So, I want to jump in and say that Star Trek is intentionally narcissistic. If you think of it as Science Fiction, I really think it falls short. What I think is a much better perspective is “What could humans be in a post-scarcity world?” Not that it makes the tropes any less annoying, but it does make the episodes that explore that much more meaningful. Star Trek is a critique of humanity, and an imagination of what we could become. It is less about interactions between different intelligences (although some episodes try, and usually fail to be) and more about how humans can interact with themselves.
So, I want to jump in and say that Star Trek is intentionally narcissistic. If you think of it as Science Fiction, I really think it falls short. What I think is a much better perspective is “What could humans be in a post-scarcity world?” Not that it makes the tropes any less annoying, but it does make the episodes that explore that much more meaningful. Star Trek is a critique of humanity, and an imagination of what we could become. It is less about interactions between different intelligences (although some episodes try, and usually fail to be) and more about how humans can interact with themselves.
Fair enough. I really do like Star Trek’s leftist messages, and I’m trying to replicate that first and foremost in my own writing.