Ask Sorel and Corrigan

Thank you so much! I have always loved biology and Vulcans (both their biology and culture) fascinated me so much so it seemed a natural fit. I’m just glad that others enjoy it too! 

The concept that is relevant here is the difference between genotype and phenotype. An individual’s genotype is their genetic constitution however their phenotype is the set of characteristics that are expressed and observed. 

Right, you can’t just smash some genes together from two different species and expect it to work out fine. The species involved in this combination are both diploid so they need a set from the mother and a set from the father in the form of egg and sperm. But because they’re two different species, they don’t necessarily ‘match up’. Since the genetic code is the set of instructions for the body, you’d have one set trying to put the heart in different places and it just won’t make anything that will survive without intervention. That’s where we came in.

Daniel and I worked to make sure that when it came to the development of the fetus, it was developing in a clear path towards either Vulcan or Human. This was necessary for any contradiction could result in potentially lethal birth defects. Lady Amanda and Ambassador Sarek agreed that their offspring shall be Vulcan as they intended to live on that planet. It was simply logical for Spock to physically have the characteristics suitably adapted to the conditions of Vulcan if he were to have the best chance of surviving infancy.

Have a question about the Vulcan culture or biology? Do you enjoy the occasional foray into non-fictional science? Then you might want to check out a little sideblog that is (very loosely) a character ask blog for Healer Sorel and Dr. Corrigan, the medical professionals responsible for bringing Spock into being.

Vulcan society: THIS IS CIVIL WAR. AGAIN.

Surak: Can we stop killing each other? Geez guys get a grip. Have some self-control for once. Let's think about this logically, ok? No need to get over emotional.

Vulcan society: Yeah you're right we'll stop fighting

Surak: Thank y-

Vulcan society: and purge all of our emotions

Surak: What that's not-

Vulcan society: time for insanely pure and strictly logical brains

Okay so people who actually check this blog may have realized that I have changed my theme. While I was at it, I decided that I want a new icon as it was bothering me that I based it off of the Red Cross rather than the caduceus. My dumb brain also decided that I should play around with the colors.

Fun fact: I know absolutely nothing about color theory.

At first I used basic colors (the grid isn’t in any actual order) but then eventually started desperately pulling from palettes I found online. And everything is now kind of a mess.

Anyway, I’m putting the choice up to you folks. Are there any of these that you think would make a good icon? P is there for you to suggest your own color combo to me. I was just kind of choosing randomly and I know there are people out there who know way more about this or simply like an unlisted combo better. 

It’s kind of weird because while it does the same on my computer, my friends have told me it’s just fine on theirs. I do have a fairly large computer screen so I assume that is the problem. Before the most recent Skype update, I would have that in a small size tile snapped to the right so I can have both Skype and my browser up at the same time. Now that I’ve had issues with Skype doing that, I have had my browser open to full size and that’s when I noticed the text on that theme being wonky. I think the sliver I gave Skype in the past made my browser size the ‘normal’ size so I didn’t see the problem before. In other words, I think it’s the theme when viewed on a not-normal screen size? IDK.

Thanks for bringing it up though because it maybe time to change the theme. Now that I know it’s not just me, I can assume there are more people out there who aren’t seeing it properly either so I should probably just get a new theme altogether.

Ah yes, that little plot element from Star Trek: Into Darkness. It was interesting to be sure, but I have noticed that it is being treated (most likely by the writers as well which makes this doubly aggravating) as a miracle cure-all. I’m not a fan of this in the least because NO medical treatment is such a cure (though I venture to say penicillin is pretty damn close to be honest). So I’m going to address the particular scenes with what I personally think is happening. This is a general headcanon of course to dispel the magic of it and is based mostly on my annoyance at it being used the way it seems to be treated. Please excuse my rambling.

Spock’s status as a hybrid makes him physically incapable of naturally fathering children. While technically possible through the use of genetic intervention, it would still have a low chance of success. There was much difficulty to bring about Spock’s own existence. Attempting to repeat the process with his offspring would involve more variables than we can manage with current technology.

Yes, because Spock’s parents are different species, he had to do a lot of tampering in his genetic code to make sure that everything worked enough to make him live. He expresses Vulcan biological traits because his parents had chosen to live on Vulcan so we felt that he would have a better chance of survival if he was like the species here. We had to basically turn on all of the right genes at the right time to make sure that the Human part of his genetics didn’t conflict with the biological blueprint that the Vulcan genes were trying to express.

There is no simple answer to that question. The view of Humans is assuredly as varied and nuanced as how Humans view Vulcans. There are those who insist that Humans are more free to express themselves in a manner that we are not and that this makes them a more well-adjusted society. This thought is rare, but is present. There are others however who do not agree and see Humans as an almost inferior race of beings who do not compare to us in intellect and reason. This group also can argue that Vulcan must separate itself form the Federation or risk being ‘tainted’ by Humans and other supposedly inferior races. There are many more however that take an approach that is a gradation between these two viewpoints. 

I myself was once less tolerable of Humans. Most of my experiences with them seemed to validate my own notions that Vulcans were objectively better even if I did not adhere to the extreme that others had expressed. However it has been my work with Daniel that has allowed me to take a more open-minded approach to Humans than many of my brethren would not consider.

As a Human living on Vulcan, it is easy to encounter these differences. As a doctor, I have found that there were some who doubted my ability to tend to Vulcan patients because there are some aspects of care that I physically cannot provide. While that is true to some extent, I have found that I bring more to the table than they realize. The fact that I can think outside the box better than many Vulcans has led to some pretty amazing medical breakthroughs, especially where Spock is concerned. Really the main problem is that not a lot of Vulcans leave the homesteads, so many of their ideas about Humans were based on limited experiences of accounts of others. At least that was the case before the Va'Pak. If there is one thing that is true about most Vulcans is that they can be pretty stubborn, especially if they come to a conclusion that is based upon reason and logic, or more dangerously if they can justify their ideas with them. 

It should be noted however that the Va'Pak has had a polarizing effect on Vulcan culture and that includes its interactions with the rest of the Federation. While it did force Vulcans out of their homes, they very quickly found a new one and are currently rebuilding. While this has opened the eyes of some Vulcans, others have taken a more conservative approach and stress the need to preserve Vulcan culture. This is sometimes at the expense of outsiders. The fact that I’ve been with Vulcans for a long time has allowed my personal experiences to go on relatively unchanged, but there has been a noted resistance to outsiders as well even after accepting help from them. I’m sure anthropologists are going to have a field day with this once they are able to. I wouldn’t blame them either.

The two terms are generally pretty synonymous in that Vulcan Healers are medically trained and treat patients. But they are not exactly the same.

The key point of difference lies in our ability to use traditional forms of patient care using our telepathy. It is for this reason that Healers tend to require high esper ratings for our profession requires constant telepathic contact with individuals who are not necessarily in a proper state of mind themselves. Such methods are taught in a traditional manner as well that is usually not shared with outsiders. 

Really it’s all about cultural connotations of the word ‘Healer’. It is a word that is translated from a Vulcan term that really would be harder for me to explain the subtle nuances of. You could probably talk to Lady Amanda about that if you have a few hours to kill.

Oh thank you nonnie! It really warms my heart to hear that you like all three of them, especially when I’m not exactly the most active person around. Thank you for sticking with me! Especially on this blog which gets the least activity on my part. I have so many started ideas and I don’t have any done.

Well we’ve been involved in a few Federation medical conferences so I guess we technically met at one of those. 

The research that led to the birth of Spock necessitated a collaboration between a Human doctor and a Vulcan healer. Daniel’s skill and knowledge made him the most logical candidate. 

Sorel is no slouch either. Even before I came along he was one of Vulcan’s leading medical researchers. It wasn’t hard to figure that he’d be involved. I have to admit that I think I was just the least annoying of the qualifying applicants.

Your temperament was a factor in the selection.

Hey, at least everything worked out and here we are decades later.

As the mun I admit that I’ve been getting super lazy with actually using them as characters when answering reference questions. I am glad that you are interested in them though! Really makes me happy. I do have a couple of other blogs, they are currently on hiatus (more or less) while I get school things under control. But I’ll put them below.

drmbenga

Seven years old is a culturally significant age for Vulcans due to the fact that Planet Vulcan operates in seven year cycles. Many things happen for Vulcan children at the age of seven including their khas-wan (maturity and survival test) and forming a bond with a bondmate (though this practice is not as popular as it had been in antiquity). 

These various events are therefor a series of coming-of-age tests and ceremonies in Vulcan culture. It is at the age of seven that a Vulcan is considered to have the maturity of an adult, even if they would not be sexually mature for several more decades when they experience their first Pon Farr.