This is the fourth and final installment of the “Children of The Final Frontier” series. I want to thank my guest writers David, Rebecca, Rashid, and Trevor for sharing a piece of their histories, their insights, and their love of Star Trek with myself and others! Thank you all for participating! This series is dedicated to the legacy of Star Trek and to the wonderful members of the Star Trek Family!
The Question:
Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek with the basic purpose of showing that there is Hope for the future. Other than Hope, what is one word you would associate with Star Trek? Why?
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David:
Determination – Gene Roddenberry gave us hope and in my opinion he also gave us determination. The determination that, as I said in part two, we will get there. No matter how bad the world is, no matter what the odds are, good people still exist in the world and they are the ones that will bring about a hopeful future as a result of that determination. If you look at the way that technology has advanced in a relatively short time we have mobile phones that can do a multitude of things (The iPhone X even looks like the Nemesis tricorder in my opinion), touchscreen panels, advanced medicine and screening combined with early detection of medical conditions. In my opinion we are already part of the way to the future that Gene Roddenberry envisaged. The desire for exploration, for betterment of humankind is far stronger than the desire to cause harm and set us on a spiral to destruction. Gene Roddenberry gave us the vision people saw and continue to see the in the show. They are inspired and it is these people that will lead us to the path ultimately that Gene envisaged. I’ll leave you with a quote from Star Trek First Contact that resonated with me “Poverty, disease, War. They’ll all be gone in the next fifty years”. Do we need our own ‘First Contact moment’ as the catalyst for a bright future?
Rashid:
The word I would use to associate with Star Trek would be positivity. It makes me feel so positive and happy as a viewer. I see a future with countless possibilities. I see a future with incredible friendships and love among different species and gender. I see a future with no poverty. I see a place of real hope.
Rebecca:
Emily has asked me for “One word I associate with Star Trek” and I must admit, I’m struggling. Acceptance, IDIC, friendship, exploration…all good words. But is there one word that sits in my mind? If you say “Star Trek” to me, my brain is immediately awash in a warm glow. Family, togetherness, love, home…home. To me, Star Trek is home.
Trevor:
The word I would associate is ‘Exploration’. Not just in the literal sense of exploring space, or the fabric of reality, (of which both are extensively investigated) but exploring the characters lives, and our own lives as the viewer. Every episode gives us new characters, anomalies, science and actions to reflect upon and debate. It shows us both the fantastic and the realistic displayed through a sci-fi lens. It often allows us to evaluate decisions that we have made, and the current path that we are on, as a person and as a species. It allows us to see if lessons can be learned, or when it is time to take new actions to improve ourselves and others. Captain Sisko beautifully said “It is the unknown that defines our existence. We are constantly searching, not just for answers to questions, but for new questions. We are explorers. We explore our lives, day by day, and we explore the galaxy, trying to expand the boundaries of our knowledge.”
Trek is about the unknown both in their existence, and our viewing, and filling that void with knowledge. What will be the next adventure that awaits our favourite crews, what new lesson will we learn, what characters will we fall in love with. The exploration of Trek’s universe encourages us to explore our own. Many people become scientists because of the inspiration of Star Trek and as a result our own universe awaits us, ready to be explored. “There’s no such thing as the unknown -only the temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”
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“If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety, not something to fear.”
― Gene Roddenberry
You can find David on Twitter: @DavidA1701 or at The Lost Trek https://thelosttrek.blog
You can also find Rebecca at blog.beccajanestclair.com or via Twitter: @annanothemoon
The Solace of Hope 