Spock (for the Trekkies)

Going against logic is not something Spock is comfortable doing. His whole nature is orderly and controlled. Except for the Pon Far, an over-emotional state of mating fever, occurring only every seven years, he is not known to give over to irrationality and few of the Starfleet personnel have ever seen him in Pon Far.

Spock’s world is governed by science, by philosophy, by deep thinking and reasoning. His training is classic, involving literature, mathematics and universal history, as well as the disciplines of self-mastery. For all intents and purposes, Spock is a perfect being.

Except!

Except when logic hits an impasse and he can’t deduct any answers.

I’m somewhat of a stoic…at least I try to be. I’ve always seen Spock as a role model. I admire his ability to reason things true, to withstand rash, emotional reactions. When everyone else in Starfleet shows shock or outrage, he only raises that one significant eyebrow. How cool!

Spock is the most capable member of James Tiberius Kirk’s crew. His curious nature compels him to search for answers and learn continuously, even before any questions are posed. He is also a most reliable friend and Kirk knows that he can count on his absolute and unfailing trustworthiness.

Still, there are times when Spock’s logic fails him. Despite his perfection, even in light of all his incredible wealth of knowledge, Spock is flawed.

As humans, we walk a fine line between head and heart. Our intellect imparts to us the ability to rationalize, while the heart holds our often treacherous emotional baggage. Somewhere in between, there is a balanced place, where truth originates. That place is as old as life on earth. Seated deeply within our bodies, it holds the secret of humanity’s survival. From there, a different kind of knowledge guides us: raw and instinctual. James Tiberius Kirk calls it a hunch.

Kirk is a master of hunches. When all Spock’s reasoning fails to turn up a solution, Kirk always comes through. Mission after mission, he has proven his ability to lead with confidence when the odds are against him. Time after time, his crew have placed their trust in his vision and followed him through to success. For this reason alone, Kirk will always be the better starship captain, despite Spock’s superior intellect.

James Kirk is also a role model. His sometimes fly-in-the-face instinctual solutions are based upon years of careful training, coupled with a deeply felt understanding of the workings of the universe. Much more than simple emotional reactions, they emerge only after thorough consideration of all available facts. Like the conductor of an orchestra, who pulls together the musicians’ technical perfection and imparts his own understanding of the music into the performance.

Even a stoic cannot rely on rational thinking alone. There is more to the human experience and there is more to being a great starship captain. I run a tight ship around here. I try to govern my emotional reactions to life and keep the baggage out of other peoples’ way. But sometimes cognitive reasoning is not enough and – like Kirk – I make decisions based on a hunch.