#vulcan philosophy

[rottnb-y]

I LOVE YOU OP AND CONTRIBUTORS

Vulcantology: Best Sources To Learn All Things Vulcan

Another lovely and sad song in MGV by T’Prion

So I was just starting out in my research Journey on the Vulcan (or Whl’q’n I have learned!) people and their world (T’Khasi is the name for the Vulcan homeworld and I honest have no idea why it’s translated by the UT into Fed Standard English, it’s definitely one of the less difficult Vulcan words to pronounce.)

But I’ve found EVEN MORE helpful links! Not just for learning Vulkansu but for Vulcans in general! I wouldn’t be surprised if there is eventually yet ANOTHER of these posts in the future (or really just make this one bigger). As it stands, this is my comprehensive guide to all things Vulcan! 💚🖖🏻💚

Major Websites

Surak (bordering on obsolete, but helpful for getting to other hyperlinks in case anything on this post goes funky)

Korsaya (Lots of info on how to write in Vulcan and other language writing questions)

Kir’Shara (This one might be my new favorite! It’s a fan lore site that stays true to canon lore as possible! It’s got the complete writings of Surak, cultural anecdotes and name lists! Much love!)

Where To Learn Vulkansu

Vulcan Language PDF (mostly for the lessons in the book’s latter half!)

The Vulcan Dictionary (a little clunky, but @yel-halansu has links to some more polished but still in-development sites on their RB of my original post.)

How to Write in Vulcan (ancient script, there are other fonts like “handwriting” and “Dzhaleyl” but AGV is the one with the letter breakdown)

The Vulcan Alphabet Song (a fan-song I made to remember the fundamentals of the Vulcan Alphabet, ghostwritten by Amanda Grayson, translation in the notes of the original post!)

Canon Lore & History

Vulcan History: Vulcan History (Overview) ~ Surak ~ T’Klass ~ The Kir’Shara ~ Syrranites ~ V’tosh Ka’tur

Vulcan Spirituality: Katra ~ Katric Arks ~ Mind Meld ~ Pon Farr ~ Kolinahr

Vulcan Geography: The Forge ~ Mount Seleya ~ T’Karath Sanctuary ~ The Fire Plains

Recipes: Plomeek Soup (What even is Plomeek Soup??) ~ Plomeek Tea ~ Spice Tea ~ Krei’la

Fanon Lore, Headcanons, and Other Cool Stuff

Music: Tribute To Vulcan (Nadordatoran na’o T’Khasi) ~ “How To Save A Life” by The Fray in Vulcan ~ The Ballad of Solkar The Slut ~ Sidhzhan T’gai YT Channel ~ Songs of T’Khasi Master Post ~ Pon Farr: An Amok Time Tribute ~ Aluk-kumsu (Wellerman in Vulcan) ~ Rom-halan Mahk, The Parting Glass (In Memoriam of Passed on TOS actors)

Vulcan Culture: Vulcan Fashion ~ Vulcan Hairstyles ~ “Hand”canons ~ Vulcan Toddlers ~ Vulcan Teenagers ~ Vulcan Accent ~ The Vulcan Word for Dumbass: Origins ~ Vulcans At Federation “Eurovision” (FANART OF SAID EUROVISION PERFORMANCE) ~ Culture Clash: Non-Vulcans on Vulcan Ships ~ Images of T’Khasi (Canon) ~ Vulcan Funerary Practices ~ Qo’nos vs. T’Khasi: Warriors from a Peaceful Planet & Pacifists from A Hell World ~ Vulcans & Physical/Telepathic Intimacy: Too Much Love Is Dangerous ~ Vulcan/Betazoid Relationships ~ Vulcans LOVE Poker ~ Vulcan Adoption Practices (Like Ostriches!) ~ Vulcan Home Decor & Architecture ~ Vulcan Education System ~ Honor & Logic: Similarities Between Vulcan & Klingon Cultures ~ Vulcans have a Sweet Tooth

Vulcan Biology: The BIG Vulcan Biology Post ~ Debate on Vulcan Evolutionary Biology (partially in notes) ~ Vulcan Biology Headcanons ~ Pon Farr Headcanons ~ Vulcan Sicknesses ~ Emotion/Pain Receptor Headcanon ~ Vulcan Infants ~ Demystifying The Vulcan Katra ~ Vulcan Hybrids: Post Spock ~ Pon Farr is NOT Puberty ~ Why Vulcans Get Drunk On Chocolate ~ Vulcan Desert Adaptations ~ Vulcans vs Other Species in Combat ~ Vulcan Telepathic Abilities ~ Wildlife of Vulcan ~ L’tak Terai: Spock & His Learning Disability ~ Vulcan Sleep

Vulcan History: The BIG Vulcan History Post (+Reformation Anecdotes) Ambassador Solkar: A Comedic Anecdote ~ Technologically Contextualizing Surak ~ Vulcan Bronze Age vs Surakian Age ~ Sarek: A Character Study ~ Pre-Surakian Ancient Vulcan Designs (Male, Female) ~ Vulcan Fashion History ~ Pre-Surak: Hell, But Not Just Because of War ~ Vulcans Learning English

Vulcan Politics & Philosophy: Humans Are Lonely: Why I Love Vulcans ~ Vulcan High Command vs. Syrranites vs. V’tosh Ka’tur ~ Vulcan Terrorism ~ Childhood Betrothal Discourse (Improved!) ~ The Difference Between Sarek & Tuvok ~ The Purpose of Kohlinar (and why Spock didn’t do it right) ~ “I Do Not Feel ___”: A Mantra, Not A Fact ~ The Societal Evolution of Vulcankind Explained ~ The Logic Spectrum: Syrranite Lite ~ Logic is not “logic” ~ Meditation Candles: Reminders of Home & Controlled Chaos ~ On T’Pau: The Face of Vulcan ~ The Complexities of Vulcan Mental Health ~ The Kir’Shara & Familial Loyalty ~ How Do Kolinahru Deal With Pon Farr ~ Vulcan Clan Construction

Special Thanks to @find-me-in-outer-space @protectspock @distractedducky @nuclear-wessels @janey-jane @acesexualspock @chateauofmymind @starfleet-memedom @ineffablebuddies @sporkandpringles @s-trip-tease @foodreplicator @marlinspirkhall @adira-tal @aceofwands @goddamnshinyrock @mlovesstrawberries @spacedancer1701 @sleepysnowfinch @enterprisetrampstamp @capsfromtrek @seraphsfire @starcrossedcherik @thefuzzyaya @thenorsiest @trillgendermetaphor @onelonelystory @yel-halansu @tomfooleryprime @sweetsoursugarcube @nisaexploresadhd @tribbleland @trekkie24 @thornfield13713 @menecio @hughculber @svartalfhild @zhewhoisfate @hedge-rambles @starfleet-jelly @koalas-koalas-everywhere @scientific-tricorder @caffeinatedcorvids @subarktis @plant-dad-sulu @tyrannosaurus-trainwreck @redshiftsinger and so many others for your contributions!

[dykespirk]

imagine being Tuvok. you're 98 years old. you're being ferried from the Cardassian border wars to the center of the Alpha Quadrant. a rookie Ensign with a square jaw and bright eyes greets you on the new starship. you frown, looking down at her with an arched brow. she has not obeyed protocol. you dress her down. she grits her teeth. but she bears it, if not with a proud glint in her eye.

to a Vulcan, she is both highly emotional and impossibly young. but these, after all, are humans.

she catches your attention. you serve together. you take her under your wing.

at some point, she becomes captain. you cannot say so, but you are unbearably proud. you are in security. there is a war. you go undercover. you part ways. you fight side-by-side with insurgents, submerging yourself into death and surveillance.

there is a battle. there is an accident. many die. you survive. you end up by her side again. you serve under her. now, she is your captain.

you are 212 now. you used to be a young man. once, you chafed against starfleet. now, you've been an officer almost all your life. now, these protocols are in your bones.

you are impossibly far from home. you believe that you will return. that young ensign is a woman now, in her middle age. you have a wife and children. they are far away.

you look up from your station, to the place where you are always looking up. that is where she sits. she has defied all your logic. she has become your logic.

she stands on the bridge. you stand behind her.

you are reminded, in small moments, of a court transcript of another vulcan officer, with another human captain.

If I let a hammer fall, I do not need to see it to know that it has fallen.

Kathryn Janeway is the Captain. You are her Officer.

[ex--astris--scientia]

C'Thia, Surakian Philosophy, and Vulcan Polytheism

While most would consider Surak to merely be a philosopher and reformer, thereby removing any hint of religion from the discussion and forming instead an idea of both Surak and his philosophy as being, at best, atheistic or agnostic, and at worst, being anti-theistic, I have to strongly disagree with this assessment. Especially when it's used as proof to claim that modern, post-Awakening Vulcans are also at best atheistic or agnostic, and at worst anti-theistic. I believe this comes about due to a commonly held misconception that religion in and of itself is anathema to science, to progress, to intelligence, and therefore, to logic itself. This is, of course, a blatantly false binary and we are shown over and over again in canon that while Vulcans place a great importance on science, education, intellect, and logic, they are also a very spiritual people. Most of the important locations on Vulcan that we see in canon tend to be temples, sacred mountains, or holy ruins. Leaders tend to be high priestesses. Meditation is almost universal for Vulcans, and while it can be argued that it is very much a mental discipline as well, meditation was birthed, and continues to find its roots, in spirituality, and at its heart, is a spiritual discipline. Meditation, after all, was not invented by scientists, but by monks.

In the episode of the Animated Series, "Yesteryear", Spock tells Sarek that he is merely passing through ShiKahr on his way to the family shrine to "honor our gods". This one line proves to me that, at least for Spock, there is no incongruence between his modern Surakian belief and practice of C'thia (commonly this is translated as just "logic" but a more accurate Vulcan translation is "reality-truth") with that of traditional Vulcan polytheistic religious practice. One can assume that this is not, however, unique only to Spock, seeing as shrines require some semi-regular maintenance and he very rarely visits his father's homestead so it is unlikely that Spock alone is the one who maintains them. Sarek also is unsurprised by Spock's actions, which suggests a kind of normalcy to it. One does not get the impression that Spock is doing something rebellious by performing religious rites to Deities.

Likewise, in the Voyager episode, "Hunters", Tuvok receives a letter from his wife. In it, she tells him that she and their children have asked the priests at the Temple of Amonak to say prayers for Tuvok's safe return from the Delta Quadrant. Prayer requires something to which a person prays to and the assumption here is, again, the existence of Vulcan Deities as well as devotional practices targeted toward them existing even until the time of Voyager. While one of the purposes of prayer has to do with the person praying, as in, a benefit to prayer is that it gives the praying person something to do when they may not be able to do much else about a situation, and therefore T'Pel and her and Tuvok's children may be using it as a kind of meditative practice meant to give their grief and worry about Tuvok's safety somewhere to go that may then help them control it, I believe even this would still imply belief in the existence of Deities. One could meditate without the use of prayer involved but that was not the course of action that T'Pel took. She specifically made a trek to a sacred temple with the intention of saying prayers for Tuvok and told him about it, again, just as with Spock and Sarek, showing that there is something normalized about the action. Belief in the Gods and religious practice utilizing them is, therefore, not something performed only in the dark or in secret.

So, Vulcan polytheistic spiritual practice has continued past the Awakening and into the Vulcan Reformation. Is it the same as what it looked like to pre-Reform Vulcans? What's different? I wish we got more glimpses of Vulcan religion beyond mostly backdrop (while we are explicitly shown rituals and ritual locations in episodes like "Amok Time", "the Gambit" and many places in Enterprise, and in movies like "the Motion Picture" and "Search for Spock", very rarely do we see explanations for what the Vulcan lay people and priest(ess)es are doing and why) but that simply means that I instead get to make things up. Which is my favorite thing to do. So while the entirety of this post is built on a core of canon and information from Memory Alpha and Beta, as well as the Vulcan Language Database, most of what follows is my own musings and thoughts.

Firstly, in my research I've established that there seems to be two major pantheons within Vulcan spirituality, the Ka-ta-pak, or Inner Chorus, and the grouping I've named Ek-tam'a-ta, which is where I've placed every other named Deity not belonging to the Inner Chorus. The Inner Chorus, being made up of Deities that seem much more akin to emotional archetypes, become a much more thorny topic to consider when it comes to reconciling the worship, or, at the very least, acknowledgement of these Beings with the rigorous control of emotions that is to be expected within the Surakian cult of C'thia. As such, they are what I plan to focus on here.

The Inner Chorus is made up of the following Deities: Tel-Alep and Alep-Tel, Kir-Alep and Alep-Kir, Valdena and Dena-Vel, Kal-ap-Ton and Tyr-al-Tep, and Ket-Cheleb. Other than the last Deity, each is a part of a pairing where one represents the lighter, more acceptable form of a suite of emotions, whereas the other is the darker, shadow side. It's a concept similar to reading Tarot cards, where a card's reversal typically points to the darker reading of the themes the card communicates when right side up. For example, Valdena is famously the love Goddess and rules over emotions such as joy, beauty, fullness, pleasure, etc, whereas Dena-Vel, her shadow twin, rules over the darker side of love, namely concepts like possessiveness, covetousness, envy, domination, etc. What I would posit as probably one of the fairly radical reforms within Surakian thought, is the idea that C'thia is meant to subjugate and control both sides of what the Inner Chorus represents, not just the shadow side.

Isn't it illogical, however, to worship archetypal manifestations of emotions that one is trying to suppress? This was the big question that came out of my exploration of Vulcan Deities and led me to conclude that there is a difference between how Vulcans interact with Ek-tam'a-ta Deities vs the Ka-ta-pak, wherein the former is treated much more like how one stereotypically interacts with Gods, ie with reverence, worship, offerings, prayers, etc, as well as an understanding of the Deities being Beings outside of the mind in their own rights, while the latter is much more localized and symbolic. The Ka-ta-pak are not so much outward Beings, as they are emotional symbols and touchstones, metaphors to be focused on in meditation rather than as Gods to be worshipped.

Even the name, the Inner Chorus, suggests this kind of community of emotional beings, of aspects of the interior Vulcan mind, and furthermore, points to a need for a harmony amongst them. It is my thought that the Ka-ta-pak are less like sentient beings with personhood and more like the Platonic ideal of the emotion they represent. They are the emotion in its most perfected form and by experiencing this, experiencing the presence of this being, this outward-focused inner spirit, in the relative safety of meditation, the average Vulcan is able to meet that emotion and learn how it manifests within their own body and mind. In this meeting, they are able to name the emotion, learn it, experience it, and understand how to master it so that when they experience it outside of meditation, they need not be conquered by it and brought into chaos but instead are able to hold to order and logic in the face of it.

In the Enterprise episode, "Fusion", we are shown that Vulcans don't typically dream and that meditation has usurped the role that dreaming would usually take in the Vulcan psyche. It follows, therefore, that they process the emotional stimuli of the day through meditation and that symbolism, which is an important language for the sub-conscious and the language that dreams are written in, would probably play a role in that. Thus, the use of the Inner Chorus as a symbol of focus, as the emotional tangle that one seeks, through meditation, to sort out and bring order to, makes sense. I believe that this constitutes some of the work of t'san s'at, or the intellectual deconstruction of emotions that Surak preached. T'san s'at is the study of one's own emotions, and the effects these emotions have over one's actions. The peace and tranquility that lies at the end of t'san s'at is the goal of every Surakian Vulcan, and is a lifelong aspiration. It is through working with the Ka-ta-pak with this goal in mind that brings these ideas together.

Another idea I found interesting about the Ka-ta-pak is that the names of the Deities match the names of the other planets within the Vulcan solar system (according to the Memory Beta article that I believe is based on a Trek inspired ttrpg). A solar system, with its constant routine of stable orbits and cycles, would be an obvious metaphor for the idea of Order. The Inner Chorus strikes me, then, as the microcosm within the Vulcan mind/spirit as connected with the macrocosm of the living universe around them. It is the connection between the Vulcan mental and katric interior space and the exterior physical space. Just as the solar system is in constant harmony, subjugated to the laws of gravity, order, and simply the natural mechanisms of the living universe, one's own interior system should likewise be ordered. That it is called an inner chorus is very telling to me, since when choruses are working correctly, they are making music in harmony, just as the broader cosmos makes the music of the spheres, which is the sound of mathematics purified. It is the goal of every Surakian Vulcan to harmonize their inner chorus (part of which involves meditating on the form of the Inner Chorus) with the music of the macrocosm. In this, I believe the mind, or the reasoning capacity, represents a kind of conductor, who directs the inner chorus of emotions to properly allow for the production of music. The music produced by this harmony is C'thia, which is the same substance that keeps the planets in their orbits and the universe ticking onward.

This post is getting a bit long but there's one last thing I want to talk about and that would be Surak himself. As mentioned earlier, there is a common misconception I've seen that, again, makes Surak some kind of radical atheist philosopher who, in stomping out the violence and ignorance that marked the culture of his planet, must also have gotten rid of its religion, not just superstition or conservativism but religion more generally. Again, this comes more from the mistaken belief that spirituality and science are necessarily at odds. But what we see of Surak doesn't actually support this erroneous belief. Instead, one of the things that Surak is famous for is his pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is a religious journey undertaken for religious purposes. Surak set out to visit many religious orders and temples, before traipsing into the wilderness in places like Vulcan's Forge and Mount Seleya, to learn from and connect with the various priest(ess)es, as well as to connect in solitude with his own mind. C'thia is always shown as a revelation. Surak perceives it for the first time and discerns its meaning while on pilgrimage, while in meditation, while studying spiritual truths. He discovers it, not in a laboratory, but in deep contemplation on a mountain peak. Thus, Surak strikes me as much more akin to a Hindu yogi or an enlightened New Age seeker than he does a Richard Dawkins type. He doesn't dismiss the spiritual lessons he learns from visiting the other religious orders but instead incorporates them into his new cult. I think it's this incorporation of c'thia with traditional polytheism within Surak's own spirituality that allows for modern Vulcans to do the same.

In conclusion, anyone who claims that the post-Reform Vulcans shown in canon are atheists have not been paying attention to the actual canon, first of all, and secondly, are doing nothing more than showing their bias toward the science vs religion binary. I think the Vulcans are a little too smart to fall for this dichotomy, and they are certainly aware of the need for a philosophy to be an open one, if it's to be sustainable at all. I think having access to the neverending mystery of space, peopled as it is with many different kinds of beings, has allowed the Vulcans to be open-minded toward religion and the existence of Gods and other numinous beings. After all, they fully accept the existence of katra and thus, souls, spirits, and the idea of beings existing without bodies. It is not an illogical leap to suppose that since animating spirits (ie souls that are housed by and animate a body) exist, other kinds might also, including Deities. And since Vulcans possess a psionic system, capable of the extrasensory perceptions involved in their version(s) of telepathy, they may be able to perceive these spirits telepathically, even when psi-null folks may not be able to.

So, I don't think Vulcan polytheism is relegated to some point in the planet's distant past but instead continues, alive and well, into the post-Awakening world.

[bumblingbabooshka]

[TUVOKTOBER: Day 6] Based on this line of dialogue:

[sunshine-tattoo]

"Cruelty and Power are the opposite of Logic and Reason."

Let me explain.

Say you have a child who cannot walk.

A man who think he is logical, tells the community that the child is a burden because he cannot farm the land and thus cannot contribute to the food he must eat. Therefore, he should be abandoned.

Another man steps forward and says that the first man's logic is flawed because if does not take in the whole picture.

It is very risky to create a child due to the hardship it exerts on the birthing parent's body.

Therefore, replacing this disabled child with a new child is a much bigger gamble because it invites risk without knowledge of possible results.

What's more, it ignores the contributions that the disabled child can bring.

One does not need to walk to watch over the sheep while they graze.

Or sit by the hearth and bake bread.

Or cate for and teach the babies and small children.

Just because he does not work in the fields, does not mean he is not doing work.

To ignore these facts would be a misuse of resources and a grave violation of logic.

This is why cruelty is never logical.

Cruelty is rooted in self-interest and desire for power over others.

It will eschew facts in any direction it needs to suit its own purposes.

And this is something that must be thought about when leaders suggest cruelty under the guise of logical decision-based government.

The leader who wants to deport all illegal immigrants because they are a drain on resources without paying taxes aren't taking into account the millions of hours of work they do in farms, factories, and other blue collar industries.

And this is intentional.

Because it is much easier to place blame disguised as logic than it is to try and fix the real problem of the slow immigration process.

As things progress over the next few years, I want us to remain vigilant for practices like this.

Especially in the USA.

Good logical governing cannot contain cruelty.

[ceramicbeetle]

enough fic where Sarek refused to let Amanda raise Spock as Jewish; i want to see Sarek go apeshit on the noisemaker on Purim

[theonlyfeckuser]

'but vulcans dont do this-' 'oh actually klingons are always-' theyre aliens we can never fully understand what it means to be them. we can never fully understand what it means to be humans. we can never fully inderstand what it means to be any other human than ourselves. shut up

[vtoshkatur]

man, being a son of sarek sure leaves an indelible mark on your katra. luckily, the mark i’m referring to right now is “neurodivergence and a propensity for writing essays”

[dunebat]

ESSAY: Neostoicism Redux

Author’s Note: This is a repost from an earlier version of Dunebat Country from 2012. The text has been updated to reflect recent events. Zeno of Citium (circa 334–262 BCE) Stoicism was a school of ancient Greek philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium that espoused the reasonable governance of one’s emotions and the rule of logic. Contrary to the form of “stoicism” practiced by a certain…

[cosmicluci]

I wonder if there aren’t also some children who would have a hard time getting adopted, or would sometimes bounce back and end up growing up there, so maybe Stork becomes a sort of paternal figure, and some of those kids eventually adopt some core bits of Vulcan philosophy from him. Maybe some even choose to follow that onward, go to a Vulcan center of learning, become part of Vulcan society inspired by Stork. One or two even become social workers themselves, trying (and in their own individual ways succeeding) in passing on some of what they got from Stork and carrying on his care.

A Vulcan named Stork works at the Terran adoption agency. Parents always request that he be the one to deliver their child to them.

[gleaningsinbuddhafields]

Star Trek and Space Lincoln!!

Season three of Star Trek has one of my most favorite, albeit silliest episodes in the entire series: The Savage Curtain. The episode starts off with a bang: Abraham Lincoln (played by Lee Bergere) floating in space on his trademark chair. From there, the Enterprise crew and in particular Kirk and Spock are confronted by some of “histories worst villains”1 as well as an encounter with Spock’s…

[bumblingbabooshka]

Something something the Janeway/Chakotay/Tuvok dynamic when it comes to religion, mysticism, spirituality and science.

[tossawary]

I wish we saw more casual diversity among Vulcans in regards to... well, everything: fashion, art, history, geography, language, religion and philosophy, occupations, familial units, and logical styles and emotional management, and so on. The monoculture that "Star Trek" tends towards is both unrealistic and kind of boring.

(I think that my ideal "Star Trek" show would have a minimum of two matching non-humans in the main crew who are from opposite sides of their planet; these two alien coworkers have almost NOTHING in common. It immediately creates compelling character dynamics.)

Anyway, even within the specific Surakian Logic sect that Spock and his family seem to belong to, there's still opportunity for fun, divisive hobbies among this particular group of Vulcans. We can have judgey Vulcans looking at other Vulcans' weird, harmless antics and saying, "What illogical behavior," while the other Vulcans are judging them back for being illogical in their own opinion. Let Vulcans be REAL nerds: I think that pre-Surak historical reenactment is not an uncommon hobby, both casual LARPing and hardcore reenactment.

It's educational to spin and weave and sew your own pre-Surakian garments! It's educational to forge your own weaponry! It's grounding, like meditation! It is humbling to truly realize the complicated labor involved in fabrication. Even when they were surrendering to their emotional urges, you know, Vulcan ancestors were not completely illogical: they knew how to fashion a comfortable garment well-suited to the desert. Camping in the wilderness and foraging for food connects oneself to nature, teaches about history, and settles oneself in the present.

Also, it's good physical exercise and emotionally cathartic to beat the shit out of each other with foam-wrapped lirpa, screaming at the top of your lungs. It's very logical. There's a medical team on standby, reading on their pads and drinking tea.

You beam down in the wrong part of the desert at the right time and find a bunch of scantily-clad Vulcan warriors (outfits depend on the chosen time period and location) (of all genders) shrieking and rolling in the dirt, until a timer goes off, and then the scheduled mock-battle is over and everyone helps each other up. (Depends how hardcore the group is, of course.) (Also, yeah, obviously, some of these groups have a hook-up culture attached / embedded.) Two bleeding guys who were previously punching each other in the face salute each other and part ways, one to go write a new archeological paper based on his findings here ("Fascinating") and the other to his low-level government desk job ("Most invigorating exercise").

If this happens anywhere near where people live, then the neighbors are shaking their heads and saying to each other, "I don't know how anyone could come to their conclusions and call it logical. Their foundational premises must be flawed." 😐 Some of them while closely watching the entire scandalous affair through binoculars and telescopes, of course. 🤔

[ncc-42069]

If you’ve spent ANY time around academics you know this is exactly how Vulcan operates.

okay this is kind of a stupid thought but I was thinking about the internal debates that Vulcan society must have around logic and it occurred to me that Vulcan must have “logical relativists” in the same way that human philosophy has moral relativists…I just know that there’s at least 30 Vulcan philosophers who want to KILL the noble Storek House of T’Nel (or something) because he can’t stop telling everyone that All Behavior is Inherently Logical as it Makes Sense to the Acting Party at the Time. Humans are Illogical Therefore it is Logical That They Act Illogicaly, thus All of Their Actions are Logical. All Thought, Conscious or Unconscious, Proceeds from Biological and Neurochemical Impulses. Therefore, the Sentient Being Behaves Much like a Computer, Following its Compiled Commands. No Behavior, Knowing the Chemical Commands that Preempt Consciousness, Can Be Considered Illogical.

and everyone else is just like “ohhh my fucking GOD Storek, shut UP!”

[avian-misdemeanors]

here's your weekly reminder that Leonard Nimoy was proudly Jewish and put a lot of our culture and philosophy into his character and later on into Vulcan culture and philosophy

if you hate Jews, star trek is not for you.

[anerdynerd]

hits them with the species swap beam

I’ve been working on a McSpirk species swap AU :D

more details below the cut if anyone’s interested to hear more about them:

Spock

-human appearance (still half human half Vulcan though ofc)

-> round ears, only slightly Vulcan-looking eyebrows, short haircut

-generally somewhat collected, still a bit emotionally closed off, maybe has been told off one too many times during his attempts to explain things in-depth 

-but gets EXCITED when he does get to talk about the things he finds fascinating (which is actually quite a lot, I think he’d be broadly interested in a lot of sciences, hence Starfleet lol, probably especially interested in maths, astronomy and physics, maybe philosophy too)

-people don’t actually know that his dad is the Vulcan ambassador growing up cause in typical Spock fashion he just never mentioned that part, so people generally only really find out about his Vulcan heritage if it relevantly comes up somehow or if somebody else mentions it (or if they saw it in his file), he’s not embarrassed or anything, he’s actually quite intrigued by it and does get Vulcan pointers from Sarek while growing up, he does actually bring up being half Vulcan way more than his father (or brother and sister etc), as that is relevant more often, for example to explain his super strength or to explain why he is the way he is™️

-very expressive, can’t hide a thought for anything, his eyebrow is already lethal imagine what would happen if he were to use his whole face

-> still a relatively steady and normal voice usually?

-very curious person

-due to less/almost no social pressure to behave like a true Vulcan, since they’re on Earth: has logical thinking for human standards, but also has human values embedded in his personality 

Kirek 

-one of the few Vulcans with a lighter shade of brown hair

-> has a bowl cut when first leaving Vulcan but starts challenging the standards for how a Vulcan should look while in Starfleet, resulting in his side bangs, as always just inside the lines but deviating from the standard enough to be noticed (in addition to the what values he’s already challenged internally)

-keeps finding ways to challenge the logic that’s the norm in a way that absolutely looks for loopholes and “technicalities” for his creative approaches to things

-> great at practicing logic but he’d do it in his own way that’s just within the lines + he’d argue well enough for it to be convincing enough for no one to be able to say anything against it 

    -> his superiors would still keep an eye on him and be skeptical even if he  “technically still acts within the lines of logic” and he does that just well enough  not to be declared a V’tosh ka’tur

-finds logic important and acts based on it as it is often the best way to do things, but sees the flaws as well as the benefits of it 

-> well aware of logic’s impact all around

-> therefore keeps an eye on whether there are approaches that would make  more sense than classic logic might suggest in some cases

-doesn’t make as many friends on Vulcan as human Jim would on Earth with this kind of demeanor

-finds a way to argue for pretty much anything and everything to be important to an extend, never completely dismissing something

M’Koy

-joined Starfleet to share the advanced Vulcan medical knowledge effectively, since his expertise is more useful to a big organization such as this one helping all sorts of species’ in various corners of the universe, rather than exclusively on Vulcan

-never really had a sense of belonging on Vulcan for that reason, since there is an alternative where he can follow his goal more effectively, does not practice that cultural duty to his people, because he refuses to get stuck on one singular planet helping only his own people (he’s tried and it did not sit right with him)

-> that plays a huge point in his parting from Jocelyn and their daughter

-is satisfied with how much he can help on the Enterprise

-does get increasingly frustrated with logic and order not sliding as smoothly and as in accord as he’s used to though

-> finds it more comfortable (some might even say comforting) to be around Spock as someone who also favors order and practices it well enough, as well as Kirek, who does not seem to need order as much as him, but who does actually bring some order onto this ship in the way he practices his authority 

-does not talk as much as Kirek because he is afraid to  does not desire to slip up on his Vulcan form of calmness 

-> therefore might get especially quiet when he’s angry because he learned early on that that only gets him patronized by other Vulcans and with that even more frustrated

Friendships

Kirek & M’Koy

-respect eachother and get a sense of being understood by the other without much judgement, as they both rejected parts of the Vulcan way in their own way

-McCoy finds comfort in having another Vulcan around, almost like a little piece of his home, while he was aiming to leave his whole life, he is now finding himself missing certain structures of his home, he never favored Vulcan culture to that extend, but he had never known anything else

Kirek & Spock

-Kirk actually listens to Spock’s rants and often proves that he has considered all the information provided by him by mentioning them or even using them on the search for a solution 

-engages in lively discussions

-finds Spock’s nature intriguing

-Spock asks a lot of questions about Vulcans in an attempt to learn more about his culture through people who have lived it

M’Koy & Spock

-irritated by the amount of over information Spock practices

-> might try to subtly cut him off to bring the conversation further, but this could lead to Spock often having something to add on that he would’ve gotten to if he hadn’t been cut off

-also finds him intriguing though, you don’t see a Vulcan-human-hybrid everyday, let alone be friends with them

-> might attempt to subtly study him to better understand how the two species’ have mixed within him

-Spock asks a lot of questions about Vulcans in an attempt to learn more about his culture through people who have lived it

-M’Koy finds comfort in being around him because he is much more orderly than most of the humans he has to work with everyday