# Tell me about Star Trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254 "2013-06-06T00:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/41 "2013-06-06T18:20:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He still would need native speakers to converse with. Otherwise he’d forget his native language or (at the very least) be stuck at about a third-grade level of vocabulary. > > Having raised a bilingual child, I know whereof I speak. Yes but are you raising a bilingual child with the benefit of a holodeck and universal translators? ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/42 "2013-06-06T18:29:47Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > Yes but are you raising a bilingual child with the benefit of a holodeck and universal translators? They have home holodecks? Programmed by Klingons to speak modern idiomatic Klingon? :dubious: Translators are actually the biggest hindrance to learning a foreign language. Immerse a child in a new language and he’ll absorb it like a sponge. Translate everything for him and he’ll never learn it, because he has no incentive to. (I learned this watching other people’s children.) ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/43 "2013-06-06T18:40:24Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > According to a plaque on the USS Tsiolkovsky in the Season 1 episode The Naked Now, the ship was built in the USSR. So there are still countries… Good catch. I’d forgotten that (although note that the _Tsiolkovsky_ inexplicably did not have a USS prefix, despite apparently being a Starfleet vessel): [SS Tsiolkovsky dedication plaque | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/SS_Tsiolkovsky_dedication_plaque) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/44 "2013-06-06T18:46:24Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Kirk met Apollo, didn’t he? And, later, Sisko turned out to be the son of a god. So some religion. The Enterprise also had a chapel (no, not Christine 😉 ) and Kirk was about to perform a wedding in “Balance of Terror” before Romulans ensued. As for the Data/Sherlock Holmes eps, they gave rise to Moriarty, who was one of the first sentient holograms encountered. He undoubtedly gave rise to the more benevolent developments of sentient holographic technology such as the EMH and Vic Fontaine, the holographic lounge singer from DS9. As for Riker, [he sits down like a crazy person](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690481). ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/45 "2013-06-06T18:46:33Z")
I was about to point out that the spelling on the _Tsiolkovskii_’s plaque is wrong, but I see that MA has already noted it. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/46 "2013-06-06T18:57:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The Enterprise also had a chapel (no, not Christine 😉 ) and Kirk was about to perform a wedding in “Balance of Terror” before Romulans ensued. And Spock held a memorial service for Kirk in “The Tholian Web.” The thing about the TOS chapel was that it was nonecumenical, and it was freely open to anyone who wished to use it for meditation, communing, or any other observance valued by their culture. There were no organized services or ordained clergy aboard (at least none were ever mentioned). Roddenberry intended the Ship’s Counselor (Troi!) to be the equivalent of a Chaplain in TNG. In addition to whatever, uhm, spiritual guidance she was able to offer, she was also a trained pshrink and was supposed to act as a “human engineer” who lubricated (so to speak) social interaction among the crew. I personally found her an annoying busybody who liked sticking her nose into other people’s business but had really great tits. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/47 "2013-06-06T18:57:33Z")
Ok, wait. What does the USS of the USS Enterprise stand for, if not United States Ship? Also, like I said, I skipped the holodeck episode where Data is Sherlock. Is that going to keep coming up? Should I watch it? Or can I just keep skipping the holodeck ones? And I’m just going to go with the Worf thing. It kinds bugs me, but I’m good at ignoring stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/48 "2013-06-06T18:58:26Z")
United Space Ship Don’t totally skip the holodeck shows. A couple of them are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/49 "2013-06-06T18:58:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He still would need native speakers to converse with. Otherwise he’d forget his native language or (at the very least) be stuck at about a third-grade level of vocabulary. > > Having raised a bilingual child, I know whereof I speak. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that your child is a human, yes? Worf’s a Klingon. Language acquisition and retention would almost certainly work differently for him than it would for us. Also, while a universal translator would make it harder for a child to learn a new language, the _invention_ of a universal translator implies an understanding of linguistics as advanced as their understanding of warp physics. Who knows what sorts of teaching methods, devices, or even pharmaceuticals they’ve developed to aid in learning new languages? Hell, the translator itself would be an incredibly powerful learning tool. Just set it so it translates everything your child hears into Spanish, and you have at-home immersion learning, and you don’t even have to speak the language yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/50 "2013-06-06T19:01:32Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Ok, wait. What does the USS of the USS Enterprise stand for, if not United States Ship? Also, like I said, I skipped the holodeck episode where Data is Sherlock. Is that going to keep coming up? Should I watch it? Or can I just keep skipping the holodeck ones? There are one or two more episodes that directly relate to that episode. However, there are a metric fuck-ton of holodeck-centric episodes in the series. Some of them are quite good, some are pretty dire, just like the rest of the show. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/51 "2013-06-06T19:01:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > If his primary exposure was to that 2009 piece of dreck, I don’t blame him. :mad: Yeah, he’s just not that kind of nerd. It not that he _doesn’t_ like that kind of thing, but he never seeks it out on his own. He’s seen Star Wars, and liked it ok, but is a very casual fan. He doesn’t read sci-fi. He watches Game of Thrones with me, and likes it, but I think if I quit for some reason he’d give it up without a backward glance. I guess he just isn’t that much into fiction? I dunno. He actually quite enjoyed the 2009 movie though. :eek: I think without having anything else Star trek to compare it to, and having no real familiarity with the concepts of the series, he was able to just enjoy it as a fun space romp with explosions. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/52 "2013-06-06T19:03:40Z")
What I always loved about Star Trek and what I think makes it special (and what makes it an acquired taste probably) is it is unabashedly optimistic about people. It continually said that we can and will do better both in external ways (technology etc) and internal ways (morality etc). Some find that hokey or boring but I like it and wouldn’t mind seeing more Sci Fi like it. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/53 "2013-06-06T19:04:00Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Ok, wait. What does the USS of the USS Enterprise stand for, if not United States Ship? [USS | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/USS) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/54 "2013-06-06T19:07:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There are one or two more episodes that directly relate to that episode. However, there are a metric fuck-ton of holodeck-centric episodes in the series. Some of them are quite good, some are pretty dire, just like the rest of the show. Ok, I’m going to go back and watch it, I guess. And maybe I won’t be quite so quick to skip the next one (I seriously skipped that one in less than a minute. I was like, “Holodeck? NOPE”). I actually really really like the concept of the holodeck, but I feel like the show writers use it in such a lazy way, it makes me mad. Like, not only are those episodes weak on their own, but they’re also crapping all over (what I consider to be) a very interesting story-telling device. I think that’s why they irritate me so. But I’m probably being too hasty a judge. Also, maybe they actually do explore some of the interesting ramifications of the holodeck in some of them. I shall see… ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/55 "2013-06-06T19:07:48Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > He actually quite enjoyed the 2009 movie though. :eek: I think without having anything else Star trek to compare it to, and having no real familiarity with the concepts of the series, he was able to just enjoy it as a fun space romp with explosions. Right; taken all by itself, it’s no worse than any other sci-fi (as opposed to SF) flick nowadays. Shoehorning it into the Trek concept, though, is way beyond my capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/56 "2013-06-06T19:13:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There are one or two more episodes that directly relate to that episode. However, there are a metric fuck-ton of holodeck-centric episodes in the series. Some of them are quite good, some are pretty dire, just like the rest of the show. The good ones are good. The bad ones are… Joe Piscopoe bad. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/57 "2013-06-06T19:16:21Z")
I agree, several of the Holodeck ST:TNG episodes are worth a look. My faves: “11001001” (Riker finds his dream girl in a jazz club), “Hollow Pursuits” (Barclay, a crewman, spends juuuuust a bit too much time on the Holodeck), “A Matter of Perspective” (using a Holodeck to solve a crime), “Booby Trap” (the Holodeck as an engineering brainstorming tool) and “Ship in a Bottle” (the last and best of the Data/Moriarty episodes IMHO - some great twists and turns). > [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Ok, wait. What does the USS of the USS Enterprise stand for, if not United States Ship?.. > [@silenus](#): > > United Space Ship… Even on the original show, it was said to stand for either that or “United Star Ship”: [USS | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/USS) Memory Alpha is an excellent resource and I encourage any Trekker to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/58 "2013-06-06T19:32:21Z")
Is this thing on? \*tap \*tap \*tap ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/59 "2013-06-06T19:34:26Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Ok, wait. What does the USS of the USS Enterprise stand for, if not United States Ship? It’s one of the great enduring mysteries of Federation society. > [@](#): > > Also, like I said, I skipped the holodeck episode where Data is Sherlock. Is that going to keep coming up? Should I watch it? Or can I just keep skipping the holodeck ones? It’s not a bad episode; and the villain does come back in one later episode. (Season six I think; actually it’s a really good episode.) So it’s worth knowing his backstory. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254/60 "2013-06-06T19:43:36Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It’s not a bad episode; and the villain does come back in one later episode. (Season six I think; actually it’s a really good episode.) So it’s worth knowing his backstory. It’s also a very important episode in the pantheon of “incredible scientific breakthroughs that would have immense repercussions if it happened in real life yet is never pursued any further” that trek fans love to discuss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-star-trek/660254.md?page=4)