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From: friedman@uiucdcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: Star Trek and Reality - (nf)
Message-ID: <4631@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 19-Dec-83 22:27:19 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.4631
Posted: Mon Dec 19 22:27:19 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Dec-83 05:25:50 EST
Lines: 36

#R:rdin:-33500:uiucdcs:24900024:000:1854
uiucdcs!friedman    Dec 19 10:19:00 1983

/***** uiucdcs:net.startrek / rdin!perl /  7:29 pm  Dec 16, 1983 */
I'm the last person that anybody would call a
harsh realist, but come on guys, gimme a break.
The extent to which some people go to explain
the goings on in Star Trek episodes is unreal.
I can only hope that all of that imagination
is also being put to some productive use!
/* ---------- */

I most heartily agree.  It can be fun to try to "explain" Star Trek
features, but I think Trek fans tend to overdue it -- a lot.  Many of
the things that need explanation, such as inconsistent elapsed time
as the Enterprise flies around the galaxy, simply cannot be explained
except by admitting that the writers weren't careful enough of such details.

The fan explanations may be fun for some, but they're unofficial and
are usually ignored as further developments (films, books, etc.) come out.
The many "official" novels don't even begin to agree on such things.

Witness the remarks in the newest, "The Wounded Sky", to explain leaving
the galaxy and getting by the famous Barrier.  Duane explains away the
effects from the 2nd pilot episode, but overlooks or ignores at least two
other episodes:  Is There In Truth No Beauty, in which the Enterprise
enters the Barrier but no one goes mad or gets silver eyes or delusions
of godhood; and the one (can't think of the name) in which extra-galactic
aliens take over the ship, reduce the crew to styrofoam blocks, and attempt
to leave the galaxy, with every expectation of getting past the barrier.
I think Duane should have just ignored the matter, though I also think
it did her novel no harm.  I found her explanations of how warp drive
works to be interesting, but of course, they're completely different
from and at odds with the explanations other Trek fans have published.

I think such things just should not be taken very seriously.