@dejected_warp_core
@lemmy.worldI feel like this is just a lower-stakes version of "RedBull & vodka." If that's true, @The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world, then this is a recipe for a bad hangover.
Food that contains nutrition, galactagogues, and folk-remedy ingredients to help with (human) milk production. Arguably, they're just food.
the use of language as a means of control [...] well may have been his most prescient point.
While I think Orwell's "newspeak" was contrived, it did illustrate the point in strong relief as something unfamiliar... at least at first. But I don't think he was predicting the future. Instead, I think he was warning the reader of what dangers are already with us.
Honestly, I think this has always been a thing. The spoken word is often inexact as a form of communication efficiency; if the other party has the same ideas in their head as you, pronouns, idioms, recalling past events, are all powerful ways to compress dialogue. However, that same inexactness leaves the door open for doublespeak, dogwhistles, and suggestion in place of fact. Language as a means of control is just in how you use it; the underlying mechanisms were always there.
I applaud your adherence to the scientific method. Amusingly, this is probably a lot closer to how science is conducted out in the professional world.
I'm with you on Voyager. A big problem with the story was it's premise: it's kind of hard to run into the same people more than once when you're bee-lining for home every chance you get. So they should have focused more on every last stinking crew member onboard that little ship. Or start a small fleet and do it BSG style. Lots of options, but they're all outside the usual Trek box.
Science fairs have always had this "World's Fair" like undercurrent. You're supposed to do actual science and be judged for that. But you can usually get very far with a clickbait-worthy hypothesis like "is it possible to..." or "what is the outcome of..." and ride on pure novelty and wow-factor. I've done both at the same time: eye-popping visuals with a provocative hypothesis, but with real R&D to back it up.
Lower Decks is easily the most entertainment for my time I've had out of Trek in a while. I'm conflicted, since calling this my favorite feels like cheating: it doesn't entirely stand on its own since it riffs on everything else Trek.
In that case, SNW takes the top spot on my list. It's an incredibly well-oiled production and it shows at every level.
Bottom of the list is Enterprise, but that's only because I personally feel the writers squandered a fantastic setting. Star Trek at a lower technology tier just begs for more edge-of-your-seat stakes and problem solving. At the start, it had grit: the ship had no shields, puny weapons, limited warp, a janky universal translator, and everyone was terrified of the transporter. Add to that operating under interplanetary tensions and a fledgling federation that is a relative unknown in the galaxy. Much of this got thrown out in record time, and for what? A temporal causality loop hundreds of years wide, thereby eradicating any agency the crew had, and by extension, our disbelief that they may pull through the next encounter.