Booman hath made a major error in the Bolton Diary and mentioned Vulcans. With no more ado:
THE WISDOM OF SPOCK
On Being a Vulcan
“To be Vulcan, means to adopt a philosophy, a way of life which is logical and beneficial. We can not disregard that philosophy merely for personal gain – no matter how important that gain may be.”
On Logic
“Logic is the begining of wisdom not the end”
On Existence
“Change is the essential process of all existence.”
On Death
“Is death truly a curse? There is little logic in condemning something one has not experienced…or does not remember experiencing.”
“Accepting death – by understanding that every life comes to an end, when time demands it. Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life was wasted.”
On Intelligence
“A world without intelligence is a primitive place, Doctor, not an enchanted place. Intelligence is part of the advancing scheme of evolution. Without it, nature reaches a plateau very quickly and does not progress beyond raw survival. The full flavor of possibility goes un-savored. And that… is a true shame.”
On Fear
“Irrational fear is a construct of an undisciplined intellect”
On Computers
“Computers make excellent and efficient servants – but I have no wish to serve under them.”
On knowledge
“If I drop a wrench on a planet with a positive gravity field, I need not see it fall, nor hear it hit the ground, to know that it has in fact fallen.”
“I object to Intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose.”
On Fascinating
“Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.”
On Appreciation
“Appreciation is a noun. It denotes the just valuation or recognition of worth.”
On Beauty
“It is our way – Art and Science combined. There is no reason that function should not be beautiful – in fact beauty usually makes it more effective.”
On Creativity
“Creativity is necessary for the health of the body.”
On Wanting
“Having is not so pleasing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.”
It is an accomplishment to dissect the core philosophy of Spock, without it seeming weird.
Roddenberry was a forward thinker.
(Unless you are dealing in multi-value logics, of course.)
Have a favorite logical statement? How about your hidden lust for a quantifier? If [(p -> q) -> (q -> r)] -> (p -> r) then is Spock more sexy than Kirk? What the hell is he talking about? Do you really want to be the Chief Engineer on a Starship? (I do! I do!)
Then -> THIS <- is your diary!
He was an advanced thinker in some ways.
One of the episodes (not Trekie enough to remember the title) has stuck with me. It is the one where Spock goes “hippy” when the Enterprise picks-up a ship going to a Utopian planet. It turns out the planets food is deadly to humans. The moral – if that’s not too strong a word – was Good Intentions and the Right Philosophy Are Not Enough, you also have to have empirical knowledge as well.
THAT still resonates with me.
now I’ve got that damn song stuck in my head! The show is titled, “The Way to Eden.” And the song (Yeah, Brother) is here, #29.
Thanks (this one I mean!) also for all the Vulcanisms. Since Mr. Nimoy is a pretty cool dude both on and off the screen, I wonder if he wrote them.