I came across Tracy Falbe's writing early last year when I was researching independent
publishing. I downloaded Union of Renegades, and spent the next couple of days reading in
preference to work. The novel fascinated me to the point of writing my first (and so far only) fan letter. I opened a dialogue with Falbe that resulted in the creation of a three part blog series devoted to her and her work. The Falbe trilogy remain my three most read blogs, as though further proof of her word skill is necessary. Last week Falbe graciously agreed to write the first guest blog for my site. Her analysis of Star Trek's Mr. Spock and his reliance upon logic is an enjoyable and thought provoking read while providing life lessons. Follow the links below to learn more about Falbe after reading her blog.
Thank you J.M. Tresaugue for inviting me to write about Star Trek. We share a love for this special universe that has connected with millions of people for generations. The original Star Trek from the 1960s was truly visionary television, and it had a deep impact on my life.
I am a child of the 1970s when Star Trek was in reruns on television five nights a week. My love for the show was instant and apparently permanent. The show was scary, exciting, provocative, imaginative, funny, and bold. I loved how the crew worked together. I loved how brave and clever Captain Kirk was. I loved that Lieutenant Uhura got to explore space too, and she looked good doing it. (Who says you shouldn’t be sexy at the office?) And next to her duty station was the station of Mr. Spock and that glowing blue box that he stared into.
As a little girl I learned that Mr. Spock was half Vulcan, a race of beings who suppress their emotions. They dedicated themselves to eliminating pesky feelings that ruin reasonable thought and confuse us pitiable fight-or-flight humans who had somehow invented warp drive technology.
The closest Mr. Spock came to being excited was to declare something “fascinating” and I was fascinated by him. The influence of this fictional character prompted me during childhood to reflect upon my emotions and their effects on my actions. I taught myself to step back and consider facts. I learned to think about the feelings driving my actions. This is not to say that I never acted in wildly irrational ways, but I certainly knew when I was doing it.
I credit Mr. Spock with my first experiments in the application of logic. One example was my early acknowledgment of my lack of athletic ability. No matter what I did, I was not going to be picked first for anybody’s team at recess, or second, or third…In fact I was relegated to the undesirable final pickings in which the team captains would negotiate who got stuck with the worst of us. Therefore the logical solution to my childish need to be included in games was to declare myself a team captain and put together a team. Then I got to do the picking. Organizing the physical talents of others was far more logical than attempting to improve upon my meager genetic attributes in the realm of physical strength or speed.
Throughout my life I have attempted to fall back on logic and try to look at problems and situations through the calculating eyes of that pointy-eared half breed. After years of observing people, I have come to the conclusion that many people rarely apply logic to their lives and wouldn’t recognize a reasonable thought if it was a noose tired around their necks. Mr. Spock was quite right to deride his hysterical sidekick Dr. McCoy who so wonderfully represented the emotional aspects of humanity.
Although I believe in the benefits of logical thinking and the control of emotions, I do not reject my emotional nature. Feelings can strengthen us red-blooded humans, but it takes awareness to logically use what is good about our emotions and reduce the negative.
Emotions should not be pushed away. The famous Vulcan mating rites of the Pon farr certainly demonstrate the dangers of burying emotions too long. As much as I admired Mr. Spock and his Vulcan ideology, I understood that his goal of pure emotional control was too strenuous, perhaps even limiting. To know that his intellectual majesty would descend into wild violence or rutting every seven years was disturbing, but it taught me the value of acknowledging emotions and giving them outlets. Sometimes they need to be buried, but mostly they should be analyzed and incorporated into reasonable decision making. I have found that it is difficult to act against a strong feeling and be happy with the outcome. Only sometimes should sacrifices be made to benefit the needs of the many. Emotional self indulgence has its place. For example, I write novels, which by any estimate is an emotional and irrational career choice. But when I take into account that it is a creative business that makes me happy by granting my emotions intellectual release, then I gain rational benefits for my life.
Thank you Mr. Spock for teaching me the value of reason, the benefits of logic, and the power of emotion. May your character live long and prosper inside the minds of many inspired fans.
To sample my fantasy fiction visit www.braveluck.com and start reading one or both of my fantasy series for free. You can download Union of Renegades or Rys Rising to see if you like my style.
Tracy Falbe's Links:
Free books
Rys Rising: Book 1
Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book 1
Online Shops
Brave Luck Books
Perfect Pages on Etsy
Falbe Publishing on Ebay
Writer Profile
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
J. M. Tresaugue's Links:
J. M. Tresaugue Books
Shadows Beyond the Flames ebook
Shadows Beyond the Flames hardback
Shadows Beyond the Flames paperback
Twitter
Facebook Author Page
publishing. I downloaded Union of Renegades, and spent the next couple of days reading in
preference to work. The novel fascinated me to the point of writing my first (and so far only) fan letter. I opened a dialogue with Falbe that resulted in the creation of a three part blog series devoted to her and her work. The Falbe trilogy remain my three most read blogs, as though further proof of her word skill is necessary. Last week Falbe graciously agreed to write the first guest blog for my site. Her analysis of Star Trek's Mr. Spock and his reliance upon logic is an enjoyable and thought provoking read while providing life lessons. Follow the links below to learn more about Falbe after reading her blog.
Thank you J.M. Tresaugue for inviting me to write about Star Trek. We share a love for this special universe that has connected with millions of people for generations. The original Star Trek from the 1960s was truly visionary television, and it had a deep impact on my life.
I am a child of the 1970s when Star Trek was in reruns on television five nights a week. My love for the show was instant and apparently permanent. The show was scary, exciting, provocative, imaginative, funny, and bold. I loved how the crew worked together. I loved how brave and clever Captain Kirk was. I loved that Lieutenant Uhura got to explore space too, and she looked good doing it. (Who says you shouldn’t be sexy at the office?) And next to her duty station was the station of Mr. Spock and that glowing blue box that he stared into.
As a little girl I learned that Mr. Spock was half Vulcan, a race of beings who suppress their emotions. They dedicated themselves to eliminating pesky feelings that ruin reasonable thought and confuse us pitiable fight-or-flight humans who had somehow invented warp drive technology.
The closest Mr. Spock came to being excited was to declare something “fascinating” and I was fascinated by him. The influence of this fictional character prompted me during childhood to reflect upon my emotions and their effects on my actions. I taught myself to step back and consider facts. I learned to think about the feelings driving my actions. This is not to say that I never acted in wildly irrational ways, but I certainly knew when I was doing it.
I credit Mr. Spock with my first experiments in the application of logic. One example was my early acknowledgment of my lack of athletic ability. No matter what I did, I was not going to be picked first for anybody’s team at recess, or second, or third…In fact I was relegated to the undesirable final pickings in which the team captains would negotiate who got stuck with the worst of us. Therefore the logical solution to my childish need to be included in games was to declare myself a team captain and put together a team. Then I got to do the picking. Organizing the physical talents of others was far more logical than attempting to improve upon my meager genetic attributes in the realm of physical strength or speed.
Throughout my life I have attempted to fall back on logic and try to look at problems and situations through the calculating eyes of that pointy-eared half breed. After years of observing people, I have come to the conclusion that many people rarely apply logic to their lives and wouldn’t recognize a reasonable thought if it was a noose tired around their necks. Mr. Spock was quite right to deride his hysterical sidekick Dr. McCoy who so wonderfully represented the emotional aspects of humanity.
Although I believe in the benefits of logical thinking and the control of emotions, I do not reject my emotional nature. Feelings can strengthen us red-blooded humans, but it takes awareness to logically use what is good about our emotions and reduce the negative.
Emotions should not be pushed away. The famous Vulcan mating rites of the Pon farr certainly demonstrate the dangers of burying emotions too long. As much as I admired Mr. Spock and his Vulcan ideology, I understood that his goal of pure emotional control was too strenuous, perhaps even limiting. To know that his intellectual majesty would descend into wild violence or rutting every seven years was disturbing, but it taught me the value of acknowledging emotions and giving them outlets. Sometimes they need to be buried, but mostly they should be analyzed and incorporated into reasonable decision making. I have found that it is difficult to act against a strong feeling and be happy with the outcome. Only sometimes should sacrifices be made to benefit the needs of the many. Emotional self indulgence has its place. For example, I write novels, which by any estimate is an emotional and irrational career choice. But when I take into account that it is a creative business that makes me happy by granting my emotions intellectual release, then I gain rational benefits for my life.
Thank you Mr. Spock for teaching me the value of reason, the benefits of logic, and the power of emotion. May your character live long and prosper inside the minds of many inspired fans.
To sample my fantasy fiction visit www.braveluck.com and start reading one or both of my fantasy series for free. You can download Union of Renegades or Rys Rising to see if you like my style.
Tracy Falbe's Links:
Free books
Rys Rising: Book 1
Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book 1
Online Shops
Brave Luck Books
Perfect Pages on Etsy
Falbe Publishing on Ebay
Writer Profile
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
J. M. Tresaugue's Links:
J. M. Tresaugue Books
Shadows Beyond the Flames ebook
Shadows Beyond the Flames hardback
Shadows Beyond the Flames paperback
Facebook Author Page
I've never been accused of providing life lessons before. Thanks for noticing. As I like to tell my children, "If you would only listen to me a whole new world would open up to you."
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