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Trekkie Dating, is it Good for the Gene Pool? 120

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the dangerous-geeks dept.
Eloketh writes "It seems that Tucker Carlson of MSNBC thinks that Internet Dating services are a somewhat disturbing trend. Specifically, when talking about Trekkies, he says 'Is this good for the gene pool?' He also goes on to question whether allowing Trekkies to meet and mate is 'in the national interest.'"
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Trekkie Dating, is it Good for the Gene Pool? More

Trekkie Dating, is it Good for the Gene Pool?

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  • Fortunately... (Score:5, Funny)

    by RoffleTheWaffle ( 916980 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:18AM (#14873383) Journal
    ... pairs of males can't procreate. No, the Star Trek universe does not afford a real work-around for this problem, and procreation and replication via androids just isn't feasible.
    • No, the Star Trek universe does not afford a real work-around for this problem, and procreation and replication via androids just isn't feasible.
      Just get a fucking bow tie from that android Tucker Carlson. :)

    • Re:Fortunately... (Score:5, Funny)

      by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:40AM (#14873449) Journal
      Indeed. I have a Star Trek mystery dinner party game. Requires 4 men and 4 women. Where are you going to get 4 female trekkies? Are there 4 female trekkies?
      • At every trek convention I attended to in Brasil, the m:f ratio is 2:1 and the non-hot-f:hot-f ratio is 5:1

        IOW: A party with 4 female trekkies is EASY.

      • Re:Fortunately... (Score:5, Informative)

        by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @08:51AM (#14874097) Homepage
        Where are you going to get 4 female trekkies? Are there 4 female trekkies?

        You're kidding, right? Trek fandom has always been notable for attracting a significant number of women (especially compared to SF fandom in general or other realms of geekdom). Historically, women have been drawn to Trek by romantically appealing captains, by the ideals of gender equality the shows represented (Uhura may not have done much, but she was a bridge officer), and the community opportunities of fandom itself. The whole genre of "slash" fanfic was invented by female trekkies fantasizing about a Kirk/Spock relationship. Fanfic is also rife with uber-competent "Lt. Mary Sue" characters who win the heart of Kirk or Spock or another character, also obviously written by women. In the TNG era, the DSPSGs (drooling, slobbering, Patrick Stewart groupies) were rampant on CompuServe (and mostly female). To cite a mass-media example, there's the woman who made the news for wearing her Starfleet uniform for jury duty. Whoopi Goldberg finagled herself a part on TNG because she was a fan. I haven't been involved in Trek fandom for a while, so maybe the women have been abandoning it for other more interesting subjects (leaving only the men who refuse to ask for directions), but the notion that female trekkies are some kind of mythical creature is simply incorrect.

        • Yeah. I'm not totally serious. However, serious fandom distorts the figures a little. When I was at University, the girls I knew were either really into Trek, and went to conventions, or they hated it and wouldn't watch it at all. I've met very few girls who just watch the show.

          And I realise I'm playing stereotypes. Our science fiction society was offered free tickets to a Star Trek convention by a TV station. They seemed to lose interest when they found out that the only people who wanted to go wer

        • Whoopi Goldberg finagled herself a part on TNG because she was a fan.

          Sweet, you hear that guys, Whoopi Goldberg is a fan...let the wine flow in celebration!

          I for one am very aroused!

          From the simpsons:

          Man walks up to endless pit with a box containing photos.

          Man: What was I crazy? Who would ever want naked pictures of Whoopi Goldberg.

          Man drops box in hole.

          Hole pushes box back out to man.

        • Then you get into other sci-fi fandoms, like Farscape, where the women seem to outnumber the men.
        • You realize that / can signify or, but it also can mean and? So that could be read as a Kirk AND Spock relationship. Scary.
    • That's OK, because the women that DO come to Trek conventions are mostly, oh how to say this politely:

      Willing.

  • requires IE6 for the 'free' video? (Score:3, Funny)

    by daemious ( 162110 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:18AM (#14873384)
    I really wanted to see Tucker Carlson making an ass out of himself too.

  • Perhaps (Score:2, Funny)

    by grindcorefan ( 959282 )
    ..one should have a look at the Darwin Award statistics. How many Darwin Awards have been given to Trekkies, how many have been given to non-Trekkies? I'm afraid this will come out in favour of the Trekkies. However, that doesn't necessarily say anything. Trekkies are just as useless as non-Trekkies, perhaps just wee bit more able to survive.
  • This article is pretty weak all the way around. Trekkies looking for a wormhole to asexuals looking for a couch mate. All in all, the title is much more interesting than the actual story, much like anything Uwe Boll has directed.
  • I figured that after Jon Stewart emasculated him on Crossfire people would have written the bow tie wearing blowhard off for what he is -- a moron.
    • I don't recall that. Do you have a website / video for reference (today's not my day for google, search results don't turn up much)

      wait... here it is.
      click for links to movies/transcripts [dailykos.com]

      this is great!

    • Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? (Score:5, Funny)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @06:25AM (#14873611)
      I don't understand why he isn't in favor of geeks getting together. More couples and new familes means more taxpayers to try to prop up broken Social Security systems and more young'ns to send into meaningless wars.

      But then maybe he doesn't want them for the intelligence reasons. It's far easier to control a populace made up of idiots.
      • I think he realizes that once we establish our political dominance (by actually, y'know, voting...) that the outdated and broken social security systems (and many other social programs...) are going to get a major reform, along with stamping out what I like to call "legislated morality".

        The major problem I see facing that is that a) many geeks I know don't vote, for reasons I can't explain, and b) many of those same geeks are (like myself) decidedly childfree.
      • My wife has a PhD in astronomy/astrophysics. She's not an uber computer geek, but lives in unix for her work environment, so she has an Apple laptop. She has major addictions in Harry Potter and now Stargate: Atlantis, not to mention renaissance festival fan.

        We met online at a dating site called eMode, now operating under a different name, and were married 18 months later. We have our first anniversary coming up in June, and have yet to have a fight or even cross words.

        And you'll never find Carlson, CNN,

        • We have our first anniversary coming up in June, and have yet to have a fight or even cross words.

          That's not good... You have to fight about something, sometime. I hope the two of you aren't secretly nursing hurt feelings that you won't express in order to "keep the peace". Either that or your wife is a fembot.

    • People listen to and read trolls, sad to say (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ianscot ( 591483 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @09:49AM (#14874338)
      Tucker Carlson and the entire breed of televised "pundits" are little more than trolls. Think John Dvorak. People read them for the same reason this story caught our eye; because their job is to provoke reactions and get "eyeballs" on their show, or reading their column... And here we are, reacting.

      The most interesting aspect of this species of critter is their seemingly complete lack of self-reflection. They've got images -- the bow tie -- but they're entirely externally facing, and seem not to be subject to introspection. It's like the trade requires a sort of obtuseness in that area, to the point where stuff like Jon Stewart reaming him probably got filed away as "People who didn't follow the script" by Carlson.

      Small example of this lack of reflection: Carlson himself has an extremely high "nerd radar" presence for me. He doesn't seem that far from Trekkie country himself. Does he?

      • He has a superficial resemblance to the old "Dilton Doily" nerd stereotype with the bowtie and the big words, and he probably has trouble getting dates, but I don't see any sign of the positive characteristics that make up nerds; the curiousity, the open-mindedness, the indifference to the scorn of mainstream society.
        He is, in fact,the embodiment of the scorn of maintream society.
      • Small example of this lack of reflection: Carlson himself has an extremely high "nerd radar" presence for me. He doesn't seem that far from Trekkie country himself. Does he?

        In terms social polish, no.

        But what makes you think that trekkies don't have self-reflection? It's just that their image is illuminated by an faith in, and optimism about, social progress, what Mr. Carlson would call social engineering. It's no wonder he doesn't want them breeding.

        It's not as if the most extreme, way out there Trekkies
      • That's IT! THAT's the problem with America! Republican commentators are so self-aggrandizing and provocative that they are distracting the people, lowering productivity and raising blood pressures and redirecting potentially positive effort.

        PS: I'm being serious. I think I'm onto something here.

  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bmo ( 77928 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:22AM (#14873395)
    "Editors Zonk and Scuttle Monkey: Are they good for Slashdot or are they better in a white wine sauce?"

    --
    BMO - It is hot here, like a cow on fire

  • How else is a trekkie... (Score:4, Funny)

    by clickety6 ( 141178 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:27AM (#14873408)
    ... supposed to go where no man has gone before?

  • Finally we get a website (Score:5, Funny)

    by juventasone ( 517959 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:50AM (#14873488)
    Unfortunately this site [trekpassions.com] came a little late into my life, for myself, and some of my friends, we had to resort to finding our mates the hard way.. on IRC.

  • The ratio's a bit out of whack there (Score:5, Funny)

    by greg1104 ( 461138 ) <gsmith@gregsmith.com> on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @06:05AM (#14873548) Homepage
    I haven't seen that many men all trying to bang the same woman since the last time I watched...wait, I wasn't supposed to admit to owning that movie. Nevermind.

  • Not sure I understand... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Jugalator ( 259273 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @06:14AM (#14873568) Journal
    What does online dating have to do with "trekkies"? :-/

    At least in the country I live in, online dating services have people from 18 to ~60 with interests ranging from gardening to space science to hair styling...

    Online dating is very accepted and mainstream here. It's just one form of dating along with visiting clubs. Heck, it may even be seen as more hip than that nowadays, because it's more new and "in".
    • I think the point he was trying to make was that online dating allows for more specific matching of interests, thereby allowing hardcore Trekkies to find love together. It's a fair observation no matter how obnoxiously it was made.

  • Bah! (Score:5, Funny)

    by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @06:21AM (#14873600)
    He also goes on to question whether allowing Trekkies to meet and mate is 'in the national interest.

    Wow, what a coincidence! Here I was just wondering if allowing Tucker Carlson to mate was in the national interest.

    • Re:Bah! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @08:59AM (#14874133)

      I believe a good sized portion of the nation have already told him to go mate with himself.

      • He's actually one of the few people in the world arrogant enough to pull it off.

        -Eric

        • Re:Bah! (Score:3, Funny)

          by mph ( 7675 )
          He's actually one of the few people in the world arrogant enough to pull it off.
          I didn't even know you could pull it off. Make it red and sore, sure, but pull it off? Really?
          • I didn't even know you could pull it off

            By neccessity, most Republicans are part machine. The cyborg augmentations are neccessary to replace the organs lost as a result of the black heart's inability to pump adequate blood to the extremities.

            -Eric

  • War on Trekism (Score:5, Funny)

    by my $anity 0 ( 917519 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @06:52AM (#14873710)
    Trekkies are a national security risk. Trekkies are everywhere. I might even be a Trekkie. See, Trekkies tend to believe that people must be tolerant, and progress in science, in order for any aliens to pay serious attention to them. You can see why this isn't in the national interest. The effects were minimized before they started breeding. Luckily, many Trekkies are male, leading to certain problems in mating, and a Trekkie and a `Normal' have a good chance of having a normal child. However, the number of female Trekkies is not decreasing. We must stop this infection of our society.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @07:12AM (#14873768)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I married a Trekkie -- and lived (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Roblimo ( 357 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @07:14AM (#14873774) Homepage Journal
    My wife is a low-level Trekkie; a fan of the series, especially the original, but not one who goes to conventions or wears Trek-based costumes.

    We met before the Internet was open to the public -- the old-fashioned way, in a coffee shop where we were sitting near each other.

    I wasn't aware of her Trekkie tendencies for several months. Finding out about them changed nothing. We (obviously) ended up married anyway.
    • Roblimo, thanks for allowing me to say this:

      <rant>
      I'm a geek, the kind that enjoys writing recursive functions in Lisp, but not one who goes to Linux conventions. I met my girlfriend on MSN (the new-fashioned way ;)

      She wasn't aware of my C++ tendencies for a few weeks, and when I told her, nothing changed and she doesn't mind me reading books about this Java thing. The truth is that she wants me to teach her a few things about programming now, and I want her to teach me a few things she knows so
    • I wasn't aware of her Trekkie tendencies for several months. Finding out about them changed nothing.

      Yes, but you're a geek. If you were a Republican, it would have ended the relationship.

  • Is anyone else scared? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) * on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @08:10AM (#14873945)
    'Is this good for the gene pool?'

    I don't know about other people but statement like that really scare me. We as humans should really stop trying to control our evolution and let nature take its course.
    • I have no problem with insightful and well thought out attempts to control our own gene pool - what I have a problem with is asshats like this guy tossing around "is it good for our gene pool?" based on absolutely nothing but the need to be an attention whore.

    • Weel, I ain'ts too shure 'bout that last statement, guv'nor!

      I mean, judging from what I see on TV on Oprah, Springer and the Brady Bunch, I for one think maybe a teensy bit of positive interference might be in order.

      After all, we've all seen Planet of the Apes, haven't we? ;)

    • Thing is... selection is becoming much easier. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Colin Smith ( 2679 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @09:24AM (#14874230)
      And it's not necessarily good for the human race as a whole.

      Take okcupid for example. Answer 500 muliple choice questions and the statistical grouping algorithm it uses matches you up with well lots of people who answered in a similar manner. You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests. In fact it can be damned near telepathy at times. OK, that's great and getting on with someone is very easy but... As well as the influence of the nurture stuff there are underlying genetic mechanisms to the way people think and act but guess what, we're sorting these similar "good" and "bad" genes to be close to one another.

      The result is potentially increased incidence of genetic diseases. Ultimately I think things like this will weed out the bad genes naturally as they express themselves in children but there's the suffering and potentally increased healthcare costs.

       
      • Take okcupid for example. Answer 500 muliple choice questions and the statistical grouping algorithm it uses matches you up with well lots of people who answered in a similar manner. You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests. In fact it can be damned near telepathy at times. OK, that's great and getting on with someone is very easy but... As well as the influence of the nurture stuff there are underlying genetic mechanisms to the way people think and act but
        • That doesn't sound like a good explanation of autism thanks to the lack of female geeks as a whole.

          When matchmaking services only catered to geeks, the ratio of men to women was a solid 10:1. I know because I ran a matching bulletin board system in the late 80s, and the imbalance of men and women was always a serious problem.(*)

          D

        • So maybe dating sites need things like:

          "Men who liked the woman you're viewing also liked the following women: (list)"
        • ok so genetics have no effect, and then we have an increased incidence of autism when people with similar ways of thinking have kids...

          Genes do influence the way people think and behave, they would be rather useless items if they didn't, now wouldn't they. Introverted and extraverted traits for example are influenced by genes.

          okcupid btw, do describe their algorithm:
          http://www.okcupid.com/static?p=faaaq [okcupid.com]
      • You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests.

        ... But are in the wrong country, if you live near a border.

    • What? No. We as humans have the right, no duty, to improve ourselves by any means necessary. "Let nature take its course" as you say is just stupid. We are nature. Whatever we do, is natural. Unnatural is impossible. But I think the more convincing argument would be to provide for the eventual eradication of dickweeds like Tucker Carlson. Which is more terrifying, a planet full of peaceful, socially inept Trekkies, or a planet full of assholes wearing bowties? I think the answer is obvious. Rememb
    • I don't know about other people but statement like that really scare me. We as humans should really stop trying to control our evolution and let nature take its course.

      Humans will survive and evolve. The question becomes in what fashion?

      For instance, you might expect a Trekkie/Trekkie pairing to product a higher than average percentage of autistic kids. Austistic kids have their pros and cons - the rate at which they reproduce and/or kill non-autistic kids will ultimately determine their genetic success.

      S
    • The idea that "natural" things are necessarily better than man-made things is a fallacy.

      Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child which carries the heavy burden of genetic disease. - R. Edwards

  • It's only somewhat dangerous (Score:5, Funny)

    by SEWilco ( 27983 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @09:02AM (#14874146) Journal
    Trekkie dating is OK, although somewhat dangerous. Particularly if bystanders don't move quickly when the Klingon gets excited.

  • Eugenics Wars (Score:4, Funny)

    by pete-classic ( 75983 ) <hutnick@gmail.com> on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @09:59AM (#14874385) Homepage Journal
    Well, when it comes to Eugenics Wars it's better late than never.

    KHAAAAAAAAAN!

    -Peter

  • There are other things that shouldn't procreate... (Score:3, Funny)

    by scolby ( 838499 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @10:15AM (#14874487) Journal
    ...like men who wear bow ties.
  • especially for trekkies, it's here:
    http://www.wrongplanet.net/romance/ [wrongplanet.net]

  • As opposed to letting Tucker Carlson reproduce? (Score:4, Funny)

    by elrous0 ( 869638 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @10:39AM (#14874670)
    And is the fact that HE'S going to have children supposed to make me feel GOOD??

    -Eric

  • On that rationale, why are the tens of thousands of redneck bars where high-school and no-school dropouts meet and mate causing further damage to the gene pool allowed?

    Take into account that a large proportion of these are incestual relationships and I think it becomes clear that in order to save the human race it is urgently necessary to nuke the whole of rural South-West USA!

  • Why not? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by reachums ( 949416 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @10:44AM (#14874719) Homepage

    Why wouldn't you want to marry a Trekkie? I'm a Trekkie, my friends are Trekkeis, my husband's a Trekkie, my Father is a Trekkie. all of us managed to find love, some have even reproduced. I've yet to have someone come to my home while I had Star Trek on (NG or DS9) and said anything negative about it. infact, normaly it's something to the effect of "Oh, I remember this episode!!"

    Trekkies just aren't really all that rare anymore.

    • When I was a kid, my Mom and Dad used to let me stay up late on Thursday night to watch a strange new show, Star Trek [imdb.com]. Star Trek's view of the universe, science and technology stuck. Like many people I meet of my generation (I'm 44), I was inspired to a scientific/technical career by Star Trek, the space race, and so on, while I was a kid. This has to be A Good Thing, IMHO.

      The one real issue in all of this is the way that lots of mildly autistic engineering folks (most engineering types live life their ow

    • I'm a Trekkie, my friends are Trekkeis, my husband's a Trekkie, my Father is a Trekkie...

      OH NO! THEY'RE MULTIPLYING! GAHHHH!

      *Jumps out the window*

  • Of course it isn't (Score:5, Insightful)

    by danpsmith ( 922127 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @12:45PM (#14876047)
    Just think if the US populace had more intelligent/nerdy people get together and procreate, why, there might be more intelligent people out there. And then who would be left to watch Tucker Carlson?

  • Online Dating (Score:5, Insightful)

    by danpsmith ( 922127 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @12:57PM (#14876173)
    As people tend nowadays to leave their house less and less thanks to the news media and their condemned perspective on the world in general. And since there are now less social venues as parks and drive-ins turn into parking lots and shopping malls, online dating has exploded. Now people like Tucker Carlson are going to say that's bad too? What is a person who doesn't want to pick up a mate at a bar supposed to do if they aren't in a friend circle with a bunch of single females? You know, real life isn't like Friends or Seinfeld for everyone. Sometimes people have to venture outside of their social group for a mate. Everyday the choices of activities outside the house get slimmer, and the social ones even more so. It's getting to the point where everyone is a potential online dating candidate because nobody is meeting anyone new anymore.
  • I guess things have changed since 1986.

    William Shatner on SNL [jt.org]

  • It's all relative (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @02:10PM (#14876915)
    Allowing Trekies to breed can't possibly be any worse for the gene pool than, say, allowing rednecks to breed...

  • Better start a national program (Score:3, Funny)

    by slavemowgli ( 585321 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:11PM (#14878532) Homepage
    Tucker Carlson is right, of course - trekkies mating is not something we can have. Why, if intelligent people had children, then the children might be intelligent, too - and who would still vote for the republicans in 50 years then? Just think about it - George IV. might not even become president anymore!

    So we definitely need a program to keep this from happening. I wonder what we should call it; since it's a program for trekkies, how about "4T"? Or better yet... T-4 [wikipedia.org]! Yes, that's perfect!

    Thanks, Tucker. Just what would we do without people like you?

  • Obligatory Futurama Quote (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Braxton_the_Covenant ( 838765 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2006 @05:39PM (#14878748)
    Takei: ....You see, the show was banned after the Star Trek wars.

    Zapp: You mean after the vast migration of Star Wars fans?

    Nichols: No, that was the Star Wars trek. [Some mechanical hands come out of her jar, pick up a video tape and put it in the VCR.] By the 23rd century, Star Trek fandom had evolved from a loose association of nerds with skin problems into a full-blown religion.

    [On the screen, a service is held at the Church of Trek.]

    Priest: [on TV] And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship where they would be no Tribble at all.

    Congregation: [chanting; on TV] All power to the engines.

    Nichols: As country after country fell under its influence, world leaders became threatened by the movements power. [In Berlin a sign is unveiled saying "Welcome To Nazi Planet Episode Land. Formerly Germany".] And so the Trekkies were executed in the manner most befitting virgins.

    [On the rim of a volcano two men throw Trekkies into the flames.]

    Man: [on TV] He's dead, Jim! [They throw another in.] He's dead, Jim! [Another.] He's dead, Jim!

    Nichols: Finally, the sacred texts were banned.

    [The episodes are put inside a torpedo casing.]

    Takei: The last copies of the 79 episodes and six movies were dumped on the forbidden world, Omega 3, along with that blooper reel where the door doesn't close all the way.

    [As he speaks, a ship that looks like an Eagle from Space: 1999 fires the torpedo. It hits the planet like Spock's coffin in Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan. The video ends.]

    Nimoy: Thus, Star Trek was forever scoured from human memory.

    Bender: Another classic science-fiction show cancelled before its time.

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