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Leonard Nimoy died yesterday. Obviously I identified with his character Spock which he carried as both a burden and blessing much of his life. The idea of logic and rational thought to solve problems always appealed to me. Back in my believing days it caused me some amount of stress trying to reconcile what members were saying with what the evidence and logic told me. But then I embraced the total Spock in me and let logic supersede emotion. I found it liberating to be able to call bunk on outlandish claims when men claim to speak for God. I relegated emotion to feelings for my wife and family. To appreciating a good book or movie, not to divining the truth or nature of the universe.
I read one commentary yesterday that said “we all wish we could be Kirk but we all knew we could be Spock” I think there is Spock in all of us if we just use the brains God gave us.
Thank you Mr. Nimoy for creating a character that became an icon. May we all live long and prosper.
[img]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac235/rockmthi/NOM/10985268_10152744149901167_4505376125013173074_n.jpg [/img] I always liked that Spock’s Vulcan side was in control most of the time – but that there were glimpses of his human side. I very much relate to Spock living among humans and at times being bemused while at others somewhat incredulous at human behavior. Yet, his human side allowed him to tolerate humanity. My TBM side allows me to tolerate the black and white while I mostly see the gray. I also like that he said this: Cadence, I thought about you yesterday, you arrived here before I did but you have always embodied Spock in conversations. What a great icon to have. He will be missed. I hope you live long and prosper. I have always loved the idea of the Vulcan IDIC pin: Inifinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Such a great philosophical basis for understanding life and the universe. I thought of you, also, Cadence. Good tribute, even if I had to clean it up just a tiny bit.
My take is a bit different:
May we all value both heart and mind – as Spock learned to do over time.
When I saw this title I thought it was Cadence’s swan song on StayLDS; I thought the death of Leonard Nimoy was the trigger for his leaving the site! Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised.
As much as I like the character of Spock, I believe that we are emotional beings, and that analysis of situations based purely on logic is alienating to many people — especially myself. Years ago, I had a situation where I could no longer work with someone. My experiences with the person were hidden to the world, but in private, he was a different person. I eventually decided to exert the power I had to eject the person from the organization we were in together (the only time I ever did that). In my mind, there was no way we could continue working together given his repeated and uninhibited emotional outbursts, and the emotional turmoil and misery these repeated outbursts caused me personally.
To the rest of the world, this person was by far the most logical choice for the position — he was good at the technical side, and had all the other right characteristics — other than an utter lack of control of his emotions, or consideration for the impact of his behavior on the emotions of others. And, so I received a lot of flack from people about letting him go. A LOT. It nearly caved our little department.
And my own “emotional reasons” — tired of emotional outbursts that wore me down emotionally — didn’t cut mustard with anyone touched by the decision.
Fast forward two years, and the same thing happened to another person on the team with a different person — and then he approached me and said “I understand why you let that guy go a while ago”.
Logic is self-evident most of the time. Understanding emotion takes life experience, and empathy, and I do believe they set us apart from many other living creatures.
I believe that one of Spock’s greatest advantages was his human side which was at times an internal conflict for him, but gave him a strength other Vulcans did not have. I thought the story line was always pointing that out as a way to show Spock more complex than simply a logical being. They took the similar approach with Data, as he strove to have the benefit of emotion other humans possess.
It showed a benefit to their characters, not a deficiency.
I think it’s often overlooked that the Vulcans were once a vicious tough warlike race who realized after near extinction that they had to sort themselves out. Spock is unemotional much of the time, but he is not evil and always strives for the best result fot all and the increase of knowledge.
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