Never find out why peace is impossible
Look same as humans
How kirk takes over room
Like concept that dehumanizing war unfortunately causes it to be more palatable and acceptable
In "A Taste of Armageddon", the crew of the Enterprise (along with a Federation ambassador) attempt to make contact and open diplomatic channels with a previously isolated race known as the Eminiar. But the Enterprise soon finds themselves in the middle of a 500 year old war that has "advanced" to the point where all warfare is done via computers and members of each society die painless deaths based upon the strategic algorithms of the online chess match being waged. When the crew is asked to sacrifice their lives in the name of the war, Captain Kirk must figure out how to escape from their grasp and put a stop to this madness.
I love the concept of this episode: that at some point, we get so technologically advanced and war becomes so dehumanized that it becomes almost palatable and more acceptable to allow it to go on since the main detriment of war (the sufferings of humanity) is no longer involved in the war itself. With this inconvenience out of the way, war is liable to go on for centuries.
We never find out what started this war, we never meet or see the opposition, we don't even know why "peace as impossible" as Anan 7 continues to tell us. All we know is that this civilization has reached a point where they've dehumanized their wars and disagreements so much they have almost dehumanized themselves. The writers purposefully place all the emphasis on this notion because they do not want to distract us with trifling details. On this planet, war is now the norm and it is structured and orderly. This is a scary thought. As technology improves here on earth with drones and satellites and missiles, we have gotten to the point where we can destroy cities, kill people, wreak havoc without even endangering anyone from whatever side we are on. With the risk of loss of life minimal, the judgments we make relating to military decisions maybe altered. This episode really hits on a nerve here regarding this.
The one thing I will quibble with on this episode is the look and speech of the Eminiar. There is nothing differentiating them from your standard North American earthlings. This might be initial on the writers part, forcing us to look into a mirror at our potential selves as a race but I think they should have done something to show the differences between the two species. Anything would have done; a few strange bumps or lines, a weird speech pattern. Oh well... I suppose we are meant to focus on the plot line so it is effective in that regard.
I think this is a bit of an overlooked episode that any fan of Star Trek needs to see.
Look same as humans
How kirk takes over room
Like concept that dehumanizing war unfortunately causes it to be more palatable and acceptable
In "A Taste of Armageddon", the crew of the Enterprise (along with a Federation ambassador) attempt to make contact and open diplomatic channels with a previously isolated race known as the Eminiar. But the Enterprise soon finds themselves in the middle of a 500 year old war that has "advanced" to the point where all warfare is done via computers and members of each society die painless deaths based upon the strategic algorithms of the online chess match being waged. When the crew is asked to sacrifice their lives in the name of the war, Captain Kirk must figure out how to escape from their grasp and put a stop to this madness.
I love the concept of this episode: that at some point, we get so technologically advanced and war becomes so dehumanized that it becomes almost palatable and more acceptable to allow it to go on since the main detriment of war (the sufferings of humanity) is no longer involved in the war itself. With this inconvenience out of the way, war is liable to go on for centuries.
We never find out what started this war, we never meet or see the opposition, we don't even know why "peace as impossible" as Anan 7 continues to tell us. All we know is that this civilization has reached a point where they've dehumanized their wars and disagreements so much they have almost dehumanized themselves. The writers purposefully place all the emphasis on this notion because they do not want to distract us with trifling details. On this planet, war is now the norm and it is structured and orderly. This is a scary thought. As technology improves here on earth with drones and satellites and missiles, we have gotten to the point where we can destroy cities, kill people, wreak havoc without even endangering anyone from whatever side we are on. With the risk of loss of life minimal, the judgments we make relating to military decisions maybe altered. This episode really hits on a nerve here regarding this.
The one thing I will quibble with on this episode is the look and speech of the Eminiar. There is nothing differentiating them from your standard North American earthlings. This might be initial on the writers part, forcing us to look into a mirror at our potential selves as a race but I think they should have done something to show the differences between the two species. Anything would have done; a few strange bumps or lines, a weird speech pattern. Oh well... I suppose we are meant to focus on the plot line so it is effective in that regard.
I think this is a bit of an overlooked episode that any fan of Star Trek needs to see.