Frequently Asked Questions List
for alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@netcom.com
Last updated October 3, 1995
Edited May 14th, 2003
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.
The FAQ is currently being updated and expanded to include more
information. Since I'm working from memory here, information
which is uncertain or has not been verified is presented in
brackets with a question mark. [?] I will verify information as
soon as possible, but any help will be much appreciated.
This file is posted twice per month. The most recent version is
available on the web at
http://eek.cwru.edu/~surak/Vulcan/faqsurak.txt
Table of Contents
<1.> What is alt.fan.surak and vulcan-l@netcom.com?
<2.> Surak? Isn't that Spock's father?
<3.> What is IDIC?
+<4.> Who is Tuvok?
<5.> What about the Romulans?
<6.> Mailing List Administrivia
<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@netcom.com?
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@netcom.com 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. 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. [Those who did not agree with Surak's teachings
left Vulcan in a mass exodus and became the Romulans, who have
retained the warlike ways of their ancestors. (Pending verification
of information from "Unification")?]
3. 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] ).
The triangle-circle IDIC pendant in this episode was designed by
Gene Roddenberry and has been used as a Vulcan national symbol.
That's all there is. Taken from _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_, ISBN
0-671-86905-1.
4. 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.
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?
He has been married for 67 years. Depending on whether he is
counting from the date of bonding or the actual marriage, his age
is somewhere between 74 and about 100.
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 [in the
same episode?] 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.
5. 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
later years, there was a movement lead by Spock and a handful of
prominent Romulans to reunify their two worlds, but so far this
has not produced results.
6. Mailing List Administrivia
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
the newsgroup, 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@netcom.com, 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
listserv@netcom.com
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.
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 [episode name] SPOILERS" or something
similar. In the body of the message, put at least 24 blank lines
(one screen) before writing any spoiler information. Note that
^L will not work with many of the mail readers used on the
mailing list, so only blank lines will be effective.
8. 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 archive of old messages is available via anonymous FTP.
FTP to ftp.cs.cmu.edu
directory /afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr8/bh2b/public
files vulcan-l.zip and surak.zip
Note that you must cd in 1 step. You cannot cd to /afs/andrew.cmu.edu
and then cd to usr8/bh2b/public
This archive site is available courtesy of Benjamin Hsu [BenHsu+@CMU.EDU].
11. Where can I get more information?
*World Wide Web*
alt.fan.surak
http://www.marketaz.co.uk/StarTrek/Vulcan/Vulcan.html
http://vulcan.mrklingon.org
*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 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
These pages are not authorized or approved by Paramount Pictures.
they are not published for profit. they are not to be
redistributed without the express consent of the creator, but
links to these pages may be created freely.