Some notes for those looking to get into Star Trek

Added on June 21, 2020 by Chris Saad.

These are the shows in order of release and how you should think about them:

Before you get started, just watch the movie “Star Trek: First Contact”. It’s a good place to start. If you like that, then...

Star Trek (also known as Star Trek The Original Series or Star Trek TOS): 60s TV show. Worth watching later if you fall in love with Trek. But you can skip it initially.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (otherwise known as Star Trek TNG): 90s TV show. Gets very good by season 4. I’d start here if you can tolerate some late 80s and early 90s tackiness. This show sets the tone and firmly establishes the ideology for modern Star Trek.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (otherwise known as Star Trek DS9). A darker, more serialized and more sophisticated show. Its set on a space station instead of a space ship. It pressure tests the ideology that is set up in TNG by confronting it with the realities of politics and religion and living with consequences when you’re stuck in a dangerous environment on the fringes or Federation space. Avoid this until the end if you really love trek.

Star Trek: Voyager. A fairly modern show that still holds up well. Initially intended to pressure test the ideology of TNG by confronting it with the reality of being stuck on the other side of the galaxy with no backup and a 75 year journey home. Quickly and mostly abandons that premise for fun adventures. Easy viewing. Start here if you want something more accessible and easy to digest.

Star Trek: Enterprise. Prequel show. Shows the first proper adventures of humans going out into space with a warp capable ship - soon after the events of Star Trek: First Contact (the movie you just watched). Don’t bother right now. Pretty weak.

Star Trek: Discovery. Still being made. Very flashy. Not really authentic to the original spirit of the show. More shooting and less talking.

Understanding Black Lives Matter if you don’t live in the US

Added on June 18, 2020 by Chris Saad.

For my Australian and other non-US friends who are struggling to understand “Black Lives Matter”.

“Black Lives Matter” has very little to do with you or your lived experience right now - so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it.

Here’s some context that might make it clearer so you can show some empathy for our American friends.

The phrase might be better and more accurately written “Black Lives Matter, Too”

It is in response to ongoing, pervasive and often intentional, *systemic* racism in the US.

Therefore this is not about individuals against individuals. It is not just about 1 or 2 police shootings. It is about institutionalized *systems* designed to oppress a specific group of people built right into the government and laws.

This has been going on since the counties founding and continues to this day. From slavery, to Jim Crow, to specific laws designed to entrap and disenfranchise African Americans - they have *never* had equity in the US.

For a simple example: Right now, the US prison system is (massively) disproportionately overflowing with African Americans and other people of color. More than were ever enslaved during the era of slavery.

This is not because they are naturally more prone to crime. It’s because a legacy of oppression, under and over policing and laws designed to make their benign behavior criminal (e.g crack cocaine penalties are harsher than powder cocaine because the former is typically taken by people of color).

The law is also applied unevenly. While an African American might get jail time for possession of a small amount of marijuana, a white youth might get let off with some community service.

The resulting criminal history means that they can no longer get work or vote. The cycle repeats.

There are other, more subtle and pernicious examples. African Americans and other people of color are discouraged or even blocked from voting due to the placement of polling places (not in their neighborhoods), the timing of voting (during their work hours where they are less likely to get time off). Voting districts are drawn to make their vote less meaningful and to ensure that conservatives win elections no matter what (a political leanings that typically makes things worse for minorities). This is known as gerrymandering.

The country’s systems are failing or failed. In particular for people of color. Worse, it’s now in a negative feedback loop. It’s difficult to see how they can pull up out of this nosedive.

Further, with COVID19, poor people have been hardest hit and least supported. All while the stock market goes up and up making the rich, richer and widening the gap.

In this context, saying “all lives matter” is akin to the fire department saying “all houses matter” while watching yours burn down.

Will things change after this pandemic?

Added on April 23, 2020 by Chris Saad.

My friend Jeremiah always asks me the most interesting questions.

He just asked “Will anything change after this pandemic? Will we treat the earth better and/or mitigate global warming. This may have been our last warning”

My off the cuff answer...

Nup.

As usual nothing will really change except some of the tech trends that will accelerate.

Work from home, freelancing, streaming, online ordering of everything etc.

And for better or worse, we’ll end up needing to lean on tech to fix the planet after we’ve taken it past the point of no return.

Ocean cleanup devices, tech that extracts carbon from the atmosphere etc. etc.

If we can conceivably terraform Mars we can do it to earth.

To be clear I’m not advocating that we ignore climate change or the urgent need to switch to renewables. I’m just saying that we’re not going to do it fast enough because too many people are too stupid, lazy and slow. #personalperspective

Creating meaning and cheating death with institutions

Added on March 26, 2020 by Chris Saad.

I watched the last episode of Star Trek: Picard season 1 last night.

I’m not ashamed to say I teared up.

At first it feels ridiculous to be so invested in a TV show and fictional characters. But then I’m reminded it’s like so many other things in life.

We create these long lived institutions that survive generations - certain kinds of car companies, tv shows, sporting teams, companies, governments, religions, families.

They collect so much storied lineage and history long before our birth or involvement, and they continue long after we die.

Then we place ourselves inside them.

Why? Because It helps us feel a part of something bigger, It gives us a sense of legacy and, perhaps, just a little bit of immortality.

This is the way we deal with our mortality, create some meaning in our lives and try to cheat death just a little bit.

The 1%

Added on March 13, 2020 by Chris Saad.

When you hollow out a society and transfer all the wealth to the 1%, it will be on the verge of collapse at any significant exogenous event. Either personal or society wide.