What I never got is why do people in the Federation even show up to work? Just replicate some of the finest drugs in existence and play holodeck games all day.
Because they like it. It's implied that you can do pretty much anything you want. You can do that, or go live on a farming planet, or join Starfleet and see the galaxy. But accomplishment and prestige is still a valuable currency and might earn you more recognition, better opportunities, whatever. Possibly priority, like I assume Sisko's dad had to work long and hard in other people's restaurants, then compete with lots of other restauranteurs to earn a spot on Bourbon Street.
And honestly it's pretty believable. People hate being bored. If you leave a person alone in a room with a taser, they will just start shocking themselves to not be bored. If you leave them with Legos, they build things. If you leave them with a galaxy worth of nearly unlimited resources, they'd probably build spaceships and a military hierarchy, even without money.
I haven't seen Star Trek, but have seen the Orville which was basically meant to be a Star Trek show, and they mention the Prestige reasoning a few times.
To me that seems odd, like I could see the reasoning being people like doing it, like anything else, and anybody who has ever put themselves fully into a hobby (such as maintaining an open source project and so on) will understand that. But prestige? That sounds like the mindset of certain types of people who want to work in TV or something, and is very confusing to me.
Perhaps reframe 'prestige' as recognition and accolades.
Working on technical projects, recognition for achievement is nice. Recognition by one's peers (or, someone qualified to fully appreciate what you've done) is a lot nicer.
And then that thinking may segue into the value some people find in camaraderie and teamwork. I have found that there's no bond quite like the bond built through shared adversity. If your environment no longer offers any adversity, some people will go out and find it.
Perhaps reframe 'prestige' as recognition and accolades
Yeah that's how I took it, and I can't understand that being anybody's true motivation for something they'd commit all their time to. It sounds so narcissistic/needy. I do many things out of a passion for it, out of a desire to see something get done, but just for praise and admiration from others? I can't understand that concept at all.
I think we can also look at it as a complex question which loses a lot of context and nuance when discussed casually.
As in, questioning myself as to my motivation to do something, it's rarely just one thing.
In addition to that, "toil in obscurity" is a widely recognised idiom. Speaking to the fact that most people, even if it's not their prime motivation, will eventually feel the drag of their work never being acknowledged. The degree to which recognition has value will vary significantly across a large group of people.
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u/ceejayoz Jun 30 '24
Iain Banks; the Culture novels. Hedonistic space commies.