Frequently Asked Questions List for alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@shikahr.com.inter.net Last updated November 24, 1997 ================================================================= This list attempts to answer some common questions about Surak and the related topics which are discussed on alt.fan.surak and the vulcan-l mailing list. Please send comments, suggestions, and material to be added to the list to rmt7@po.cwru.edu or surak@infinet.com The latest version of this FAQ is now available at http://www.infinet.com/~surak/Vulcan/faqsurak.txt ================================================================= Table of Contents <1.> What is alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@shikahr.com.inter.net? <2.> How do I subscribe/unsubscribe? <3.> Surak? Isn't that Spock's father? <4.> What is IDIC? <5.> Who is Tuvok? <6.> What about the Romulans? <7.> Spoiler Policy <8.> Flame Policy <9.> Canon <10.> Is there an archive? +<11.> Where can I get more information? (+ indicates changes since last revision) ================================================================= <1.> What is alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@shikahr.com.inter.net? The newsgroup alt.fan.surak was started around December 1993 as a forum for discussion of the teachings and philosophies of the mytho-historical character of Surak from the Star Trek universe. The vulcan-l mailing list spun off from the newsgroup in June 1994 for the benefit of those who weren't receiving the newsgroup consistently, with a slightly more diverse range of topics that includes all aspects of life on Vulcan. The mailing list is echoed in the alt.fan.surak newsgroup at many sites. ================================================================= <2.> How do I subscribe/unsubscribe? (Because of all the unsubscribe requests being sent to the list, I decided to move this near the top of the FAQ.) Just a reminder that vulcan-l is a mailing list. Because of the way the list is configured, only subscribers can post directly to the list without listowner approval. (If you are posting to alt.fan.surak, which is echoed in the list, this doesn't affect you.) If you are not a subscriber, and you attempt to post to vulcan-l@shikahr.com.inter.net, your post will be bounced to the listowner (Randall Raemon ) for approval at his discretion. To subscribe to the list, send a one line message of subscribe vulcan-l to vulcan-l-request@shikahr.com.inter.net The listserv processor will extract your email address from the header, and add you to the subscription list. You will get back a vulcan-l info mailing as confirmation. A digest version is also available by sending a one line message of subscribe vulcan-l-digest to vulcan-l-request@shikahr.com.inter.net The digests are sent out every 24 hours, or when they reach the size limit (20K, to avoid overloading desktop systems). To unsubscribe, send a one line message of unsubscribe vulcan-l to vulcan-l-request@shikahr.com.inter.net Please do not send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list, because they will not be picked up by the list server and must be handled manually by the listowner, which means you won't be removed from the list until the listowner has time to handle it. ================================================================= <3.> Surak? Isn't that Spock's father? No, Spock's father is Ambassador Sarek. Surak is an historical figure from ancient Vulcan. Described by Spock as the father of Vulcan civilization, he founded and popularized the philosophies of peace, logic, mastery over one's emotions, and IDIC. These philosophies form the basis for modern Vulcan culture. Before Surak's Reformation, Vulcans were warlike and ruled by their passions. The planet nearly had been destroyed by devastating wars, and another war was on the verge of starting, when Surak and his followers intervened. They sent emissaries of peace to their enemies. These emissaries were killed at first, but they sent more, and more, until eventually people began to listen and the idea of peace took hold. There has been no war since then. It is widely believed that the Reformation saved the Vulcans from self-destruction. ================================================================= <4.> What is IDIC? It stands for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations". What precisely this means has been the subject of much debate on the group/list. Some of the aspects that have been discussed include celebration of the diversity of the universe, or at least tolerance of other cultures and how far this tolerance should go. Some schools of thought say that IDIC tolerates all differences without necessarily adopting them, while others disagree. Here's what The Star Trek Encyclopedia has to say: IDIC: Acronym for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, a cornerstone of the Vulcan philosophy. Spock wore an IDIC medallion to the shipboard dinner in honor of Dr. Jones. ("Is There in Truth no Beauty?" [TOS] ). Who is Tuvok? Lieutenant Tuvok is the chief of security of the USS Voyager on Star Trek: Voyager. He had been Captain Janeway's security officer for some time prior to the beginning of the series, but his assignment at the beginning of the pilot episode was to infiltrate the Maquis as an undercover agent for Starfleet security. He also taught at the Academy for 16 years. His first assignment in his present Starfleet career was aboard the Wyoming. * A black Vulcan? Yes. No official explanation has been given, but there has been extensive speculation. One possibility is that Tuvok is not actually black but is merely portrayed by a black actor. Another possibility that has been discussed here is that it is a natural genetic variation resulting in a variety of skin tones and hair colors, and we simply have not seen black Vulcans featured prominently before. There have been a few minor appearances of black Vulcanoids in the background: the Vulcan midwife in the memory of Spock's birth in _Star Trek V: The Final Frontier_ was black, and there have been black Romulans in TNG "The Pegasus" and DS9 "The Die is Cast". However, Tuvok is the first instance of a black Vulcan in a starring role. * How old is Tuvok? In "Flashback", Tuvok states that he is 29 in his flashback memory, and the event is taking place 80 years before the current time, which makes him 109 years old. In the memory 80 years ago, he was in Starfleet, an ensign on his first deep space assignment. He had been pressured into going to the Academy by his parents, and he left Starfleet soon thereafter. He was out of Starfleet for over 50 years. After leaving, he spent several years in seclusion immersed in the Kohlinar. Six years into his studies, he began the Pon Farr. but left when he entered Pon Farr and took a mate, T'Pel. He has been married for 67 years, so he must have been 42 when he entered Pon Farr. * So does he have any children? Yes. Tuvok stated in "Elogium" that he has four children, three sons and one daughter. * Since Vulcans never lie, how could Tuvok have served as an undercover security agent, which required pretending to be something he is not? Chakotay asked Tuvok about this in "State of Flux". Tuvok responded by claiming that he was true to his own convictions within the parameters of his mission. At another point Chakotay was losing rather badly to Tuvok at gin, and asked how Tuvok could bluff since bluffing was lying. Tuvok countered that since all parties understood that a bluff was a ruse or misdirection, he wasn't lying. * Aren't Vulcans pacifists? How can Tuvok be security officer, a position which requires the use of force? We don't have a good answer to this yet. It has been suggested that Tuvok does not strictly adhere to the teachings of Surak, particularly since his name does not begin with an S. Tuvok may also avoid the use of force except where absolutely necessary, such as in self-defense. Although Surak died rather than meet aggression with aggression, Spock stated in "Journey to Babel" that his father Sarek was capable of killing efficiently if he found it logical to do so. ================================================================= <6.> What about the Romulans? The Romulans are decendants of a group who left Vulcan thousands of years ago, probably during Vulcan's aggressive colonizing days. However, as Vulcan moved towards peace, the Romulans retained the warlike ways of their ancestors. While the Vulcans were unaware of the ancestry of the Romulans before the incidents in "Balance of Terror", the Romulans apparently remembered their origins. In "Unification", Spock was seen with an underground peace movement on Romulus working to re-unify Romulus and Vulcan, but at last report, he has made only small steps towards peace. ================================================================= <7.> Spoiler Policy Because the Vulcan tactical officer on Voyager, Tuvok, is the subject of frequent debate on the list and newsgroup, a spoiler policy is needed for those people in the United States who do not get the new episodes on Monday night and those people outside the United States who will not be getting the new episodes for many months. A spoiler is any information which is important to the plot of the episode. Please do not put any spoiler information in the subject line! It is nearly impossible to avoid reading it in that case for people who do not want to be spoiled. In the subject line, put "Voyager Flame Policy As a group dedicated to diversity, we welcome all opinions and viewpoints. However, please remember that there are real live thinking and feeling human beings on the other end of the connection. We want to hear your opinions on the topics of discussion, but no one likes being attacked personally in a flame. ================================================================= <9.> Canon The debate over what material should be considered canon, or at the very least mutually acceptable as a starting point for debate, has failed to produce a clear consensus. In general, if it's on film it's canon, but any source (print or film) is fair game for discussion. Where possible, give references for information. Not only do the books frequently contradict each other and the episodes, but occasionally episodes are contradictory, resulting in much confusion. ================================================================= <10.> Is there an archive? The old archive site at cmu.edu has gone away. Ben Hsu was kind enough to host an archive while he was going to school there, but Ben has now graduated (congrats, Ben!). The archives have found a new home on the site that hosts the listserv, courtesy of listowner Randall Raemon. Thanks, Randall! http://dmz.shikahr.com.inter.net/vulcan-l ================================================================= <11.> Where can I get more information? *World Wide Web* FAQ (this file): http://www.infinet.com/~surak/Vulcan/faqsurak.txt vulcan-l/alt.fan.surak archives: http://dmz.shikahr.com.inter.net/vulcan-l Marketa's Vulcan web pages: http://www.ludwig.ucl.ac.uk/st/StarTrek/Vulcan/Vulcan.html Joel's Galactic Languages page: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4854/index.html email: languages@mail.geocities.com North Star Klingon Outpost (includes the Vulcan language tool and Galactic Phrasebook) http://members.aol.com/JPKlingon email: JPKlingon@aol.com Rachel's Vulcan Resource Center: http://www.infinet.com/~surak/Vulcan/vulcan.html The Intergalactic Dictionary (Vulcan, Romulan, Klingon, and Ferengi) http://www.netland.nl/~dancat/welcome.html Matthew's Vulcan Academy Web Page http://homepages.enterprise.net/mhampton/index.html Sirak's Vulcan Arcana http://www.localweb.com/ufcool/libra.cgi/vulcarcana/ Chris Pinette's Vulcan Language Page (duplicates Marketa's page) http://www.dallas.net/~cpinette/startrek/vulcan.html *Film and Television* _The Original Series_ "Amok Time" Our first visit to planet Vulcan "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" Spock wears the IDIC emblem "The Immunity Syndrome" Mentioned the USS Intrepid, an all-Vulcan ship "Journey to Babel" We meet Spock's father, Sarek "The Savage Curtain" Surak is recreated in a fight between good and evil _Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock_ _Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier_ _The Next Generation_ "Sarek" Ambassador Sarek's last mission "Unification" Ambassador Spock works to reunite Vulcan and Romulus "Gambit" Renegades search for an ancient Vulcan weapon _Deep Space Nine_ "The Maquis" parts 1 and 2 Features Sekona, a Vulcan in the Maquis _Voyager_ Features a Vulcan, Tuvok, as chief of security *Books* _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_ by Okuda, Okuda, and Mirek, ISBN 0-671-86905-1 _The Star Trek Chronology_ by Okuda and Okuda, ISBN 0-671-79611-9 _The Star Trek Omnipedia_by Okuda and Okuda, ISBN 0-671-57600-3 (The following aren't canon, but they are a good source of information.) _Spock's World_ by Diane Duane, ISBN 0-671-66773-4 _The Vulcan Academy Murders_ by Jean Lorrah, ISBN 0-671-50054-6 _The IDIC Epidemic_ by Jean Lorrah, ISBN 0-671-70768-X _Vulcan's Glory_ by D. C. Fontana, ISBN 0-671-65667-8 _The Romulan Way_ by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, ISBN 0-671-63498-4 _Strangers From the Sky_ by Margaret Wander Bonnano, ISBN 0-671-64049-6 _Sarek_ by A. C. Crispin, ISBN 0-671-79562-7 _Unification_ by Jeri Taylor, ISBN 0-671-77056-X _The Pandora Principle_ by Carolyn Clowes, ISBN 0-671-65815-8 _Mind Meld_ by John Vornholt, ISBN 0-671-00258-9 =================================================================