Turn ON the targetting computer, Luke! (Score 2)

When I first saw SW as a kid, I didn't know what to make of that scene where Luke halucinates the voice of Kenobi telling him to turn off the targetting computer.

Now, I'm an adult living in a "new-age" world where appearances and "feelings" often have more weight in decision-making than conclusions reached by research and strenuous exercise of logic. True, SW was about heroism and making hard decisions, but it was also about tech. Why does it have to be spoiled by a rejection of technology and the hard work and logic behind it?

Presumably a hell of a lot of military technologists sweated blood to build those X-wing fighters and their weapons systems and here comes this bozo who switches to manual just because he hears voices in his head. I can only regret that I didn't have the presence of mind to shout "Turn ON the targetting computer, Luke!"

Can you dig it? He risks an entire revolution against opression, just for a voice in his head. And of course, he hits the target. Proof that wishful thinking is an effective Force in dealing with the Universe.

Crap. If Lucas had been a European film-maker things would have been slightly different. Luke switches to manual, misses, the Death Star destroys the rebel base, and Luke escapes, only to commit suicide by plowing into an asteroid when he realises what a terrible mistake he made. A Greek tragedy - man destroyed by hubris.

Now I run across people who had "mystical experiences" when they saw SW and these are the same people who wear a piece of pink quartz around their necks (or maybe pitchblende) because "it improves their energy flow". Thanks, George.

The level of influence of SW on "new-ageism" is certainly debatable, but I can't help but believe that it added to the crud. Too much hype? Who cares?! What about the destruction of critical thinking and effort?

I would like to close with two quotes, the first by Richard Stallman from the book "Open Sources".

Yoda's philosophy (There is no 'try') sounds neat, but it doesn't work for me. I have done most of my work while anxious about whether I could do the job, and unsure that it would be enough to achieve the goal if I did. But I tried anyway, because there was no one but me between the enemy and my city. Surprising myself, I have sometimes succeeded. Sometimes I have failed; some of my cities have fallen. Then I found another threatened city, and got ready for another battle.

And the second, from fortune(1):

In the force if Yoda's so strong, construct a sentence with words in the proper order then why can't he?