maquis. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/106 "2014-08-06T23:43:33Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Remember, while it was controlled, or at least guided, by Gene, his Technology Unchained Utopia was the backdrop. > > As he he became less and less of a show runner, certain more realistic ideas finally started bleeding thru. Like Picard battling terrorists in “StarShip Mine” or seeing the ugly side of Federation politics thru the eyes of the Maquis. Or the ugly side of government power with Section 31. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/107 "2014-08-06T23:43:45Z")
Of course, that technological utopia was made possible by the invention of three things: duotronic computing, the transtator, and self-sealing stem bolts. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/108 "2014-08-06T23:43:56Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > _Please_, let’s not open the “Is Starfleet military” can of worms again. Yeah, you should be able to find about 200 posts from me alone on that subject in any Trek Doper thread search. I go all the way back to the Nitpicker’s Guild with Phil Farrand on that subject, corresponding via snail mail. SNAIL MAIL! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/109 "2014-08-06T23:47:19Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Of course, that technological utopia was made possible by the invention of three things: duotronic computing, the transtator, and self-sealing stem bolts. Transtator tech is still not fleshed out much in Trek circles. Seems a shame, as it should be, since it goes back to TOS eps like “A Piece of the Action.” Section 31, yeah! now THAT was good. But didn’t we first see it in DS9, not TNG? . ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/110 "2014-08-07T01:27:32Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Transtator tech is still not fleshed out much in Trek circles. Seems a shame, as it should be, since it goes back to TOS eps like “A Piece of the Action.” That was the _only_ episode in which it was mentioned. Frankly, I would have been a lot more worried about the phasers that ended up at the Ekosian SS weapons lab than the communicator left in Bela Oxmyx’s office. We never did find out what happened to _those_, did we? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/111 "2014-08-07T01:52:19Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Section 31, yeah! now THAT was good. But didn’t we first see it in DS9, not TNG? Yes, but I thought we were talking about post-GreatBird Trek in general in that immediate discussion, not just TNG. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/112 "2014-08-07T03:21:20Z")
These threads do always seem to end up in multiple universes, don’t they? As for the transtator, in that very episode it was said that almost all of Starfleet tech was based on it. > **[transtator](https://www.startrek.com/database_article/transtator)** > > transtator It was mentioned in other eps, including _Enterprise_ > **[Transtator](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Transtator)** > > The transtator was a component of Starfleet technology, and in the 23rd century was the basis of every important piece of Starfleet equipment, including communicators, transporters, and phasers. In 2152, while Enterprise NX-01 was docked at an... Just seems odd, given the level of deep tech fiction on so many other things in the Trekaverse, that this has been left undone for so long. I guess warp and phasers are more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/113 "2014-08-07T05:47:23Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > As for the transtator, in that very episode it was said that almost all of Starfleet tech was based on it. > > Just seems odd, given the level of deep tech fiction on so many other things in the Trekaverse, that this has been left undone for so long. I guess warp and phasers are more interesting. **[Voice of Maj. Kabakov in _Black Sunday_]:** What is this “transtator”? What does it **do**? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/114 "2014-08-07T08:03:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve complained about this many times. Laying aside the “felony endangerment” issue, children on a starship would be the ultimate in nonessential personnel. > > “Oh,” someone always says, “you can’t keep people separated from their families for such long periods of time.” Bullshit! People who serve in the military can be and are separated from their families all the time. If you don’t want to be separated from your family, don’t sign up! There are probably thousands of suitable personnel across the Federation already waiting in line for the post you just turned down. > > I can see having husband and wife teams serving on board Starfleet vessels, but if a woman was found to be pregnant, she should be given the choice of early retirement or rotation to a shore base. Birth control on board ship would be voluntary for married females, mandatory for unmarried ones. That was how it was done on _ **TOS** _, though it was never discussed on screen. > > Makes you wonder what Roddenberry et al. were smoking the day they finalized that bit of the _ **TNG** _ format. Oh you 21st century proto-humans and your quaint ideals. Obviously you are all on narcotics or addicted to your tele-screen shows or whatever you all called them. In the 24th century we’ve evolved past a fear of death. Having our families with us as we explore the great unknown is a wonderous experience. “Mandatory birth control”? “Sexist billeting”? Are you insane? Sounds like eugenics to me! And that’s illegal mister! So go smoke an urn, or whatever it is you Neanderthals smoked. We evolved humans will enjoy the company of our families while you fascists blow yourselves up. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/115 "2014-08-07T13:14:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **[Voice of Maj. Kabakov in _Black Sunday_]:** What is this “transtator”? What does it **do**? :dubious: That is my point. By now, we should know. Writers chose to say it was vitally important, continues to be referenced 30-40 years later, yet not even a trace of explanation. In Trekdom, that’s odd. I wonder if any of the (non canon) novels say anything? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/116 "2014-08-07T13:20:25Z")
That is odd, for Trekdom. There’s not even any fanon about it? ETA: After Googling around a little, it doesn’t appear there is. That’s just about unheard of for any kind of Trek tech. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/117 "2014-08-07T13:42:10Z")
[I guess we could do it ourselves.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17617262#post17617262) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/118 "2014-08-07T20:27:34Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > That is my point. By now, we should know. Writers chose to say it was vitally important, continues to be referenced 30-40 years later, yet not even a trace of explanation. In Trekdom, that’s odd. I wonder if any of the (non canon) novels say anything? :dubious: When’s the last time, in real life, someone explained, in your hearing, what a transistor is and what it does? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/119 "2014-08-07T20:46:34Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > When’s the last time, in real life, someone explained, in your hearing, what a transistor is and what it does? **[Voice of Sheldon Cooper]:** Yes, but very few of us are required to go around spouting technobabble in our daily lives. People serving aboard starships would be. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439/120 "2014-08-07T21:11:13Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I was always waiting for the episode where they revealed that “Ship’s Counselor” was a euphemism. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beverly-crusher-and-her-sanctimony-are-single-handedly-ruining-tng-for-me/694439.md?page=7)