David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Ph.D. Human Science (Saybrook University, 2016), vegetarian ecofeminist (#vegan and #libertariansocialist) scholar, #anticapitalist. Disgusted by Republicans, furious at the Democrats.
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David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•I was giving Enterprise another chance, and even Archer was starting to grow on me in season 2. Then season 3 happened and he became a war criminal.
1·5 个月前I agree with this in Voyager, a show I was never very impressed by anyway. She emerged as a much stronger character in Picard, however.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•I watch the first Star Trek Discovery episode, I didn't like it.
1·6 个月前@Akuchimoya An argument that The Original Series ( #TOS ) was largely about a relationship between James Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy would not be hard to make.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Podcast Discussion | Star Trek: Khan | 1x08 "Original Sin"
1·7 个月前The chronology here is a bit backwards. The reason James Kirk marooned Khan is that Khan was plainly too dangerous a psychopath to transport back to a mental health facility.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Is Star Trek Discovery that bad?
1·8 个月前@Corgana People fawned over her because she was a loving character who did great. That greatness emerged from her redemption and would have been lost to whatever the Federation’s idea of a prison cell in the 23rd century otherwise.
I’ve been on social media for a while and I have to say, this has all the hallmarks of a flame war. So this is all I’m going to have to say on the matter. You can throw darts at her photograph on your own wall.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Is Star Trek Discovery that bad?
11·8 个月前@Corgana That’s what redemption is about. It’s recognizing that even the greatest among us make mistakes and can still be great.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Is Star Trek Discovery that bad?
11·8 个月前@Corgana she did redeem herself.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Risa@startrek.website•But also, the correct answer is Devil's Due
6·8 个月前Star Trek also assumes a truly post-scarcity society in which capitalism plays, at most, a small part.
One of the problems we face in assessing human potential is that we pretty much only know of humans since the Neolithic, when authority and wealth became increasingly centralized. In the Star Trek universe, while authority remains hierarchical and highly centralized, economic inequality is somewhat diminished. These are different sets of social premises and the outcomes might vary.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Star Trek: Scouts ☄️🖖🪐 | Official Trailer | Nick Jr.
2·9 个月前Yeah, this’ll be a hard pass for me too.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Cast On How Series Was Last Hurrah For “Boys Club” TV Before Me Too Movement
51·9 个月前@ValueSubtracted I recall noticing the sexism on Enterprise. I don’t recall noticing it on Voyager, which had two strong female characters. But I’m an old man raised in a more chauvinistic era–I might not notice.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Cast On How Series Was Last Hurrah For “Boys Club” TV Before Me Too Movement
93·9 个月前By such standards, the Original Series (#TOS) seems positively regressive. I don’t mean to defend this, but I’m guessing that, at the time, it was perceived that Enterprise needed to fit into that regression.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•What to watch next after ST: Voyager?
2·10 个月前@usernamefactory I did manage to watch it all the way through, but I wouldn’t watch it again. Some of it is just too relentlessly horrific and it didn’t actually become interesting until the final few episodes before they cancelled it.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x03 "Shuttle to Kenfori"
5·10 个月前@dethstrobe this M’Benga fellow seems like the most interesting character of the lot, with a backstory we’ve only seen bits and pieces of. It’s a shame Paramount will probably kill off its Star Trek franchise before we see more of it.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•If the kids didn't mutiny, would Picard have been killed when the turbolift fell?
1·2 年前It wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t know off hand whether The Expanse was based on a book series.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•If the kids didn't mutiny, would Picard have been killed when the turbolift fell?
1·2 年前It’s an interesting show, but make sure you’ve got good sound: I found the accents difficult to parse without it. The series was abruptly terminated, so don’t expect a neat ending.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•If the kids didn't mutiny, would Picard have been killed when the turbolift fell?
2·2 年前It’s an interesting show, but make sure you’ve got good sound: I found the accents difficult to parse without it. The series was abruptly terminated, so don’t expect a neat ending.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Production Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3, ‘Section 31’ Movie Starts In January
5·2 年前I liked #DS9. It wasn’t just one big happy Starfleet crew. The interplay was infinitely more interesting for it.
By contrast, I hated #Voyager because even though there should have been tension between the combined Starfleet and Maquis crews, they ruthlessly and relentlessly suppressed even the slightest appearance of it. Also, I didn’t think much of Kathryn Janeway’s philosophy.
But for these very reasons, most fans seemed to love Voyager and hate DS9.
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@infosec.exchangeto
Star Trek Social Club@startrek.website•Lower Decks: Can anyone tell me what I'm missing?
83·2 年前Not just humor, but a particularly cynical humor. And yes, I think you have a point: To laugh, you need to be able to laugh at hubris and incompetence.
I turn to #StarTrek because I have encountered these attributes all too often in a real life that much more resembles the hell that Guinan described to Jean-Luc Picard when the crew traveled back in time to keep one of his ancestors on track to launch on a space exploration than not. It just isn’t funny to me because I have suffered these attributes my entire life and what #LowerDecks captures is but the palest, most faintly visible shadow of it.
I turn to #StarTrek because I’m desperate for something better.

@buerviper Excellent point. The contrast with Counselor Troi on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise in The Next Generation (#TNG ) is stark.