“Empathy is a hallmark of our people” – R’ongovian delegate to Captain Pike of the Starship Enterprise
How do you define empathy? Wordnik defines empathy is: “ The ability to identify with or understand another’s situation or feelings”.
If the writers of “Star Trek Strange New Worlds” wanted to present a lesson about empathy, how would they do it? The answer is found in Season 1, episode 5. In this episode, three stories are told simultaneously and masterfully: in this pre-James T. Kirk prequel, a young Spock is having relationship problems with his fiancée T’Ping, No. 1 officer Una Chin-Riley and security chief La’an Noonien-Singh are trying to understand their crew’s behavior, and Captain Pike acts as a diplomat to the R’ongovians in important negotiations over boundaries and dealing with the Klingons, a hostile neighboring empire.
Spock and his fiancée T’Ping: For those of you who have followed Star Trek for all or part of its fifty years, Spock is half Vulcan and half human. Vulcans are known for their logic while humans tend to be far more emotional. Spock struggles with these competing tendencies. T’Ping, a full Vulcan, is concerned with their relationship because she sees that Spock’s sense of duty often takes priority over his relationship with her.
In order to resolve this conflict, they perform a Vulcan ritual that melds their minds. Spock now inhabits T’Ping’s body and T’Ping inhabits his body, except they get stuck. Each has to carry out the other’s duties. T’Ping has to act as the diplomat helping Pike negotiate with the R’ongovians, while Spock has to track down a rebel Vulcan criminal and arrest him.
Through this experience they see the world and the perceptions of the other, gaining a deeper understanding of each other in the process. The ship’s medical officer returns the two Vulcans to their original bodies, and the mind meld is reversed.
Una and La’an: No. 1 discovers that she is viewed by her crew as a person to go to “where fun goes to die”. She and her friend La’an have a security breach in an elevator. Phasers drawn, the two officers encounter two of the crew who are involved in some kind of scavenger hunt called “Enterprise Bingo”. Curious about what their crew is thinking, they find the list of tasks for this hunt which they also complete.
In doing so, they come to see how their crew sees them, giving them both a deeper insight into themselves as they carry out their duties as Starfleet officers.
Captain Pike and the R’ongovians: A Star Fleet Admiral is using the Enterprise, Captain Pike, and science officer Spock to negotiate a treaty with the R’ongovians over a part of the universe that borders with the Klingon and Romulan Empires, hostile and war-like neighbors. The R’ongovians are unpredictable, first demanding to talk only with Pike, and then only with Spock, who is actually T’Ping in Spock’s body.
Pike figures out how to deal with them by being honest, bluntly telling the R’ongovians what their fears and concerns are about the Federation, and whether the R’ongovians can trust the Federation. The R’ongovians then return to their ancient, ceremonial solar sailing ship, raising the Federation banner. With this symbol they demonstrated that they trusted the Federation..
As the R’ongovian diplomat stated at the beginning of the negotiations, “empathy is a hallmark of our people, few people understand that.” Pike’s approach showed that he and the Federation possessed that empathy; they gave to the R’ongovians what the R’ongovians wanted the most. Thus, a deal was struck.
The Star Trek writers cleverly melded three stories to teach their viewers how to become empathetic. With empathy comes connections, deepened trust, and long-lasting relationships: These skills are required to see the other person’s world through their eyes, engaging in what others find entertaining to gain insight, and speaking empathetically to the feelings and fears of others.
Star Trek may be science fiction, but the show allows us all to imagine a better world through positive behaviors that benefit the whole human race —“to go where no one has gone before”. It makes me wonder if President Putin could do with a mind meld to teach him a little empathy for the Ukrainians.
