Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek: Lower Decks#3!
TheStar Trekfranchise is known for its trademark “techno-babble,” and now Starfleet is tackling the problem.Star Trekis science fiction, and while it is “made up,” it also tries to keep one foot planted in reality, and its “techno-babble” is one way it accomplishes this trick. Now, inStar Trek: Lower Decks#3,fans learn there is an entire branch of Starfleet devoted to cutting through techno-babble.
Ryan North’s work onStar Trek: Day of Blood: Shaxs' Best Day,alongside artist Derek Charm, was nominated for an Eisner.
Star Trek: Lower Decks#3 is written by Ryan North and drawn by Jack Lawrence. TheCerritoshave encountered an odd interstellar phenomenon, and in order to help her crew better understand what they are facing, Captain Freeman pulls up an informative video, made by Starfleet, explaining the concept in simple language. The clip was made by the Starfleet Corps of Rhetoric Engineers, a branch of the service incorporated early in the organization’s history. This branch,according to a footnote, creates: “easy to understand metaphors for weird space stuff.”
Star Trek’sTechno-Babble Problem, Explained
The Techno-Babble Began withStar Trek: The Next Generation, And Has Never Let Up
Techno-babble was invented as a way of ensuring explanations given for these phenomena sounded plausible and grounded in “real world” science.
Star Trek’stechno-babble has become a franchise trope,and numerous jokes and gags about it can be found online. Starfleet regularly encounters a wide variety of space phenomena, some of which stretch the boundaries of scientific knowledge. Techno-babble was invented as a way of ensuring explanations given for these phenomena sounded plausible and grounded in “real world” science. WhileStar Trekalways tries to keep one foot in reality, many of the techno-babble concepts introduced in the show were made up by the writing staff. “Baronic” particles might be real, but conducting a “sweep” for them is clearly science fiction.
Star Trek’s New Planet Is a True Gift to Fans: See It Now
The Star Trek universe is full of exotic and breathtaking planets, and now in a preview for Lower Decks #3, fans see a new one with a cool gimmick.
Despite its pervasiveness in theStar Trekfranchise today, techno-babble did not become part of the franchise until the era ofThe Next Generation.Deep Space Nine, VoyagerandEnterpriseall featured techno-babble as well. By the timeEnterprisepremiered in 2001, the franchise’s excessive use of techno-babble was coming under fire from fans, who felt it was being overused. Fans believed the writers were becoming way too reliant on it to solve the problems the crew faced week after week. The overuse of techno-babble was seen as a sign of the franchise’s decline in the early 2000s as well.
Starfleet’s Rhetoric Corps Is A Unique Organization, Even For Starfleet
Starfleet’s Rhetoric Corps Also FurthersStar Trek’sValues of Inclusivity
Thenewly-revealed Starfleet Corps of Rhetoric Engineers has arrived to seemingly solve the techno-babble problem.Star Trek: Lower Decks#3 revealed the Corps of Rhetoric Engineers is one of Starfleet’s oldest divisions, having been founded in 2156. This date places the branch’s incorporationbefore the founding of the United Federation of Planets, when Starfleet was still an Earth-only organization. This shows that, even then, Starfleet saw the need for people who could traverse the frontiers of science and report it back to the laity in a clear and easy to understand language.
It also shows Starfleet is willing to employ rhetoricians, a job not traditionally associated with an organization that seems more content with diplomats, soldiers and scientists.
Given the pervasiveness of techno-babble in theStar Trekfranchise, it is unclear whether the Starfleet Corps of Rhetoric Engineers are truly effective at their job,but the division’s existence reinforces the Utopian nature of the Federation.The Rhetoric Engineers ensure accessibility to complex information for everyone. The information the Rhetoric Engineers traffic in could potentially save lives, making their jobs highly important to thesafety of the Federation. It also shows Starfleet is willing to employ rhetoricians, a job not traditionally associated with an organization that seems more content with diplomats, soldiers and scientists.
Star Trek: Lower Decks#3 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!
