Make America Spock Again

Artwork by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

During my college years, after class, my friends and I would get together afternoons to watch daily reruns of the original Star Trek. Of course, before the innumerable spin-offs and marketing re-imaginings, it was the only Star Trek. It soon became apparent that while we appreciated Captain Kirk’s boldness, Dr. McCoy’s cynicism, Lt. Uhura’s efficiency, and Scotty’s dependability, Mr. Spock was the man—the Vulcan. 

Spock was cool. He was incredibly intelligent, eminently practical, and completely unflappable. Being half-human, he did have feelings, but he was almost always—through sheer willpower—able to keep his emotions in check. His judgement was unclouded by fear, hope, or desire. Spock was the epitome of logic and rationality; he was knowledgeable and open-minded, never afraid of new ideas. 

So why did a group of early twenty-something college guys gravitate toward the thoughtful Spock and not the impulsive and adventurous (and sometimes reckless) James T. Kirk, the ever-innovative Scotty, or the grumpy old country doctor? Why was Spock so cool? 

It wasn’t because he was a spectacular personality; Spock always performed his duties as science officer quietly and efficiently. He deferred to his captain and subjugated his own needs to those of the crew of the Enterprise and to Star Fleet. He was selfless. In fact (except during the Vulcan mating season), Spock seemed to exhibit very few egoistic tendencies. He did have some extraordinary Vulcan abilities like the mind-meld and the nerve pinch, but he never flaunted these talents; they were just part of him. But most of all, Spock lived his life according to the strictures of logic and rationality, rejecting human emotionalism as superfluous and weak-minded.

Spock was the avatar of scientific thought and ingenuity. To us undergrads, he seemed to be the next step—or steps—on the road to higher human evolution. This was during an age during which we had only recently witnessed man stepping on the moon. We had seen (on live TV) where applied science, aeronautical engineering, and astrophysics could take us: all the way to the moon. I, along with millions of other kids, followed the space program closely. I had plastic models of the Mercury and Gemini capsules as well as the Apollo moon lander. I drank Tang because the astronauts did. I ate Space Food Sticks. We read about the fantastically efficient room-sized navigational computers that guided the Apollo command module to its precise location. Even as children, we understood that the driving force behind these innovations and new consumer technology was science, and we appreciated it. Science improved our lives and science got us to the moon first. Without it, we wouldn’t have beaten the Russians there. 

Technological progress didn’t stop with the space race; far from it. From the late seventies, when we saw development of the early personal computers to the current strides being made in robotics, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering, science has marched on relentlessly. But, by and large, it’s progressed without the support and appreciation of the American people. We used to love science, but it’s a different story today. We use our smartphones, WIFI, GPSs, and microwave ovens every day without thinking about how they came to be. While we may occasionally hear about a new universe revealed by the Hubble telescope or the newest development in in-home robotics, but science is—at the very least—taken for granted, or at the worst, as in the case of the epidemiologists fighting the pandemic—ridiculed and reviled. 

This last occurrence, of course, is the work of our politicians determined to deflect responsibility for the incompetent handling of the coronavirus. President Trump has rejected the recommendations of the WHO and our own medical experts, instead proposing his own half-baked proposals for cures or vaccines—including drinking bleach—which in some cases has resulted in severe injury or death. It is a measure of the American erosion of trust in science that nearly forty percent of our population is willing to take the word of an undereducated, underqualified, and undignified ignoramus like Trump over the word of a dedicated scientist like Dr. Fauci. These people would actually rather drink bleach than listen to a doctor. It is a measure of Fauci’s integrity that he has refused to knuckle under to the president’s bullying and browbeating. Spock lives.

We need to instill faith in science and our scientific community once more. The anti-vaxxers, the no-maskers, the flat-earthers, and other early harbingers of the coming idiocracy can no longer be tolerated. They are dangerous. We need to reject them and their poisonous anti-science sensibilities. Anecdotal evidence is no substitute for applied science. Logic, rationality, and scientific thought need to be woven into the fabric of American consciousness once again. 

We live the advantages technology and science bring to us every day of our lives. Our phones, cars, homes, and bodies have been vastly improved because of new applied knowledge. We need to reject the hucksters and liars and profiteers who belittle our doctors, researchers, and pioneers; we need to recognize and appreciate who the real heroes are. 

We need to Make America Spock Again.