Star trek?

[hindos]

Hey all

I've recently been watching Star trek: Next generation http://www.tv-links.eu/tv-shows/Star-Trek--The-Next-Generation--TNG-_641/

and i wonder why some people are so obsessed with it, i mean sure it's nice and entertaining but I can note several other series which have a similar feel to them but don't have such vibrant communities backing them up. So I question you why some people are so addicted to it as though it were a religion.

[creepig]

It's not a religion. I just grew up on that shit, and still enjoy it. DS9 was the pinnacle of the genre, though.

[hindos]

It's not a religion. I just grew up on that shit, and still enjoy it. DS9 was the pinnacle of the genre, though.

Ah ok so it must have been the highlight of the time the previous generation lived in's television series. Also if it's aired a lot you're bound to watch it.

[Neowulf]

Most people just geek out over it. We like it a lot, have a lot of fun, and occasionally get some good ideas from it.

A small group of people have problems differentiating reality from the fiction, these are the ones you're talking about when you liken it to a religion.

These are the people who take it way too far and are the ones focused on by the media.

This is no different than any other work of fiction. Right now it's quite easy to find examples of twilight fans who refuse to accept their fiction isn't reality. Occasionally you read stories about star wars fans taking things too far.

I will not continue this by going into the biggest examples of people patterning their lives after works of fiction, whole countries have fallen for it and some get really pissy if you call them out.

[hindos]

Most people just geek out over it. We like it a lot, have a lot of fun, and occasionally get some good ideas from it.

A small group of people have problems differentiating reality from the fiction, these are the ones you're talking about when you liken it to a religion.

These are the people who take it way too far and are the ones focused on by the media.

This is no different than any other work of fiction. Right now it's quite easy to find examples of twilight fans who refuse to accept their fiction isn't reality. Occasionally you read stories about star wars fans taking things too far.

I will not continue this by going into the biggest examples of people patterning their lives after works of fiction, whole countries have fallen for it and some get really pissy if you call them out.

true ver true when one confuses between reality and fiction is hard for me to understand as to me they are two seperate things, what i fear is that somehwere in the future as we advance more and more our virtual realities will become more and more believable until everyone is confused between reality and fiction, the dream and waking.

[Neowulf]

Man adapts.

By the time they can standardize on an adaptive 3D display with massive resolution, perfect color reproduction, and head and eye motion tracking, man will most likely have figured out how to differentiate even that from reality.

My bet is on the blind man phenomenon, make it so one sense cannot be trusted and the other senses will compensate. Your eyes may tell you you're standing in the middle of a field, but your skin will cry foul about the lack of air movement and your nose will wonder where the aromas from the flowers are.

Though yeah, cases of schizophrenia and delusion will be on the rise as the technology progresses.

[hindos]

Well they could synthesise aromas for your nose, but man imagine if they made a fake feel that a full body-suit you wear changes texture so it is as if you are actually feeling things.

Oh well nice discussion :P

[linkthegamer]

I think the whole reality versus fiction thing is hard for anyone with a grasp on the difference between the two to understand. I like some pretty strange fiction but i can tell it is just fiction, others well... they seem to make it their reality. Same thing happens with those kids who go postal because of video games, it is not that the video games are making them more violent, it is that they already have a shattered grasp on the line between reality and fiction and the fantasy world beings to merge with their own corrupting any rational thinking.

As for the original thing about why people got so into Star Trek, it's just one of those things no one can really explain. Most likely they identify with something or someone in the series and from a deep attachment to it. Maybe their was some outward stimulus, they watched it every night with someone they care about and so it has an emotional value to them. Maybe it is some weird miswiring of the brain. I really don't know. I just take fandom of any kind as something that one can't really explain. I mean give me anything and i bet i can find a group of people with inhuman amounts of interest in it.

Also on the VR thing, most sci-fi stuff seems to get around that by just needing to tap into the brain directly and then you can override all those reality checking fail-safes. So really we just need to prefect the neural implant to get a full VR... though the immersion suits, synth smells, as well as the visual and sound VR technology will likely come first. Which leads me to wonder... who is going to perfect virtual taste technology. Then again everything in the VR world could just taste like chicken. :P

[hindos]

The simplest way to tell reality from fiction in a virtual reality is that the intelligence of those within it is predicatable we can synthesise all of our senses but we can't stop plain logic. Thus the only way to truly aquire a 'perfect' virtual reality is a refinement of Artificial Intelligence that makes it nearly impossible to differ it from real intelligence.

What on earth can we do to stop this affect on society that becomes larger as our 'virtual realities' become more advanced. I mean one day or another this may actually have very serious affects on people's lives to the point of brainwashing.

[Neowulf]

Meh, smell-o-vision will never take off entirely because there is no porn application for it. Every major entertainment advancement that can't be attributed to the military sector (and some that can be) has gotten major backing from the porn industry.

VCRs, DVDs, streaming media, portable video, digital cameras, analog and digital camcorders, smartphones, ect... All were developed to help satisfy someone's fetish easier.

Knowing that, the physical touch suit will probably be the next advancement from that list to see retail.

[hindos]

Oh god it will be the end of humanity if they have virtual *shudder* greater then 5 less then 7 *shudder* I hope very dearly that humanity isn't that low... but from what i've seen It appears it is. Oh well some good folk still thrive :(

[ErusPrime]

Once they rebooted star trek into the next generation, rodenberry wanted to focus more on the politics and exploration of space and he tried to do it all based on actual theoretical science (such as the alcubierre drive).

[hindos]

Once they rebooted star trek into the next generation, rodenberry wanted to focus more on the politics and exploration of space and he tried to do it all based on actual theoretical science (such as the alcubierre drive).

Yes I noticed that it is indeed much nicer IMO to think about all those interplanetrary relations rather then constant laser battles(which are cool but still ) , still minecraft outshines it by a longshot I could renact anything I want .

[linkthegamer]

Yes I noticed that it is indeed much nicer IMO to think about all those interplanetrary relations rather then constant laser battles(which are cool but still ) , still minecraft outshines it by a longshot I could renact anything I want .

And most people already have... including a 1:1 model of one of the USS Enterprise. (I am not a fanboi so I don't remember the model number it was). But really if it is popular it has a remake in minecraft. There is even a full remake of the OoT Hyrule in the works, which I like for rather obvious reasons.

On a semi-off topic side note: I once played a USS Enterprise in Sauerbraten (Cube 2) and cracked up when the creator had a recreation room featuring a tribble minigolf course and a Duke Nukem Forever machine with a coming soon screen (back before it FINALLY came out.)