I am reposting what I wrote in the about section here in attempt to encourage others not to only write when they can pretend to be making a career out of it. This message is especially to researchers who I feel should open up everything they do as Open Access. We are seeing more and…
Posts By
Richard J Tilley
Complaint Memo: Star Trek and Climate Change – Ways to Improve
These are just a few short notes that I already made elsewhere. Given time I will elaborate on them more completely, perhaps even individually, but I thought I should post this memo here as well. In the Star Trek universe we learn in the Voyager episode, “Future’s End” (part 1), that most of Los Angeles…
The Ethics of Waiting: Babylon 5’s “Mind War” and Star Trek: Voyager’s “The Gift”
The Star Trek: Voyager episode, “The Gift,” (1997) was clearly largely influenced from the Babylon 5 episode, “Mind War” (1994). In both episodes there is a.) the build-up/evolution of psychic abilities, b.) the damage to the ship/station through those abilities, and c.) a parting gift. The formula is too exact to be an accident. Aside…
Anti-Utopian Leadership
What is clear is that utopian science fiction offers us insights into what can be, and dystopian science fiction presents the most abysmal than can or is likely to come to pass. There is a third pillar I would refer to as anti-utopian. Anti-utopian, like to previous two pillars just mentioned, again, focuses on what…
When the Sky is Beautiful Again, Always
I want to return to my post, “Solarpunk and Vestiges of the Ascetic.” My primary point, which I believe I failed to communicate is the suffering required to attain the transcendent moment, to meet that clarity, is flawed. What I intended to say is that we should not suffer for a moment of enlightenment. To…
Cylon Number Six as Savior of the Twelve Colonies
[spoilers ahead] Number Six, portrayed by Tricia Helfer, begins the reboot of Battlestar Galactica as endearingly dedicated to fall of humankind. However, her intimate relationship with Gaius Baltar (of all people) initiates a empathic seeding that starts what we see as a continuously spreading love for humanity. When the Number Eight we come to know…
The Ethical Prism of Sentience in Season Two of Star Trek: Discovery
Sentience is a primary theme throughout season two of Star Trek: Discovery. There is the elemental nature of the crew of Discovery attempting to understand the red signs, or bursts, and Saru finally seeing that the Red Angel is a humanoid. At last they know for certain there is meaning and design behind the signs…
Without Capitalism Rain Robinson Would Still Be An Astronomer
Lysella: So Wait. If nobody has to have a job then why do you guys all work? Cmdr. Kelly Grayson: The right work can be satisfying for other reasons besides compensation. It’s funny. With all the technology and all the different alien cultures this is still the part that newcomers always have the hardest time…
Father Figures in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 and the Knowing of Our Shared Responsibilities
Avery Brooks said on a number of occasions that he accepted the role of Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because of the depiction of the ever-present father figure that Sisko represented in the series. Benjamin’s relationship with Jake, his son, was repeatedly emphasized as the most important thing to Sisko. In many…
Attraction to Light: Light as Communication and Imagined Evolution
In the Babylon 5 season 4 episode, “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars,” (1997) we are given a possible image that takes place a million years into the future where humans have evolved into beings of light. They have not forgotten the trials of the Babylon 5 station or its crew. This light is a regular…