6

On Enterprise (the TV series) the Vulcan science officer T'pol catches a fatal disease spread by the "highly intimate" act of being the receptive partner in a mind meld. Both T'pol and the Vulcan doctors indicated that having this illness was a shameful disgrace, and that the mind melders were small a subculture of Vulcans, considered deviant for practicing unsafe telepathy and potentially sharing emotions.

There was little left to the imagination—the writers made it abundantly clear that this was a metaphor for HIV/AIDS.

However, if my memory serves, Spock relatively frequently engaged in mind melds in both the original TV series and the movies (?).

On Enterprise, they specified that while any Vulcan could receive a mind meld, only a small subset of Vulcans were born with the ability to be the penetrative partner in a meld.

Didn't Spock both give and receive melds?

Was Spock a part of this small group of outcasts or had all Vulcans starting giving and receiving melds by his era?

Did he catch the disease?

Improve this question
8
  • 1
    Spock definitely initiated the mind melds, but I don't think he ever received one. I guess they had cured the disease by then? – Hack-R Feb 13 '16 at 3:00
  • 3
    In the future, try to ask the question without the bigotry. – Wad Cheber Feb 13 '16 at 3:03
  • 1
    I seem to vaguely recall that initially the mainstream Vulcans claimed that only a small, deviant subset were capable of telepathy. But towards the end of the episode or story arc (was it a two-parter?) they finally admit that all Vulcans were capable of telepathy. Mainstream Vulcan society feared telepathy and was trying hard to suppress it. Something like that, IIRC. – Joe L. Feb 13 '16 at 3:06
  • 1
    @WadCheber: Given that the source material seems to be indicating that it is considered to be a deviant act, and that a disease is being spread that way, the fact that you're labeling it as "bigotry" says more about your cultural insensitivity than about the querent. That said, I understand the edit to prevent others from similarly acting negatively. – FuzzyBoots Feb 13 '16 at 15:37
  • 2
    @FuzzyBoots - Seriously? "Perverse subculture spreading.... AIDS"? – Wad Cheber Feb 13 '16 at 20:14
20

No.

At the time of Star Trek: Enterprise, mainstream Vulcans couldn't perform a mind meld (or rather weren't trained and viewed it as distasteful). Untrained attempts to mind meld potentially resulted in a mental condition known as Pa'nar Syndrome. ENT: "Stigma"

When Surak's true teachings of logic and emotional discipline were rediscovered in ENT: "The Forge", "Kir'Shara" it also rediscovered the knowledge of and cure for Pa'nar Syndrome, which required a corrective meld from a trained individual.

So by the time of Spock, the knowledge of how to properly mind meld and the cure for Pa'nar Syndrome would be ubiquitous throughout Vulcan society.

Improve this answer
1
  • You're right. I didn't know the details about the cure yet, because I hadn't gotten far enough into the series. I had only seen the first episode dealing with Pa'nar Syndrome. – user60653 Feb 14 '16 at 17:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy