the timboucher experience

Growing up, I loved watching Star Trek: the Next Generation with my dad. I’ve never gotten as much into the original series, or any of the subsequent stuff – but my love affair with TNG was long and deep.

Recently I’d gotten to thinking more on some things I posted a while ago about Star Trek and religion. One of the topics I’d touched on was The Prime Directive - which is supposed to be the guiding principle of Starfleet, which says that they shouldn’t interfere with the cultures of the planets they visit. Of course, this edict is a point of contention in all the Star Trek series. Sometimes it’s followed, sometimes not, and sometimes it’s bent into weird interpretations.

Supposedly, it’s a variation on something which is called the Zoo Hypothesis among extraterrestrial-fanatics:

The Zoo Hypothesis is one of a number of suggestions that have been advanced in response to the Fermi Paradox, regarding the apparent absence of evidence in support of the existence of advanced extraterrestrial life. According to this hypothesis, aliens would generally avoid making their presence known to humanity, or avoid exerting an influence on our development, somewhat akin to zookeepers observing animals in a zoo.

Adherents of the hypothesis consider that our planet and our species may be under close scrutiny without our awareness, such as by surreptitious monitoring by automated equipment located on Earth or elsewhere in the solar system which relays information back to the observers. It is also suggested that overt contact will eventually be made with humanity once we reach a certain level of development.

Seems like a pretty cool theory, especially when looked at through the lens of some of ufologist Jacques Vallee’s weird theories about UFO’s as control systems.

Besides all that though, I got into thinking about the Holodeck, which was used as a plot device pretty frequently on Star Trek: TNG. It’s essentially this virtual reality room where you go into it and have these fictional experiences with computer-generated characters and environments. Sort of like playing a completely immersive video game or something. With recent advances in mind-to-machine interfaces in technology, their execution seems a bit antiquated - but the idea is still pretty interesting.

I guess the thing that most strikes me is the comparison between the Prime Directive and the Holodeck. The Prime Directive says “Don’t intrude; Don’t interfere.” Whereas the Holodeck invites you to do just that, but in a completely artificial environment. It seems like a very fitting allegorical dichotomy for certain trends in our culture. Especially in terms of the increasing distance between people (for instance, I only know a couple of my neighbors and very very loosely), and the increasing flight of people into fictional headspaces. Now, I’m a big fan of what some would call “escapism” and I think it’s not only healthy but necessary. But there is a point where you’ve got to “step out of the holodeck” and break the “Prime Directive” and just get out there and get to know people. Get into fights, and romances and all the messy complications of real life. Cause on the Starship itself - that’s where all the real action is always going down.

[PS. Also check out this interesting article which paints Starfleet's Prime Directive in a pretty negative, almost totalitarian light.]

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