"The smell of the Deep Space 3 comedy club is highly unpleasant and I do not care for this human concept of the 'two drink minimum,' but my feigned laughter seemed to please the Tellarite ambassador, which I feel will improve our chances in the grain shipment negotiations."
Not to this level obviously, but there basically was a character like this in Enterprise. She was T'Pol's hero, and shocked the crew of the Enterprise by being friendly, shaking hands, and wanting to try their food
Season 1, episode 23, "Fallen Hero", in case anyone was wondering.
Inversely there's the one where Will Riker in TNG does this like a Klingon exchange student and absolutely kills it! He apparently makes for a top shelf Klingon.
It's just the Star Fleet approach in pretty much every situation. They're always the ones to make the accomodations
So kind of like high functioning autistics IRL. Cool.
That basically sounds like me at a party lol.
Thank you for your service to the empire
Same and everyday of my life at work.
"So... Linda. How did Tim do at his first day at school?"
Inside voice: I could give a flaming shit about your crotch goblin. I just don't want to be outted as an emotionless lizard person. Please Satan make this a quick story, so I can go back to my soul crushing labor.
It is logical to behave illogically when doing so will accomplish your goals.
It's called masking. Rbf mode is real. A lifetime of neurodivergence can make you pretty good at parties.
Conclusion, Vulcans are just autistic.
People often ask me if I'm pissed off or if everything is okay if they catch me unawares.
Like no I just didn't see you there and couldn't get my face ready in time.
My wife has several immediate and extended family members on the spectrum and she still tells me things like "I don't know why you say you don't like parties, you did great and looked like you had a fantastic time"
Apparently "you were all SUPPOSED to think that" is not the correct response.
That actually is quite logical.
I think any Vulcan would agree. It just makes sense to mirror the energy of your counterparts at a gathering. Even if you don't understand why they're doing something, you participating includes you in things. Being passive and externally emotionless sets you apart as "other". Being vulcans, they would likely desire to know why, and would do their research.
I imagine alien-facing industries would have a whole section of their organization dedicated to studying alien socialization so they can be ready at interspecies functions.
Anything less would be illogical.
Now the real question is whether these vulcans who mix "too heavily" will end up becoming "less Vulcan-y" over time, or if other vulcans would treat them differently by default just because they're "tainted". We've seen how.... Particular.... Vulcans can be about the slightest divergence from "standard".
SPOCK: Captain, I believe you have made the right decision. If I can be of assistance, I would be happy to accompany you on the away team.
KIRK: You? Happy?
SPOCK: I was simply attempting to use your vernacular to convey an idea.
KIRK: Thank you, Mister Spock.
Human Diplomat: *Laughs at joke.*
Vulcan Diplomat (To Himself): This is great. I’m going to get a good grade in Party, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.
https://toast-the-unknowing.tumblr.com/post/737885534519738368/
Sooo an accurate representation of my life with Adult Autism?
When Game Theory moves on to Party Theory
John Nash style Vulcan attempting to get everyone on the Enterprise laid so he can leverage their post coital haze to win additional diplomatic concessions.
As someone who's leaning more towards the introverted side of the specturm this is just what I do at house parties when my social energy for the day has left me, but it's not socially acceptable to go home yet. The longer the night goes on, the more I'll be in the bathroom. Not because I drink so much, but because it's the place where I'll be guaranteed a few minutes to myself where I don't have to keep pretending that I'm enjoying this.
I'm pretty sure my relatives think I have some sort of horrible digestive issue. I spend like 25% of holiday gatherings in the bathroom. I just need a few minutes of dark, quiet, not having to think about what to say or what expression I should be making.
Ive been known to do that. Takes work to be social
"Your joke runs deep... share it with me."
Do most Vulcans not do this due to a feeling of superiority?
No they just see emotions as useless/illogical iirc. They don't see any logic in emotional reactions so they reject them.
Though the more I think about it the more sense it would make for more Vulcans to do this as it would end a lot of the typical misunderstandings and awkward situations.
Actually they are hyper emotional by nature, which has given them a lot of grief (in the form of brutal violence and wars against each other) over the millennia until one guy came up with their philosophy of pragmatic rationality, which as its core element asks vulcans to learn to ritually suppress their emotions.
It isnt so much them considering emotions as useless, more them being very wary of them due to their past, and their philosophy/belief system teaching and emphasizing rational thought as paramount and the highest ideal, and (their) emotions being fundamentally irrational. So they are often a bit miffed when humans for example make obviously emotional decisions.
Trouble of course is if they feign emotion but are not convincing to their hosts they'll alienate people even more than if they just act in their natural Vulcan way
They explored this concept a little with Data in Starship Mine (TNG). But a recurring Vulcan character would be pretty great.
I was writing about how you can brothen the scope and it would keep making sense, however
Data wants to be human
while his does try out human emotions, he actually wants them, and Vulcans actively suppress strong, aggressive, emotions
Feels like this would fit well in Lower Decks, but I don't believe they have any more seasons planned for that unfortunately
The superior AI is a trope not explored enough in pop sci-fi.
spitballing with the fellas on discord
And his name shall be M’Reesu
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