The Dawn Treader

Remember this episode of the original Star Trek series?

I flipped on The TV this morning as I was brewing my coffee.  The channel was set on TV land.  Up popped Star Trek and the episode known as "The Apple".  I remember liking this episode as a kid.  I thought the guys with the Bill Clinton hair were cool.  The females on this planet were so innocent not to mention easy on the eyes ... even with their goofy face paint.

Filmed in 1967, this second season episode established the "redshirt phenomenon" as an indisputable fact.  For some excellent empirical analysis of this phenomenon, follow the link from Neatorama.

The red shirts aside, I would like to focus on the world view of Star Trek as typified  in this one memorable episode.

Here is the recap of the story line.

Kirk and the crew arrive at a planet that looks like the garden of Eden.  Well, Eden with booby trapped plants that fire poison darts, rocks that explode like land mines, and clear sky, crewman-vaporizing lightning.  The body count of hapless red-shirt security officers sets a Star Trek record in this episode.

To make matters worse, something on the planet is exerting a powerful tractor beam on the Enterprise.  Poor Scotty is left on the ship to try to engineer an escape plan to break free from the tractor beam or he and 400 other crew members will get fried in the planet's atmosphere.  Not good.

The planet is inhabited by a race of feeble minded hunks and babes known as the "feeders of Vaal". Their leader, Akuta (shown above), is the de facto Vaal prophet.  Who is Vaal?  Vaal is their deity.  He looks like a giant cave with eyes.   In reality, Vaal is a thinking and tyrannical computer that runs the IT shop that sustains life on this idyllic planet.  Vaal has established several rules, however.  No dating.  No marriage.  No sex.  No families.  Villagers are required to feed Vaal a steady diet of exploding rocks whenever they hear the dinner bell.  Vaal punishes wrong doers with lightning bolts.  Appease Vaal, however, and he makes it rain, puts fruit on the trees, keeps everyone perfectly healthy and allows everyone to live forever.

In order to save the ship, Kirk and Spock trick Vaal and destroy him by starving him of energy.   At the very end, Kirk gives a little speech to the natives and then leaves the bewildered villagers to socially evolve on their own.  They are free to feed themselves, learn about work, procreate, have families and all the rest.  Total freedom.

The episode is a virtual world view clinic all told from a Star Trek perspective.  Nothing is missed: creation; fall; redemption, restoration; who is God?  what is man?  what is wrong with the world?  what shall we do about it ? what is man's purpose?

Note to those of you teaching world view.  Consider purchasing this episode for teaching purposes.  You can purchase and download it to your PC or Tivo for $1.99 .

The reason I like this episode is because it  nicely packages the world view of scientific materialism; a world view that is surging in popularity these days thanks to the efforts of apologists like .

Here are the four questions of world view presupposed by the writers of Star Trek:

Where do we come from?

Man is a highly evolved machine, the result of naturalistic processes acting on random events.  It is unclear whether the writers of Star Trek believe in determinism.  Kirk throws around the term "freedom", but it is not clear how a biochemical machine has true freedom.  Freedom for programmed machines is illogical, as Spock would say.

What has gone wrong with the world?

We are ignorant.  The problem for the feeders of Vaal was their ignorance.  They lacked knowledge and became enslaved.

What can we do about it?

Share knowledge.  Learn more.  Redemption comes from knowing more and bending technology to do our bidding.

What is our purpose?

To free people from being trapped and enslaved by ignorance and religion.  The feeders of Vaal were religious people.  Akuta is clearly a prophet priest figure.  But, like religious folk today, they have been duped and manipulated.

Here are some good quotes from the episode to use in your teaching and discussion.

Spock and McCoy are spying on the villagers feeding Vaal his energy rocks.  They enter into a philosophical discussion.

McCoy: There are certain absolutes, and one of them is the right of humanoids to a free and unchained environment -- the right to have conditions which permit growth.
Spock: Another is their right to choose that system which seems to work best for them.

Great stuff.  Is Spock a relativist?  What is the basis of McCoy's absolutism?  Does McCoy's scientific materialism account for the such ethical absolutism?  Are humans free and unchained given that they are biochemical machines without souls?  Aren't they enslaved to genetic programming?

Moving on.

Kirk gives his little speech at the end.  The Vaals have just lost their way of life.  Vaal is dead.  Now what.  Kirk says don't worry, be happy.

Kirk: You'll learn something about men and women -- the way they're supposed to be. Caring for each other, being happy with each other, being good to each other. That's what we call love. You'll like that a lot.

Kirk: You'll learn to care for yourselves, with our help. And there's no trick to putting fruit on trees; you might even enjoy it. You'll learn to build for yourselves, think for yourselves, and what you create is yours. That's what we call freedom. You'll like it. A lot.

Supposed to be?  Says who?  What about survival of the fittest?  Does Kirk give a good description of freedom?  Why or why not?

Moving on.

Spock makes an astute observation after a big fight scene.  Vaal ordered the villagers to kill the landing party.  The Vaal are given instructions on how to kill.  They follow the instructions and kill one of the landing party before getting overpowered by the kung fu of the landing party -- and a couple of "Spock shoulder" pinches.

Spock: "We have wondered if they (the Feeders of Vaal) can be fully human. I submit there is no cause for worry. They have taken their first step. They've learned to kill."

Is learning to kill what it means to be fully human?  What makes us human?

Moving on.

Spock, Kirk and McCoy exchange this interesting dialog at the very end.

Spock: Precisely, Captain, and in a manner of speaking, we have given the people of Vaal the apple, the knowledge of good and evil, and they, too, have been driven out of paradise.
Kirk: Doctor, do I understand him correctly? Are you casting me in the role of Satan?
Spock: Not at all, Captain.
Kirk: Is there anyone on this ship...who even remotely...looks like Satan? (Kirk and McCoy both stare at Spock)
Spock: I am not aware of anyone who fits that description, Captain.
Kirk: I didn't think you would.

Where does the knowledge of good and evil come from?  Can knowledge save us?  How does the episode depict religion?  Did Kirk and the crew truly help the feeders or hurt the feeders by killing Vaal? What is the message about what makes life worth living? 

Have fun with world view.  Watch some Star Trek.