Bringing an alien weapon of unknown capabilities on board and then test firing it right next to the ship’s main reactor is not even the most stupid thing the super smart experts of the Starfleet’s flagship did. It is a miracle the Enterprise hasn’t been blown to its constituent subatomic particles at least a few times.
If you’ve ever met someone who is highly intelligent in general and absurdly skilled in their field, that’s actually pretty realistic. Geniuses are just as prone to sporadically making incredibly stupid decisions as the rest of us.
And I’ve always objected to that description.
Bringing an alien weapon of unknown capabilities on board and then test firing it right next to the ship’s main reactor is not even the most stupid thing the super smart experts of the Starfleet’s flagship did. It is a miracle the Enterprise hasn’t been blown to its constituent subatomic particles at least a few times.
I actually had this discussion about one of my coworkers.
Very competent, very capable, and very poor risk assessment.
If you’ve ever met someone who is highly intelligent in general and absurdly skilled in their field, that’s actually pretty realistic. Geniuses are just as prone to sporadically making incredibly stupid decisions as the rest of us.