What you post in your message is *exactly* right. I don't believe in
the notion that, when we go to the stars, we have to leave behind our
individual languages, and cultures, and ethnic backgrounds, and fashions
of dress. We bring that with us as part of who and what we are. It's our
differences that *strengthen* us. It's not all going to vanish in 200
years. There are cultures in the eastern part of the world that have
survived with minor changes for literally thousands of years. 250 years
is the blink of an eye. It's really a Western phenomenon; to us, 200
years is a long time, the whole history of our nation. That changes when
you go outside. I stood on the cobblestone walks of Trinity College in
Dublin, and realized that on those same cobblestones some eager student
raced across to the living quarters to announce news of a big revolution
in the American colonies. I stood in the neolithic burial mounds at
New Grange, the oldest man-made stuctures in the world, older even than
the pyramids...and realized that in human terms, 250 years isn't even a
blip. We're not going to change that much.

250 years ago, people worked, got married, had families, separated,
had affairs, and hoped for a better world for their children. 250 years
from now, it will be exactly the same. Only the chrome of technology will
vary. For a good example of this, go find an SF movie musical called
"Just Imagine" made in the 1930s. Set in the 1980s, it pictured a world
of people with names instead of numbers, pills instead of food, and birth
by machine. Much of TV SF makes the similar error.

The other point you raise is equally valid. The one thing that to me
always typified SF was the sense of *wonder*. Of something mysterious out
there. And that is the one thing that I feel is so missing from much of
TV SF; not to pick on ST, but the reality is that going from world to
world seems like going from 7-11 to 7-11. It's all established, there's
not much mystery. (Not in all cases, I'm sure that one or two could be
found, but in general.) There should be *differences*, and things we
don't understand and will *never* fully understand. (For me, one of the
best episodes in this regard is "Mind War," specifically the tag of the
episode, which still gives me a shiver even though I've now seen it over
a dozen times.)

Anyway, point being...you're right. And the first six episodes we
air will give some indiciation as to whether or not we got it right.

jms