Entertainment
Classic Star Trek Episode Was Secretly Inspired By Most Influential Philosopher
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek has often been described as a philosophical sci-fi franchise, but that’s usually just a general descriptor for the thoughtful nature of various episodes and movies. Shows like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine frequently tackled big concepts, including personal autonomy, free will, the ethics of euthanasia, and so much more. However, few (if any) episodes from most of those series were written explicitly around the writing sof a singular philosopher.
Interestingly, though, the same can’t be said about “Projections,” an ambitious episode from the second season of Star Trek: Voyager. Episode writer Brannon Braga crafted this tale around the influential theories of renowned philosopher René Descartes. Furthermore, the climax of the episode involves the Doctor invoking Descartes’ most famous contribution to the philosophical canon: “I think, therefore I am.”
Holo Pursuits
For context, “Projections” is a Voyager episode where the ship’s holographic Doctor begins to think that he is actually flesh and blood and everyone else on the ship is a hologram. He spends the episode wrestling with a fundamental question of identity: is he an Emergency Medical Hologram on a ship trapped in the Delta Quadrant, or is he Lewis Zimmerman, the man who designed the EMH program? With a bit of help from the Voyager crew, he escapes this dilemma through sheer force of will: he is the holographic Doctor, and nobody can convince him otherwise.
Now, how does this wacky sci-fi plot connect to René Descartes, arguably the most influential philosopher of all time? Descartes was a philosopher who became obsessed with a simple idea: whether or not everything he was seeing was actual reality, or if this was all just a dream he was having. He went so far as to theorize that all of us could have our very own demon feeding us these illusions, and we would have no way of knowing what was real or what was not.
Eventually, Descartes solved his own crazy dilemma through the phrase “I think, therefore I am,” and this phrase is quite literal. You see, the very fact that he was questioning everything around him meant that he was constantly doubting everything, which meant that he was real and not an illusion. After all, he wouldn’t be thinking about whether or not he existed unless he actually existed.
Barclay The Demon
In an interview with The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, “Projections” writer Brannon Braga made it very explicitly clear how his story ties into this ancient philosopher’s musings. “In essence, it becomes analogous to the stories written by the philosopher René Descartes, of the man plagued by an evil demon, out to prove that he doesn’t exist, and in this case, the demon is Barclay.” This is in reference to a holographic Barclay consistently telling the Doctor that he is actually a human trapped in a hologram rather than a hologram living among (mostly) humans.
Finishing his thoughts, Braga said, “The story culminates in Descartes’ famous quote, ‘I think, therefore I am.’” This refers to the end of the episode, when the Doctor finds himself in the familiar holodeck grid. When Janeway asks if he knows who he is and where he is, the Doctor is finally certain: he is the Voyager’s EMH and currently on the holodeck.
“Projections” is a fun episode that proves you can create a truly compelling tale out of ancient philosophy. A few years after this episode, The Matrix would transform Plato’s parable of the cave into one of the most influential movies ever made. But when it comes to turning dusty philosophy into killer sci-fi, forget Neo and bullet time: Star Trek did it first, crafting one of the most thoughtful hours of entertainment in television history.
Entertainment
Attention Apple fans: The brand new M5 MacBook Air already has its first discount
SAVE $49: As of March 12, the brand new Apple MacBook Air (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is on sale for the first time in both the 13-inch and 15-inch models. Get the 13-inch for $1,049.99 (reg. $1,099) and the 15-inch for $1,249.99 (reg. $1,299).
$1,049.99
at Amazon
$1,099
Save $49.01
$1,249.99
at Amazon
$1,299
Save $49.01
The brand new Apple M5 MacBook Air officially has its first discount. It made its formal debut just yesterday, March 11, and is already on sale in both the 13-inch and 15-inch varieties.
The starting price for the M5 MacBook Air is $1,099 for the 13-inch model and $1,299 for the 15-inch model. Both base models feature 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. As of March 12, you can knock $49.01 off each laptop, bringing the starting price down to just $1,049.99 or $1,249.99. Sure, that’s not a huge discount. But considering the base models are already technically $100 cheaper than their predecessors, that’s pretty sweet value.
Mashable Deals
So what’s new about these laptops? Honestly, not a whole lot. Obviously, the M5 chip is a step up from the previous generation’s M4 chip. They now have the same wildly fast processor as the 14-inch MacBook Pro from last fall. They also start with more base storage, are configurable with up to 4TB (up from 2TB) for the first time, and have added Apple’s N1 wireless chip to bring support for WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
Mashable Deals
Otherwise, the new M5 MacBook Air is largely the same as the M4 MacBook Air — same 60Hz Liquid Retina display, 12MP Center Stage webcam, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, and 18-hour battery life. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing (we loved the M4 Air), it certainly makes it a non-essential upgrade unless you’re rocking a MacBook that’s a few generations old. Still, there’s no denying what a great value the laptop is, particularly now that it’s $49 cheaper in both sizes.
Entertainment
Stay prepared for anything with the Growatt Helios power station — now $400 off at Amazon
SAVE $400: As of March 12, get the Growatt Helios portable power station for just $1,199. That’s $400 off the power station’s $1,599 list price.
$1,199
at Amazon
$1,599
Save $400
Portable power stations are essential devices whether you spend most of your time indoors or outside. Not only can it serve as a back-up power source in the case of an emergency power outage, but it can also accompany you on all your adventures. If you’re headed out on a camping or RV trip this summer, a power station might just be the companion you need for keeping your devices charged.
If you’re looking for a great power station, let us steer you in the direction of the Growatt Helios portable power station. As of March 12, it’s on sale at Amazon, saving you $400 on its $1,599 list price. That brings it down to $1,199 for 25% off. It’s not quite the power station’s lowest-ever price of $1,099, but it’s close.
Mashable Deals
The Growatt Helios portable power station with 3,600W output and 3.6kWh. Let us translate that. It can power heavy duty devices including air conditioners and refrigerators. When fully charged, the Growatt Helios generator can power your fridge for 24 to 72 hours. It supports USB, DC, and AC power so you can charge multiple devices at once. Plus, you can power it up fast with solar.
Mashable Deals
Get the Growatt Helios Portable Power Station at Amazon for $1,199.
Entertainment
Stephen King's Forgotten R-Rated 80s Hit Led By Star Trek's Most Evil Seductress
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
There’s been a lot of Stephen King adaptations over the years. In the early 90s, King decided to write a story as a screenplay first, and the result was the insane Sleepwalkers, about a mother and son pair of vampiric werecats terrorizing a small town in Indiana.
It’s one of those films that has to be seen to be believed, especially for a pre-Borg Queen performance by Star Trek: First Contact’s Alice Krige as one of the sleepwalkers. The 1992 horror film recently arrived on Netflix, making it even easier to play “spot the famous horror director” from among the many cameos jammed into the brisk, 89-minute runtime.
Don’t Think Too Hard About Sleepwalkers
Stephen King has been very upfront about the copious amounts of drugs he consumed during the 70s and 80s, particularly cocaine, which helps explain Sleepwalkers’ plot. Alice Krige is Mary, the mother of Charles (Charmed’s Brian Krause), and the two happen to be energy-draining werecats who feed off the energy of female virgins. Tanya (Twin Peak’s Madchen Amick) is targeted by the two after Charles fakes his way into the local high school, but the elaborate plan, which consists of make out in a cemetery, is thwarted when Tanya fights back using a corkscrew.
The two sleepwalkers may be powerful night creatures, but they have one weakness, and it just so happens that Tanya’s bonded with one of the beings who can easily kill them in a fight: Clovis the housecat. Sleepwalkers is very simple in its storytelling, and absolutely insane with its bizarre face-morphing CGI (at the time, it was cutting edge), cats flying in off the side of the screen, cars blowing up with a single bullet, and an “interesting” mother-son relationship.
Sleepwalkers Was A Surprise Box Office Hit
Alice Krige manages to again be off-putting, terrifying, and charming at the same time, similar to her later performance as the Borg Queen, the original “hear me out” meme of the 90s. Her performance helped propel the off-kilter feature to top the box office the weekend it debuted on the way to earning $30 million, unadjusted for inflation, that still tops the 2025 box office for horror films Him and The Woman In The Yard.
One of the fun parts of Sleepwalkers comes from director Mick Garris’ mission to include as many horror directors as possible, leading to cameos from Stephen King himself, John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Scream), and Joe Dante (Gremlins). Mark Hamill and Ron Perlman also pop in for brief appearances.
Sleepwalkers was savaged by critics and still only has a 29 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally low audience rating of 32 percent. Those people clearly don’t know how to have fun. King’s story may have, allegedly, been drug-induced, but it’s so weird and off the wall that the film is a blast. While it’s special effects aged like milk, Krause and Krig managed to create some great scares, and in an era of bloated runtimes, 89 minutes makes it feel like it’s ending as soon as it gets going.
Sleepwalkers is now available to stream on Netflix, and we suggest you sit down with your cat to watch it.
Attention Apple fans: The brand new M5 MacBook Air already has its first discount
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