Topic: Life Will Not Be Like Star Trek
uk1971's photo
Wed 04/23/08 05:52 PM
There are so many Star Trek(tm) spin-offs that it is easy to
fool yourself into thinking that the Star Trek vision is an
accurate vision of the future. Sadly, Star Trek does not take
into account the stupidity, selfishness, and horniness of the
average human being. Allow me to describe some of the more
obvious errors in the Star Trek vision.

Medical Technology

On Star Trek, the doctors have handheld devices that instantly
close any openings in the skin. Imagine that sort of device in
the hands of your unscrupulous friends. They would sneak up
behind you and seal your ass shut as a practical joke. The
devices would be sold in novelty stores instead of medical
outlets. All things considered, I'm happy that it's not easy
to close other people's orifices.

Transporter

It would be great to be able to beam your molecules across space
and then reassemble them. The only problem is that you have to
trust your co-worker to operate the transporter. These are the
same people who
won't add paper to the photocopier or make a new pot of coffee
after taking the last drop. I don't think they'll be
double-checking the transporter coordinates. They'll be
accidentally beaming people into
walls, pets, and furniture. People will spend all their time
apologizing for having inanimate objects protruding from parts
of their bodies.
'Pay no attention to the knickknacks; I got beamed into a hutch
yesterday.'

If I could beam things from one place to another, I'd never
leave the house. I'd sit in a big comfy chair and just start
beaming groceries, stereo equipment, cheerleaders, and anything
else I wanted right into my house. I'm fairly certain I would
abuse this power. If anybody came to arrest me, I'd beam them
into space. If I wanted some paintings for my walls, I'd beam
the contents of the Louvre over to my place, pick out the good
stuff, and beam the rest into my neighbor's garage.

If I were watching the news on television and didn't like what I
heard, I would beam the anchorman into my living room during the
commercial break, give him a vicious wedgie, and beam him back
before anybody noticed. I'd never worry about 'keeping up with
the Joneses,' because as soon as they got something nice, it
would disappear right out of their hands. My neighbors would
have to use milk crates for furniture. And that's only after I
had all the milk crates I would ever need for the rest of my
life. There's only one thing that could keep me from spending
all my time wreaking havoc with the transporter: the holodeck.

Holodeck

For those of you who only watched the 'old' Star Trek, the
holodeck can create simulated worlds that look and feel just
like the real thing. The characters on Star Trek use the
holodeck for recreation during breaks from work. This is
somewhat unrealistic. If I had a holodeck, I'd close the door
and never come out until I died of exhaustion. It would be hard
to convince me I should be anywhere but in the holodeck, getting
my oil massage from Cindy Crawford and her simulated twin
sister.

Holodecks would be very addicting. If there weren't enough
holodecks to go around, I'd get the names of all the people who
had reservations ahead of me and beam them into concrete walls.
I'd feel tense about it, but that's exactly why I'd need a
massage.
I'm afraid the holodeck will be society's last invention.


Sex with Aliens

According to Star Trek, there are many alien races populated
with creatures who would like to have sex with humans. This
would open up a lot of anatomical possibilities, but imagine the
confusion. It's hard enough to have sex with human beings, much
less humanoids. One wrong move and you're suddenly transported
naked to the Gamma Quadrant to stand trial for who-knows-what.
This could only add to performance anxiety. You would never be
quite sure what moves would be sensual and what moves would be a
galactic-sized mistake.

Me Trying to Have Sex with an Alien

Me: May I touch that?
Alien: That is not an erogenous zone. It is a separate
corporeal being that has been attached to my body for six
hundred years.
Me: It's cute. I wonder if it would let me have sex with
it.
Alien: That's exactly what I said six hundred years ago.

The best part about having sex with aliens, according to the
Star Trek model, is that the alien always dies a tragic death
soon afterward. I don't have to tell you how many problems that
would solve. Realistically, the future won't be that
convenient.


Phasers

I would love to have a device that would stun people into
unconsciousness without killing them. I would use it ten times a
day. If I got bad service at the convenience store, I'd zap the
clerk. If somebody with big hair sat in front of me at the
theater, zap!
On Star Trek, there are no penalties for stunning people with
phasers. It happens all the time. All you have to do is claim
you were possessed by an alien entity. Apparently, that is
viewed as a credible defense in the Star Trek future. Imagine
real criminals in a world where the 'alien possession' defense
is credible.

Criminal: Yes, officer, I did steal that vehicle, and I did
kill the occupants, but I was possessed by an evil alien
entity.
Officer: Well, okay. Move along.

I wish I had a phaser right now. My neighbor's dog likes to
stand under my bedroom window on the other side of the fence and
bark for hours at a time. My neighbour has employed the bold
defense that he believes it might be another neighbor's dog,
despite the fact that I am standing there looking at him barking
only twenty feet away. In a situation like this, a phaser is
really the best approach. I could squeeze off a clean shot
through the willow tree. A phaser doesn't make much noise, so it
wouldn't disturb anyone. Then the unhappy little dog and I could
both get some sleep. If the neighbor complains, I'll explain
that the phaser was fired by the other neighbour's dog, a known
troublemaker who is said to be invisible. And if that doesn't
work, a photon torpedo is clearly indicated.

Cyborgs

Given the choice, I would rather be a cyborg instead of 100
percent human. I like the thought of technology becoming part of
my body. As a human, I am constantly running to the toolbox in
my garage to get a tool to deal with some new household
malfunction. If I were a cyborg, I might have an electric drill
on my arm, plus a metric socket set. That would save a lot of
trips. From what I've seen, the cyborg concept is a modular
design, so you can add whatever tools you think you'd use
most.

I'd love to see crosshairs appear in my viewfinder every time I
looked at someone. It would make me feel menacing, and I'd like
that. I'd program myself so that anytime I saw a car salesman, a
little message would appear in my viewfinder that said
'Target
Locked On.'

It would also be great to have my computer built into my skull.
That way I could surf the Net during useless periods of life,
such as when people talk to me. All I'd have to do is initiate a
head-nodding subroutine during boring conversations and I could
amuse myself in my head all day long.

I think that if anyone could become a cyborg, there would be a
huge rush of people getting in line for the conversion. Kids
would like it for the look. Adults would like it for its
utility. Cyborg technology has something for everyone. So,
unlike Star Trek, I can imagine everyone wanting to be a
cyborg.

The only downside I can see is that when the human part dies and
you're at the funeral, the cyborg part will try to claw its way
out of the casket and slay all the mourners. But that risk can
be minimized by saying you have an important business meeting,
so you can't make it to the service.

Shields

I wish I had an invisible force field. I'd use it all the time,
especially around people who spit when they talk or get too
close to my personal space. In fact, I'd probably need a shield
quite a bit if I also had a phaser to play with.

I wouldn't need a big shield system like the one they use to
protect the Enterprise, maybe just a belt-clip device for
personal use. I could insult dangerous people without fear of
retribution. Whatever crumbs of personality I now have would be
completely unnecessary in the future. On the plus side, it would
make shopping much more fun.

Shopping with Shields Up

Me: Ring this up for me, you unpleasant cretin.
Saleswoman: I oughta slug you!
Me: Try it. My shields are up.
Saleswoman: Damn!
Me: There's nothing you can do to harm me.
Saleswoman: I guess you're right. Would you like to open a
charge account? Our interest rates are very reasonable.
Me: Nice try.


Long-Range Sensors

If people had long-range sensors, they would rarely use them to
scan for new signs of life. I think they would use them to avoid
work. You could run a continuous scan for your boss and then
quickly transport yourself out of the area when he came near. If
your manager died in his office, you would know minutes before
the authorities discovered him, and that means extra break
time.

Vulcan Death Grip

Before all you Trekkies write to correct me, I know there is no
such thing as a Vulcan Death Grip even in Star Trek. But I wish
there were. That would have come in handy many times. It would
be easy to make the Vulcan Death Grip look like an accident.

'I was just straightening his collar and he collapsed.'

I think the only thing that keeps most people from randomly
killing other citizens is the bloody mess it makes and the high
likelihood of getting caught. With the Vulcan Death Grip, it
would be clean and virtually undetectable. Everybody would be
killing people left and right. You wouldn't be able to have a
decent conversation at the office over the sound of dead
co-workers hitting the carpet. The most common sounds in
corporate America would be,
'I'm sorry I couldn't give you a
bigger raise, but ........................!

bigsmile glasses



MirrorMirror's photo
Wed 04/23/08 05:54 PM
laugh laugh

roygoldenjr's photo
Wed 04/23/08 05:55 PM
lmao never thought of that **** be 4