This feels like a very un-Vulcan sentiment. After all, logically, there is no way of being certain what happens to the kid when you aren’t there.
Believing otherwise is based on hope/faith. Which are inherently illogical from a Vulcan standpoint.
Vulcans understand calculated risk. It would be illogical to assume certainty was possible in any situation. What would be Illogical is for Samantha to assume that she didn’t have a positive impact on Naomi, and that Naomi wouldn’t be loved and cared for by the Voyager crew were she to die.
It would also be illogical to focus on what she cannot control (especially in an emergency situation) Tuvok is reminding her that she’s done what she can.
I’m with you, the only part of this that’s based on faith is the last statement, and that’s easily attributed to Tuvok recognizing that the more emotional humans tend to respond well to faith.
He’s served with humans for decades, and he knows strict Vulcan mentality won’t help this situation. (A lesson he continued to learn during voyager’s run, despite the decades of experience under his belt)
Yeah toally, and I don’t even think it’s fair to say any of it based “on faith”. Tuvok lays out several reasons why Naomi thriving is highly probable.
If it was TOS Spock he probably would have said something like “I predict there is a 91.47% chance your child will reach adulthood with strong emotional and physical health” (followed by a “my God, man!” from McCoy).
He’s served with humans for decades
I think this bears repeating because a lot of people don’t realize it. Tuvok is canonicially a lot older than he looks: he served under Sulu on the Excelsior! I don’t think he was in active service during the entire interval between then and the Voyager era (because why would his rank be so low?), but he’s been around a long time.
Vulcans use “logic” to disguise their emotional attachments frequently in the show. They claim something is logical when it’s a purely emotional situation and logic doesn’t really apply. Not that Tuvok personally has those tendencies.
Tuvok’s character arc heavily involves him realizing that he’s got to have a little bit more of an understanding of emotions in other species, since he is third in command and Voyager will be without support for years if not decades. He’s showing empathy but only stating facts, his child is in a similar situation and Ensign Wildman has done a good job in raising Naomi. He knows hope is important to her ability to function in the situation and he alleviates her concerns as quickly as he can merely by pointing out the truth and explaining to her why she shouldn’t fear the outcome.
He’s developing his leadership skills as it pertains to other species, not just the leadership that works with Vulcans.
Top notch analysis, well done.
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I’m still working my way through VOY but even as far as I am (just watched “Tuvix”) there have been many instances where he has had emotions overwhelm him. I feel like mind melding with a violent psychopath didn’t do him any favours.
I would like to point out that Tuvok is not the only prominent Vulcan who has let emotions get the better of him once in a while.
I would go further and argue that Vulcans all recognize that they are inherently emotional, and strict denialism is just part of the way they build the logical society and mindset that they desire. Tuvok is honestly the first Vulcan they showed properly dealing with that, despite his attempts to blow it off by refusing to talk about it with others.
The other Vulcans we saw tended to leave it at the surface level, and then we didn’t get to see the internal struggles like we did with Tuvok
I agree. I think people forget (or missed) that the Vulcans went for this logic-only lifestyle because they are such an extremely emotional race that it nearly destroyed them.
That is why they begin their emotional control/suppression/denial training basically at birth. It doesn’t come naturally to them, and as every Vulcan living among humans has pointed out to them at some point by a Vulcan living in Vulcan company: living with humans makes you an emotional mess.
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Should have just nerve pinched her.
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Anyone who didn’t feel this scene has no heart!
I love Tuvak, man I need to rewatch Voyager, especially after Janeway being in the cartoon!
