Technology

Technology

The Voyage Home talks an endless amount of trash about our so-called "modern" technology. Not that it hurts our feelings or anything. Sniffle.

But this trash-talk is a way of putting our current era in historical context. As with any time period, the modern era has plenty of good qualities, but it's also got plenty of things that will be looked upon negatively by future generations. This includes things like pollution and warfare, two defining aspects of life in the 20th century.

To that end, the crew members mock technology that we see as advanced. Nuclear reactors? Spock calls them a "dubious flirtation" with "toxic side effects." Modern medicine? McCoy compares it to the "Spanish Inquisition." Scotty even tries to use a computer mouse as a microphone because he can't fathom using something as rudimentary as a keyboard.

In all three of these instances, we're forced to reexamine our hardwired assumptions about technology. Let's just be glad they didn't travel back to an era with smartphones. Their burns would be too vicious for us to take.