"Where No One Has Gone Before" (Episode 5, Season 1, Air Date 10/26/87, Stardate 41263.1) engages us in a fantastic journey across the universe and beyond, plus it ponders metaphysical questions of the basis of reality and introduces a new power source -- thought power. Near the end of the episode the characters wonder whether the events were like magic or like a sleigh ride! The episode is memorable and thought provoking, but it mixes a few exotic ideas to make a unique story-brew.
The Enterprise takes on a propulsion expert, Kosinski (and his assistant), who has a record for dramatically improving efficiencies. Riker, Data, and the chief engineer believe Kosinski is a fraud (they tried his calculations in advance and found no improvement). Deanna Troi adds early mystery since she senses nothing from Kosinski's assistant as if he is like empty space. We later learn that the assistant is an alien life form, trading his knowledge for transportation on starships to observe humans. He is called the Traveler and has the ability to travel through space-time (and deeply understand propulsion, energy, and technology). We learn that Wesley Crusher could also have these capacities in time.
The Traveler finds Wesley fascinating since he sees the signs of Traveler type abilities and knowledge in him. During propulsion testing, the Traveler phases in and out of 'our' time or reality and loses control of his powers while looking at Wesley (lost in thought), setting off an accidental burst of speed. The ship hurls across the universe past warp 10 and off our scales of measurement (going 2.7 million miles to M-33).
Kosinski is extremely self confident and conceited. He assures Picard he will just do what he did before to take the Enterprise back. If he can't, then it would take them more than their lifetimes to get back to where they started. But Kosinski is mostly a sham and only his assistant can get them back home. The Traveler tries to get them home, but he is so tired he loses control again and propels the Enterprise to 'where no one has gone before', at least, where no human has gone before. The essence of the new place is thought, so some thoughts a person thinks, can become reality. Wow, what an interesting place! If I could go there, I would create elephants that fly and unicorns that shoot ectoplasm out of their horns! I like the graphics of this odd new dimension or reality (that the Traveler takes them on the second burst of speed).
I'll leave the rest of the plot alone to avoid major spoilers, but the episode includes several other ideas I enjoyed:
(1) Wesley and the Traveler discuss the possibility that space-time and thought 'aren't the separate things they appear to be'. The Traveler asserts that thought is the basis of all reality, that it acts as a propulsive energy, and that knowledge of time, propulsion, and technology gives the Traveler (or Wesley in the future) power to travel to other realities, such as the thought dimension. These are perhaps dangerous thoughts since thoughts have power and our clumsy human minds are not ready to use such power. Like Yoda, the Traveler says we must learn control first.
(2) I like the idea of needing to learn to control our thoughts. It would be interesting if the writers had applied these powers to Data. Data would have more control over his thoughts, unless his neural net is as messy as a human mind. Perhaps humans could control our thoughts better with the help of technology, but it doesn't seem likely we could control them better just by thinking really hard. We would need to evolve better mental faculties first.
(3) One other of the Traveler's ideas has philosophical parallels to panpsychism though, which is the idea that intelligence exists all through nature. David Chalmers even argues that consciousness should be considered a basic property of physics akin to space-time ('The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory'). Galen Strawson argues that panpsychism follows from scientific premises ('Consciousness and Its Place in Nature: Does Physicalism Entail Panpsychism?'). These are not popular views, but popularity doesn't entail truth.
(4) However, panpsychism doesn't usually involve the idea that our thoughts can propel us through space-time, nor magically help a genius understand propulsion and technology. In fact, most contemporary physicists tend to avoid the old Einsteinian way of doing physics with thought experiments and thinking by himself ('The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality'). And no one has good reason to believe in a thought dimension or thought power. So this idea seems more like magic: train your mind and you will gain power over space, time, and acceleration!
(5) Is Picard's mother a projected memory or a memory embedded in reality? Or is she just Picard's version of her? Is she really 'always with him'? I thought of the movie 'Solaris' here.
(6) The Traveler uses and focuses other human thoughts to intensify his power.
(7) Humans have not been interesting enough to warrant investigation from a Traveler until recently.
(8) Wesley becomes an acting ensign to set him on the Traveler path.
(9) Excitement for scientific discovery runs high (new proto-stars are forming, new thought worlds exist right outside), but safety and getting home takes precedence.
Some later episodes bring back the Traveler ('Journey's End') and panpsychism (such as in 'Haven').
Panpsychism and thought powers aren't clearly stated in the episode and seem more like a sleigh ride as Geordi suggests. Maybe it's Star Trek's way of getting around the illegitimacy of ESP in today's scientific world. But this episode was so fantastical, and mixed enough with scientific excitement for new discoveries, that it solidly held my interest.
The Enterprise takes on a propulsion expert, Kosinski (and his assistant), who has a record for dramatically improving efficiencies. Riker, Data, and the chief engineer believe Kosinski is a fraud (they tried his calculations in advance and found no improvement). Deanna Troi adds early mystery since she senses nothing from Kosinski's assistant as if he is like empty space. We later learn that the assistant is an alien life form, trading his knowledge for transportation on starships to observe humans. He is called the Traveler and has the ability to travel through space-time (and deeply understand propulsion, energy, and technology). We learn that Wesley Crusher could also have these capacities in time.
The Traveler finds Wesley fascinating since he sees the signs of Traveler type abilities and knowledge in him. During propulsion testing, the Traveler phases in and out of 'our' time or reality and loses control of his powers while looking at Wesley (lost in thought), setting off an accidental burst of speed. The ship hurls across the universe past warp 10 and off our scales of measurement (going 2.7 million miles to M-33).
Kosinski is extremely self confident and conceited. He assures Picard he will just do what he did before to take the Enterprise back. If he can't, then it would take them more than their lifetimes to get back to where they started. But Kosinski is mostly a sham and only his assistant can get them back home. The Traveler tries to get them home, but he is so tired he loses control again and propels the Enterprise to 'where no one has gone before', at least, where no human has gone before. The essence of the new place is thought, so some thoughts a person thinks, can become reality. Wow, what an interesting place! If I could go there, I would create elephants that fly and unicorns that shoot ectoplasm out of their horns! I like the graphics of this odd new dimension or reality (that the Traveler takes them on the second burst of speed).
I'll leave the rest of the plot alone to avoid major spoilers, but the episode includes several other ideas I enjoyed:
(1) Wesley and the Traveler discuss the possibility that space-time and thought 'aren't the separate things they appear to be'. The Traveler asserts that thought is the basis of all reality, that it acts as a propulsive energy, and that knowledge of time, propulsion, and technology gives the Traveler (or Wesley in the future) power to travel to other realities, such as the thought dimension. These are perhaps dangerous thoughts since thoughts have power and our clumsy human minds are not ready to use such power. Like Yoda, the Traveler says we must learn control first.
(2) I like the idea of needing to learn to control our thoughts. It would be interesting if the writers had applied these powers to Data. Data would have more control over his thoughts, unless his neural net is as messy as a human mind. Perhaps humans could control our thoughts better with the help of technology, but it doesn't seem likely we could control them better just by thinking really hard. We would need to evolve better mental faculties first.
(3) One other of the Traveler's ideas has philosophical parallels to panpsychism though, which is the idea that intelligence exists all through nature. David Chalmers even argues that consciousness should be considered a basic property of physics akin to space-time ('The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory'). Galen Strawson argues that panpsychism follows from scientific premises ('Consciousness and Its Place in Nature: Does Physicalism Entail Panpsychism?'). These are not popular views, but popularity doesn't entail truth.
(4) However, panpsychism doesn't usually involve the idea that our thoughts can propel us through space-time, nor magically help a genius understand propulsion and technology. In fact, most contemporary physicists tend to avoid the old Einsteinian way of doing physics with thought experiments and thinking by himself ('The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality'). And no one has good reason to believe in a thought dimension or thought power. So this idea seems more like magic: train your mind and you will gain power over space, time, and acceleration!
(5) Is Picard's mother a projected memory or a memory embedded in reality? Or is she just Picard's version of her? Is she really 'always with him'? I thought of the movie 'Solaris' here.
(6) The Traveler uses and focuses other human thoughts to intensify his power.
(7) Humans have not been interesting enough to warrant investigation from a Traveler until recently.
(8) Wesley becomes an acting ensign to set him on the Traveler path.
(9) Excitement for scientific discovery runs high (new proto-stars are forming, new thought worlds exist right outside), but safety and getting home takes precedence.
Some later episodes bring back the Traveler ('Journey's End') and panpsychism (such as in 'Haven').
Panpsychism and thought powers aren't clearly stated in the episode and seem more like a sleigh ride as Geordi suggests. Maybe it's Star Trek's way of getting around the illegitimacy of ESP in today's scientific world. But this episode was so fantastical, and mixed enough with scientific excitement for new discoveries, that it solidly held my interest.