The old Star Trek novel How Much for Just the Planet? is an odd book: an original-series Star Trek musical comedy farce in novel form. It concerns a planet called Direidi, where the eccentric local population reacts to the arrival of a Federation diplomatic mission and a rival Klingon deputation by putting both delegations through a series of increasingly wacky and nonsensical dramatic adventures (wacky and nonsensical even by the standards of original-series Star Trek, which is saying something).
In the midst of the general absurdity, though, the book delivers a poignant observation on life:
Spock sat alone on the bridge, contemplating the Direidi situation. He had been following the movements of the Enterprise crew to the best of his ability, given the effects of the background radiation. Terribly illogical things were happening on the planetary surface.
Spock had known for a long time, however, that when reasoning beings were involved, “illogical” by no means meant “inexplicable.” In fact, a great number of societal explanations required the suspension of logic, and sometimes working entirely outside its strictures.
– How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford
What’s true of a planet of theatrical interstellar weirdos is true of life in general. Things don’t always make sense in the way we think they ought to make sense, but they always make sense in some way. There is wisdom in learning to respect other people’s sense, even when it seems like nonsense to us.
Ford, John M. How Much for Just the Planet? New York: Pocket Books, 1987, 172.
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