After Janeway meets a handsome man who looks exactly like her type in one of Tom's boring holo-simulations, she quickly realizes that he is too ordinary and apparently too stupid and unread for her. So she quickly reprograms this character to not only put him intellectually on her own level, but also to create him visually more to her own liking (Janeway's Pygmalion moment). She even deletes his wife, who Tom programmed for him. And at the next interlude, this now educated man sits on a bench on the train platform and is lost in reading poetry. After just a minute, both of them are completely in love with each other and would like to spend the rest of their lives together - but I didn't notice any real chemistry between them. Especially since Janeway created her dream man herself, so to speak, and as a result he has no will of his own.
Anyway, I'm surprised that Star Trek always shows the holodeck as a happy place to pass the time. If you're honest, most people would take advantage of such an opportunity to live out their physical needs and indulge in the wildest orgies. Essentially, for many people, the holodeck would be more like a large virtual house of pleasure. This was brought to the point in the episode "Primal Urges" of the series "The Orville" when Bortus does exactly that. But Star Trek only ever shows us these intellectually and morally highly developed people who have left such desires behind. Even though it's not shown in this episode, it's still clear that Janeway didn't just listen to poems by the lake with her new dream man...
However, I doubt that people would fall in love with holograms all the time. In the end it's like a computer game that you play with cheat codes. It's fun at first, but then it becomes boring because it's no longer a challenge. If you know that this holographic person is not real and that they are what you want them to be, then the magic is gone, the mystery is gone. Later, Janeway herself struggles with exactly this fact. Even the smallest disturbing feature that would destroy her perfect illusion of a partner could be eliminated in no time with a computer command.
And why is it that everyone is always interested in such absolutely boring holoworlds like Ireland in a 19th century setting? People would rather throw themselves into exciting party nights in a glittering futuristic metropolis with bars, gambling, bombastic music shows and lots of distraction and variety. Instead, they bore themselves to death with ring tossing and church sermons in a sleepy Irish town full of hillbillies. And why are the streets of this small town so clean if the only means of transportation there is horses? The streets must be full of horse manure!
Anyway, I'm surprised that Star Trek always shows the holodeck as a happy place to pass the time. If you're honest, most people would take advantage of such an opportunity to live out their physical needs and indulge in the wildest orgies. Essentially, for many people, the holodeck would be more like a large virtual house of pleasure. This was brought to the point in the episode "Primal Urges" of the series "The Orville" when Bortus does exactly that. But Star Trek only ever shows us these intellectually and morally highly developed people who have left such desires behind. Even though it's not shown in this episode, it's still clear that Janeway didn't just listen to poems by the lake with her new dream man...
However, I doubt that people would fall in love with holograms all the time. In the end it's like a computer game that you play with cheat codes. It's fun at first, but then it becomes boring because it's no longer a challenge. If you know that this holographic person is not real and that they are what you want them to be, then the magic is gone, the mystery is gone. Later, Janeway herself struggles with exactly this fact. Even the smallest disturbing feature that would destroy her perfect illusion of a partner could be eliminated in no time with a computer command.
And why is it that everyone is always interested in such absolutely boring holoworlds like Ireland in a 19th century setting? People would rather throw themselves into exciting party nights in a glittering futuristic metropolis with bars, gambling, bombastic music shows and lots of distraction and variety. Instead, they bore themselves to death with ring tossing and church sermons in a sleepy Irish town full of hillbillies. And why are the streets of this small town so clean if the only means of transportation there is horses? The streets must be full of horse manure!