The ongoing mission in the Star Trek universe:
to explore strange new world
to seek out new life and new civilizations
to boldly go where no one has gone before.
A lecture by Dr. Michael O'Conner, Millikin University
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Space . . . the final frontier. The ongoing mission in the Star Trek universe: to explore strange new world to seek out new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no one has gone before. |
First contacts with aliens in science fiction come in various flavors.
First, there is the "attacking" or threatening alien syndrome. Examples:
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Card's Ender's Game Clarke's Childhood's End, (sort of) War of the World The Day the Earth Stood Still Independence Day Star Trek captains' first encounter with the Romulans, the Borg, and others Alien movies Dark City |
Things that lead to the threat:
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"The Day the Martians Came" "Dolphin's Way" E.T., the Extraterrestrial Close Encounters of the Third Kind Star Trek: First Contact (with the Vulcans) Contact 2001: A Space Odyssey (sort of) The Abyss |
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As I keep emphasizing, science fiction, though exotic in its extrapolation of
future science and technology and in its unique settings and characters, is
always, in some way, about the here and now.
First contacts with alien creatures and species, on many different levels, is often about our interactions with those different from ourselves. The subject of first contacts in science fiction allows us a vehicle for exploring how we, on our own planet and in our own history, have treated "first contacts" with other cultures.
Outside the realm of sci-fi, certain literary titles come to mind that also
explore "first contacts":
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Trail of Tears |
Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, Louise Erdrich's many Native American novels, such as Tracks Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness
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A general study of history and a knowledge of fictional works like the ones mentioned above paint a very negative picture of how we generally treat our "first contacts" with other cultures. Almost always, exploratory contact with other cultures labels that culture as "primitive" or even "sub-human" or "savage." There are typical ways of interacting with these newly discovered cultures:
Rarely, if ever, does history or literature mention simply leaving the culture alone, in its original, pristine state.
That is, this was rarely considered until science-fiction came along as a vehicle to critique our approaches to interacting with new cultures.
The concept of the PRIME DIRECTIVE from the Star Trek series is much a part of the popular culture now. This concept surmises that we will have learned from our past mistakes with "first contacts" of other cultures and have created rules to govern such encounters.
So what is the Prime Directive? One web site, "Ask the
Trekker," is quite specific:
The Prime Directive, which is also known as Starfleet General Order One, is one of the founding principles of the Federation. In summary, it states that no Starfleet personnel shall ever interfere in the development of a less technologically advanced civilization, and if interference was made accidentally, then all attempts must be made to minimize or reverse the damage. All ships and personnel are expendable if necessary to uphold the directive.
Administration of this rule is most difficult, and Kirk was accused of violating it many times, and Picard violated it at least once.
The actual wording of General Order One was never revealed on screen, though here's a version by
FASA.
As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes the introduction of superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world who society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation.
- - Originally published in Star Trek: The Next Generation First Year Sourcebook, published by FASA, ISBN 0-931787-38-6 (out of print).
Prime Directive is supposed to cause major dilemmas, esp. if Starfleet personnel
[are] captured and forced to participate on one side [of a conflict] or the other. In such cases, the personnel
[are] authorized to take their own lives and/or self-destruct their ship to prevent interference.
It was unclear where did this principle originate, though some evidence points at the Vulcans, who was believed to have had similar orders for their exploration ships before they joined the Federation.
("Ask the Trekker." The Star Trek Nexus. http://members.aol.com/trekannex/treka02a.htm April 8, 2002)
In the Star Trek universe, many episode plots center around the Prime Directive.
Specifically, Picard breaks the Prime Directive in an episode named
"Justice" where Wesley Crusher's life is a stake for accidentally
breaking a a planet's laws. Picard upholds the Prime Directive in
"Symbiosis" and a number of other episodes.
The law is also almost
broken in the Star Trek movie Insurrection, as Picard is ordered by Star Fleet
to remove the Ba'ku from their paradise world.
Janeway must deal with the issue in several episodes of Voyager, "Time and Again," "Random Thoughts, and "Equinox."
Janeway must also deal with the futuristic "temporal Prime Directive" outlawing visits to other times that may affect the "timeline."
The new Star Trek series, Enterprise, devotes an entire episode the the discussion of the need for a Prime Directive in "Dear Doctor." Archer must make a difficult decision about helping one race at the expense of another.
A number of academics have mentioned the Prime Directive in their essays.
Murtaugh explains the Prime Directive in this way:
In the universe of Star Trek, the members of the Starship Enterprise are bound to the principle of the Prime Directive. This fictional doctrine dictates that the crew members' actions must not fundamentally interfere with the cultures they encounter.
Star Trek's explicit premise is the exploration of new worlds and people, "to boldly go..." and so on. To that end, the Prime Directive stands not only to protect the worlds that are explored from being altered by the explorers, but presumably to maximize the meaning of that exploration by preventing such an alteration. In other words, when the actions of the observer significantly alters that which he observes, how can the observer know whether his observations are inherent to the subject or the result of his own actions?
(http://ic.media.mit.edu/Publications/Thesis/murtaughMS/HTML/InteractiveNarrative/InteractiveNarrative.html, April 7, 2002)
Thomas Trado sees a direct connection between how Western culture behaved in the "age of discover" and the need for a Prime Directive.
What a study of the Age of Discovery has taught us is that we must think about the consequences of our actions, about future generations.
Today, for example, we recognize how fragile earth’s ecosystem is…
…and we have started asking important questions about the health of the planet.
The ecological legacy of the Europeans is one of the important lessons of history…
…and one of the reasons that we are here today talking about biodiversity.
In my country there is a very popular TV show called Star Trek.
The crew of the spacecraft Voyager are bound to uphold what is called the Prime Directive.
Simply stated, it reads, "You will not intervene in the natural order of other life forms."
The lesson learned in the 24th century was if there is life to be discovered in distant galaxies, let us hope that the discoverers are guided by a Prime Directive…
…preventing them from destroying that life form either intentionally or unintentionally.
Too bad Spain, England, or France did not have a Prime Directive when they arrived in a distant and hitherto unknown world.
(Tirado)
In effect, what the study of the Prime Directive does for us today, is to allow us to critique and reexamine our actions from our past and, hopefully, to come up with a better solution to meeting new cultures in the future, should the need arise.
Bibliography:
Joseph, Paul and Sharon Carton. Law of the Federation
(http://www.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/joseph-carton.htm, April 7, 2002)
Rockwood, Bruce. "Law, Literature and Science Fiction: New
Possibilities." Online.
(http://www.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/lsf/rock23.htm, April 7, 2002)
Tirado, Thomas. "When Worlds Collide: The Clash of Cultures in
the Age of Discovery" Online. (http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/collide.html,
April 7, 2002)
Review of book: Political Science Fiction
(http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/review_essays/wagar73.htm, April 7, 2002)
Vos Post, Johnathan. Me Human, You Alien: How to Talk to an Extraterristrial. http://www.magicdragon.com/EmeraldCity/extraterrestrials/
