Deanna Troi’s mother makes her first appearance aboard the Enterprise to remind her daughter of a long forgotten arraigned marriage. It turns out the ship’s councilor was promised to a not too bad looking human doctor named Wyatt. Troi is less keen, and feels conflicted about her feelings for Riker. Meanwhile, Wyatt and his family are on board the ship to plan the wedding. The young doctor is also unsure about the whole affair, as he has been having visions of a mysterious woman whom he assumed would be Troi. Among all the festivities, Picard and crew are busy trying to prevent a Tarellian ship from landing on the peaceful planet of Haven, as the inbound aliens are carriers of a deadly plague. The infected crew want to live out the rest of their lives on the planet, oblivious to the spread of their disease, and Wyatt’s mysterious woman is on the ship.
The connection between Wyatt and the Tarellian woman is another example of Star Trek exploring possible theories of consciousness without going into any depth about how it may work. When Wyatt talks to Deanna Troi’s mother about the phenomenon, she states that all consciousness is ‘bound together’, but offers no further detail. The idea of a unified consciousness is not new, and forms of panpsychism, or the belief that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, trace back to ancient Greek philosophers. As opposed to an emergent theory, one in which consciousness is the byproduct of complex organization of physical matter, panpsychism implies that our conscious thoughts are able to connect to other minds. All minds are connected in a single field of shared consciousness, ‘bound together’ as Lwaxana Troi stated. The real hassle is in proving it. Anecdotal evidence abounds. Some people have claimed to be aware of when a stranger behind them is looking at them; dogs supposedly have knowledge of when their owners are on the way home. These phenomenon have only been supported by statistics. Lies, damn lies, and statistics. There must be a mechanism or informed theory to work with, but instead all we seem to have are statistical associations to back up our preconceived anecdotal observations. Observations are often biased, and most theories of consciousness so far are speculation. Until we can discover a verifiable mechanism, as we did with the laws of physics that underlay the workings of the observable universe, the speculations on consciousness will only be stories.
When the Enterprise finally makes contact with the Tarellian ship, Wyatt recognizes the woman of his dreams and the alien crew recognize him. One unauthorized transport later and Wyatt seals his fate by deciding to stay with them, infecting himself with the same plague. He wants to find a cure for the disease, embracing his newfound purpose and the destiny that brought him there.
Hopeless Trekkie 