# Nitpicking Star Trek for fun \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397 "2009-11-21T11:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/141 "2009-12-09T21:51:52Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > One of my favorite eps of TNG was [Conspiracy](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Conspiracy_(episode)). I was always disapointed that they never followed up on it. I started a thread about that very episode - [Which episode from TNG would you use as the plot for a new movie?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423737) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/142 "2009-12-09T22:19:25Z")
Kirk’s desire to bed every female, regardless of the situation, always got him into trouble. I always thought Kirk’s lowest point was in _Requiem for Methuselah_. There’s a Rigelian fever crises on the Enterprise. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to Holberg 917G to gather ryetalyn to make medicine. Naturally there’s 2 people on the planet. A man and his daughter. Kirk gets the hots for her and darn nears wrecks the mission. Kirk actually attacks the guy and was prepared to forcibly take off with his new love (he knew her for a few hours). If that had been any other officer they would have been disciplined and put in the brig. That episode has always bugged me because it’s such a gross violation of an officer’s conduct. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/143 "2009-12-09T23:04:19Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > During season 2, Riker cooks some eggs for Worf, Pulaski, and Troi. Worf, IIRC, was the only one who liked them. > > I got the feeling the food replicator was a convenience more than anything else, and most families on Earth ate the old-fashioned way. Sisko’s father (DS9) even owned a New Orleans restaurant and Sisko peeled potatoes. I think at one point we see Sisko cleaning clams or oysters or something. (I can never remember which ones are which unless I’m eating raw oysters…yum) It was in the episode where Dax died I believe. I could be wrong…it may be the potato peeling you mentioned. Riker cooking the eggs, if I recall, they weren’t earth chicken eggs, they were some wierd space bird eggs. Maybe thats why only Worf liked them. As I said the whole humans don’t eat meat stuff is too out there for me. I don’t buy it. The money thing, I don’t buy it. Not to doubt Spatial Rift 47’s dad, but it really makes little sense to me. The Starfleet not being military thing is just plain BS. I can believe that Starfleet has exploration and scientific goals as part of their military structure though. Families aboard ships though? One of the dumbest ideas EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/144 "2009-12-09T23:39:37Z")
Here’s my theory. Thing is, with replicators you don’t need money. I mean, what would you BUY? Yeah, there will be scarce goods even with replicators, but so many needs are solved by a magic box that can make anything you want that money starts to look useless. Want more replicators? Just replicate them! And that also explains the spartan aesthetic of the shows–nobody bothers to collect tchotkes because they can replicate anything they want. So having decorations and stuff becomes gauche. If you need something, you replicate it and use it, then you dump it in the bin to be disassembled into something else. Keeping piles of stuff around is seen as a mental defect. And so while most people eat replicated food, you have Sisko’s dad who runs a restaurant. But he doesn’t get paid–it’s a hobby restaurant. He doesn’t charge to eat there, any more than I charge all of you to read my posts here on the Dope. The whole point of the restaurant is to show off. And he gets his real farm-grown food from hobbyist farmers, and so on. It’s an open source world! And Starfleet isn’t a military or governmental organization. It’s a voluntary organization of hobbyists, who think it’s fun to build spaceships and roam around the galaxy and give each other orders. Most people on Earth think guys in Starfleet are nuts, the equivalent of a combination Civil War re-enactors and mountain climbers. Guys who play dress-up and run around doing dangerous stuff for fun. And if you don’t obey Starfleet regs, they kick you out of Starfleet, and the problem with that is that it’s no fun to play dressup by yourself. So Gene was right—Starfleet isn’t a military organization, they just like to pretend they are. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/145 "2009-12-10T00:36:04Z")
I understand why they do it from a story-telling standpoint but you’d think that Starfleet would have some kind of regulation against the entire chain of command leaving the flagship everytime something comes along. “Captain, we’re approaching yet another unexplored planetoid.” “Excellent. Myself, Spock, Sulu, Scotty, Uhuru, McCoy and Chekhov will beam down to check it out. You there, Ensign Whatsis - mind the store for a few hours, just keep 'er cruising along at Warp 3 until we get back.” “What if it’s dangerous, Captain?” “Good point, Ensign. Attention all decks, this is the Captain speaking. I need one of you new Academy 2nd Lts to throw on a red jersey and join the team. Someone who can’t dive for cover as quickly as the rest of us.” Seriously, it’s like General McChrystal rushing off to the front lines every time a shot is fired in any corner of Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/146 "2009-12-10T01:16:50Z")
Well, they did address this in TNG, with Riker leading most of the away teams. Another thing bothered me, although I liked the episode…it’s where Deanna is taking the test to become a commander. The trick to the test is, can she send one of her crew off to certain death in order to save the ship/ Would a psychologist even be qualified to command a starship, even if she figures out the test? Aren’t there other, more technical areas she has to know? Riker was able (although he may have been bullshitting) to go through the computer configurations and confuse the Ferengi. I doubt Troi even knows how to do anything with a computer besides order chocolate and maybe enter some patient session reports. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/147 "2009-12-10T01:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > And so while most people eat replicated food, you have Sisko’s dad who runs a restaurant. But he doesn’t get paid–it’s a hobby restaurant. He doesn’t charge to eat there, any more than I charge all of you to read my posts here on the Dope. The whole point of the restaurant is to show off. And he gets his real farm-grown food from hobbyist farmers, and so on. It’s an open source world! I liked Voyager because power shortages forced them to grow a hydroponic garden. Neelix was the cook. The crew seemed pretty freaked out eating the odd things he found for food. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/148 "2009-12-10T01:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] I understand why they do it from a story-telling standpoint but you’d think that Starfleet would have some kind of regulation against the entire chain of command leaving the flagship everytime something comes along. [/QUOTE] Explained by Lemur866 - They’re hobbyists with phasers. > [@Lemur866](#): > > And Starfleet isn’t a military or governmental organization. It’s a voluntary organization of hobbyists, who think it’s fun to build spaceships and roam around the galaxy and give each other orders. Most people on Earth think guys in Starfleet are nuts, the equivalent of a combination Civil War re-enactors and mountain climbers. Guys who play dress-up and run around doing dangerous stuff for fun. And if you don’t obey Starfleet regs, they kick you out of Starfleet, and the problem with that is that it’s no fun to play dressup by yourself. > > So Gene was right—Starfleet isn’t a military organization, they just like to pretend they are. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/149 "2009-12-10T03:48:17Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Thing is, with replicators you don’t need money. I mean, what would you BUY? A replicator, land to put it on and a rather large electric bill. > [@Lemur866](#): > > And Starfleet isn’t a military or governmental organization. It’s a voluntary organization of hobbyists, who think it’s fun to build spaceships and roam around the galaxy and give each other orders…Guys who play dress-up and run around doing dangerous stuff for fun. And if you don’t obey Starfleet regs, they kick you out of Starfleet, and the problem with that is that it’s no fun to play dressup by yourself. Sounds like the Ozark Police department. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/150 "2009-12-10T04:41:55Z")
You want a replicator, you just go to the public replicator at the streetcorner, and replicate yourself a replicator. Although I agree that just because everyone’s basic needs can be met for free or nearly free, that doesn’t mean money would disappear. People will find other sorts of things to trade for. A medieval peasant might imagine super-rich people eating all the food they want and having nice clothes and living in a fancy castle with lots of servants, but they couldn’t imagine paying $40 a month for cell phone service. So even if food and consumer goods are so cheap that they are essentially free, there’s bound to be things we can’t really imagine that people are willing to pay for. The problem is that in a world of replicators and ultra-cheap/free goods, what jobs can most people do? The really talented might have something to offer, but what about your average Joe? So most people are forced out of the money economy because they have no marketable skills. So they do things on a volunteer basis because there’s no way people will pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/151 "2009-12-10T04:49:42Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So most people are forced out of the money economy because they have no marketable skills. So they do things on a volunteer basis because there’s no way people will pay for it. Such as going into Starfleet. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/152 "2009-12-11T16:53:47Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And Starfleet isn’t a military or governmental organization. It’s a voluntary organization of hobbyists, who think it’s fun to build spaceships and roam around the galaxy and give each other orders. Most people on Earth think guys in Starfleet are nuts … Guys who play dress-up and run around doing dangerous stuff for fun. Yep. And if it weren’t for those silly misfits, everyone would be speaking Klingonese. At least until the Borg swept through. 🙂 > [@Lemur866](#): > > And if you don’t obey Starfleet regs, they kick you out of Starfleet, and the problem with that is that it’s no fun to play dressup by yourself. Of course it wouldn’t be. So you locate a few other people who were discharged, or left. Not enough people to play with? No problem. Move into a holodeck with your pals and create as many other characters, including adversaries, as you need. You can even recreate some Fleet personnel. Even if be illegal to do that with the living, there’s probably would be no law against doing it with the deceased. Bring back the notable heroes of the past! 😕 Uh, I mean, the \*silly misfits \*of the past. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/153 "2009-12-11T17:51:22Z")
My two year old son is getting into TOS now. I don’t know if I should be proud of this or what. In any case, we were watching [Whom Gods Destroy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whom_Gods_Destroy_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)) a few days ago and there was a scene where Captain Garth is crowning himself a king. He has a throne set up and it’s just a chair on a table. In fact it’s one of the chairs that they use on the _Enterprise_. I know we’ve come a long way in the ability to produce sets, but it just seemed so cheesey to me to see that. Then again, they’re on a planet in an asylum, maybe those are the only chairs available. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/154 "2009-12-11T17:58:25Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > My two year old son is getting into TOS now. I don’t know if I should be proud of this or what. > > In any case, we were watching [Whom Gods Destroy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whom_Gods_Destroy_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)) a few days ago and there was a scene where Captain Garth is crowning himself a king. He has a throne set up and it’s just a chair on a table. In fact it’s one of the chairs that they use on the _Enterprise_. I know we’ve come a long way in the ability to produce sets, but it just seemed so cheesey to me to see that. Then again, they’re on a planet in an asylum, maybe those are the only chairs available. Yeah. Competition to become the primary supplier of “Furniture, Office chair, one each” for Federation installations and ships is pretty fierce. Or, if you prefer, the had way fewer chair recipes in the replicator during Kirks time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/155 "2009-12-11T18:01:45Z")
That’s as reasonable an explanation as any. And maybe I’m being whooshed, but you can’t replicate complex machinery, IIRC. Replicator use seems to be limited to food, drink, cloth, spare parts, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/156 "2009-12-11T18:36:56Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Yeah. Competition to become the primary supplier of “Furniture, Office chair, one each” for Federation installations and ships is pretty fierce. > > Or, if you prefer, the had way fewer chair recipes in the replicator during Kirks time. The lowest bidder must have won, those chairs are so cheap that they don’t even come with a couple bolts to secure the bottoms to the deck in case the ship gets caught in combat or an ion storm or gets thrown out of warp unexpectedly. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/157 "2009-12-11T22:34:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …And maybe I’m being whooshed, but you can’t replicate complex machinery, IIRC. Replicator use seems to be limited to food, drink, cloth, spare parts, etc. Strike that. I just remembered a DS9 episode where the Cardassians, as part of an internal-security program on the station, rigged the replicators to create small phaser arrays in the replicators that would zap anyone nearby who wasn’t a Cardassian. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/158 "2009-12-14T07:36:36Z")
The thing had shitty aim though. That’s another wonderful nit in all the shows. How in creation do you dodge a phaser beam? In the 21st century we’ve got guns that can fire around corners and over walls (IIRC- it’s some army thing I read about but I don’t have a link handy) but a completely computerized weapon can’t compensate for Worf’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn? For that matter, guidance packages seem to have been forgotten sometime after World War III. If a torpedo that is fired at a ship misses it will just sail on into deep space. Additionally, Star Trek (2009) is the first time we ever see a ship using phasers as point defense against incoming fire. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/159 "2009-12-16T22:57:13Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > The thing had shitty aim though. > > That’s another wonderful nit in all the shows. How in creation do you dodge a phaser beam? In the 21st century we’ve got guns that can fire around corners and over walls (IIRC- it’s some army thing I read about but I don’t have a link handy) but a completely computerized weapon can’t compensate for Worf’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn? > > For that matter, guidance packages seem to have been forgotten sometime after World War III. If a torpedo that is fired at a ship misses it will just sail on into deep space. Additionally, Star Trek (2009) is the first time we ever see a ship using phasers as point defense against incoming fire. Better yet, how do you aim a phaser? At least in TOS they looked kinda like a gun. The THG/DS9/VOY phasers don’t have any kind of sights on them. (I have a model of one and I can’t figure out how you can aim it) There was an ENT episode where one of the MACOs using a phaser rifle popped open a fancy scope. I guess that art was lost in the next 100 years after. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397/160 "2009-12-17T00:56:02Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > The lowest bidder must have won, those chairs are so cheap that they don’t even come with a couple bolts to secure the bottoms to the deck in case the ship gets caught in combat or an ion storm or gets thrown out of warp unexpectedly. Well, apparently there was no Ralph Nader equivalent in the 23rd century… Afterall, the chairs they did have on the ship had no seat belts. Seriously, the 3rd season was starved for money–the network wanted TOS to die. ☹ They got their wish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpicking-star-trek-for-fun-edited-title/518397.md?page=7)