# Smartest STAR TREK humans. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870 "2016-02-11T23:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/1 "2016-02-11T23:24:19Z")
In which we argue over which STAR TREK character had the best functioning brain. Really, it’s not hard. Only humans are eligible, and even then only those not modified by alien influence. So Q, Spock, Data, Seven of Nine, and Barkley are out. I thought about disqualifying genetically-modified humans too, but I wanted to insult that wanker Julian Bashir at least twice, so I didn’t. For purposes of this thread, characters from the reboot are separate from those in the original series, as otherwise I won’t be able to call New!Kirk a miserable waste of protoplasm who needs to be beaten with a crowbar. Thoughts? ---
**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:** [February 11, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/2 "2016-02-11T23:31:46Z")
Richard Daystrom, though he was of course mad. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/3 "2016-02-11T23:41:12Z")
Wesley. Sorry, so very sorry… ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/4 "2016-02-11T23:49:22Z")
Keeping the TOS Enterprise afloat took some doing. This was the early days of galactic exploration, and you needed a skilled, creative, and brilliant guy keeping it all together. Mr. Scott was an unsung genius. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/5 "2016-02-11T23:58:29Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Keeping the TOS Enterprise afloat took some doing. This was the early days of galactic exploration, and you needed a skilled, creative, and brilliant guy keeping it all together. Mr. Scott was an unsung genius. Both original and reboot Scott are strong contenders–particularly Doohan’s version, who had the guile to be a good commander and the common sense to stay out if a job that would have made him miserable. Jean-Luc Picard is also a good contender. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/6 "2016-02-12T00:09:18Z")
Zefram Cochrane has to be in the running. And Dr. Noonian Soong. And since genetically altered humans are allowed, we should consider the similarly-named Khan Noonien Singh. Also, Kirk’s brother, Mycroft Kirk. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/7 "2016-02-12T00:16:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Zefram Cochrane has to be in the running. And Dr. Noonian Soong. And since genetically altered humans are allowed, we should consider the similarly-named Khan Noonien Singh I need you to rephrase that last sentence as a source against known attercop Julian Bashir. (And yes, I know that attercop means spider. I just couldn’t remember how to spell trilobite.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/8 "2016-02-12T00:30:43Z")
Scotty took a Romulan cloaking device, ripped out of a Romulan bird of prey, and wired it into the Enterprise with no schematics, power or frequency ratings, or any clue of the functionality of the device. That’s some special kind of genius right there. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/9 "2016-02-12T00:34:12Z")
That blind guy (TOS.) He was close to being God. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/10 "2016-02-12T00:34:12Z")
Scotty and Geordi La Forge are quite obviously very, very smart in the traditional sense, and presented as being the representative examples of such. More so LaForge, who doesn’t really get a comic relief job the way Scotty sometimes does. The fact that Geordi seems to be Data’s best friend isn’t a coincidence; they’re the smart kids in the class, which is saying a lot amongst the top officers aboard the most famous vessel in Starfleet so you’re already talking about a smart bunch of people. He falls for Dr. Leah Brahms, who is represented as being a major league genius. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/11 "2016-02-12T00:35:28Z")
Since we’re caucasing, I’m with Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott! ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/12 "2016-02-12T00:45:58Z")
Flint was human, and probably learned a thing or two in his six thousand years. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/13 "2016-02-12T00:56:47Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > That blind guy (TOS.) He was close to being God. Charlie? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/14 "2016-02-12T01:03:35Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > That blind guy (TOS.) He was close to being God. Gary Mitchell. But I’ll make the case that being zapped by the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy counts as “modified by alien influence.” It’s hard to argue against Zefram Cochrane. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/15 "2016-02-12T01:08:41Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Flint was human, and probably learned a thing or two in his six thousand years. Of course, that gets us back to the rather open-ended phrase “best functioning brain”. Flint’s description of his original life (as just a typical goon with a sword) suggests that he wasn’t remarkably intelligent; he just added up a _lot_ of experience and self-education. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/16 "2016-02-12T01:12:51Z")
KHAN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/17 "2016-02-12T01:14:49Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Gary Mitchell. But I’ll make the case that being zapped by the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy counts as “modified by alien influence.” > > It’s hard to argue against Zefram Cochrane. Mitchell wasn’t blind, except morally. But yeah, u meant to exclude him. I’m don’t know about Cochrane. It’s never established how much work others had done in warp theory. He may just have finished what others started rather than having an Einstein-like theoretical breakthrough. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/18 "2016-02-12T01:33:07Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Dr. Noonian Soong Yea, Soong seems to not only have invented a particular technology working more or less alone, but no one in the Federation seems to have been able to duplicate it for almost a generation, despite the fact that they had a working example at least part of that time. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/19 "2016-02-12T01:40:46Z")
Forgot about Soong – he gets my vote. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870/20 "2016-02-12T01:45:14Z")
Obviously, it has to be Mr Flint, alias Brahms, Leonardo, Alexander and others. A genius level artist, composer, physicist, cybernetician, military strategist, etc. > **[Requiem for Methuselah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_Methuselah)** > > "Requiem for Methuselah" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Murray Golden, it was first broadcast on February 14, 1969. > In the episode, the crew of the Enterprise encounters an immortal human. > Its repeat broadcast, on September 2, 1969, was the last official telecast of the series to air on NBC. Star Trek would immediately appear in syndication on the following Monday, September 8, ... Edit - he created intelligent, self aware androids a generation before Soong. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartest-star-trek-humans/745870.md?page=2)