It's Official #where no man has gone before

[meegannie]

I'm reading a book on the philosophy of history and the idea of historical progress, and there's a quote from Star Trek in it.

"Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet." -- Captain James T. Kirk, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country



I am highly amused by the fact that Star Trek is an academically valid source, apparently.

 

[bayernfc]

Maybe it's just me, but that quote doesn't make any sense!!

 

[meegannie]

It's in reference to Francis Fukuyama's claim that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War would mark the definitive triumph of liberal capitalism and that war is based on conflicting ideologies and conflict is an essential element in the progress of history (drawing from Hegel's dialectic). So since there would be no serious competitors to the system of a capitalist democracy, history will have achieved its goal.

I need sleep.

 

[Basstrap]

oh sweet history courses, how I miss thee

*makes out with useless arts degree*

 

[ABEL]

live long and prosper

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

i cringe at any serious nonfiction book that makes movie references, especially Christian self-help books...

Postmodernism: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism... it's sitting on the shelf. But I haven't read the whole thing, except a part of it in college.

 

[Screaming Flower]

*makes out with useless arts degree*

 

[jkayet]

*makes out with useless arts degree*

give me another. please.

 

[PennyPyro]

Star Trek is a source of some really great quotes, if you ask me.

"Let us now redefine progress: just because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily follow that we must do that thing"
(from the same movie)

 

[Bonochick]

I saw the word "history", and then I stopped reading.

 

[Ody]

maybe Star Trek is just being Cited as a kind of "Common opinion" on the purpose oh history.

Although the whole notion of "history having a goal" seems stange to me. The disCipline of history seems like it should have goals, but not history as a past series of events.

And the disCipline of history wouldn't Change (neCCessarily) if Capitalism won out. We Can still learn other lessons other than eConomiC ones (unless we buy into the Marxist assumption that everthing boils down to eConomiCs).

But enough about that...

I wanted to type a long message to see the C phenomena at work.

 

[zoney!]

I suck at spelling, but this is kinda fun....

NeCessarily only needs one Capital "C"

 

[Ody]

true.

in retrospeCt, the two Cs make it stand out more. This does not make it less wrong, however.

 

[nbcrusader]

It's the philosophy of history - making sense is not a requirement....

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Fukuyama

I had a lecturer who quoted him about forty-three times in every lecture he gave. He also used to quote Samuel Huntingdon (sp?) at least once a week.

I didn't like that class so much.

 

[JessicaAnn]

This thread requires too much thought

 

[beli]

Im still getting over the fact someone is permitted to refer to 'Star Trek' as 'Star Trek'. Its 'Boys and Girls in Space' according to my three year old and any suggestion otherwise requires a full screaming tantrum so loud that it drowns out 'Boys and Girls in Space'. So we give in.......

 

[meegannie]

I had a friend in college who said that she used to think "The Beverly Hillbillies" was called "The Heavenly Billies" when she was little.

 

[beli]

And then there the classic Bowie song 'Suffer Jet City'. I never could work out why the aeroplanes were suffering.

Interuption: My husband just asked if I was on the 'U2 Looneys Page' again.

 

[zoney!]

Interuption: My husband just asked if I was on the 'U2 Looneys Page' again.

He catches on quick!

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

that's all folks.

 

[zoney!]

YERTLE

 

[JessicaAnn]

Interuption: My husband just asked if I was on the 'U2 Looneys Page' again.

Darn right this is the loony bin!

 

[Screaming Flower]

that's all folks.

yertle