Customer Reviews

Boldly Live As You'Ve Never Lived Before: Life Lessons from Star Trek

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This self-help book uses Star Trek characters and episodes as role models to help you develope your own skills and strengths. As the authors point out, many people are more familiar with the Trek characters than with classical mythology or other hero tales which served as role models in past generations. Using the Trek universe as an archetypal mythology for personal growth is a clever, fun way to get the message across. As Spock would say: Fascinating!

According to the book, there are four basic types of heros: warriors, analyzers, relaters, and leaders. For each personality type, the book gives you examples from all the Star Trek shows (TOS, TNG, DS9 and VGR), then follows up with a visualization exercise in which you visit an imaginary holodeck and meet with the Trek characters, who serve as guides in your life. After each holodeck journey, you journal your thoughts and experiences.

These are the characters used for each heroic type:

1. Warriors: Worf, Kira, Scotty, B'Elana

2. Analyzers: Spock, Data, Odo, Tuvok

3. Relaters: Guinan, McCoy, Troi, Kes

4. Leaders: Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway

Most of us start out stronger in one of these areas than the others, but really, we are a mix of all of them. Just as a starship crew has all these types, who work together to make the shipp run smoothly, so, too, do our personalities contain a mix of inner Spocks, McCoys, Picards, and Worfs. When you develope all your internal heros, you can achieve balance in your life and teamwork on the job.

The audiotape version of the book (also available here on Amazon as a download) is narrated by Armin Shimerman, who plays Quark on DS9. Don't worry, his real voice is a lot mellower than the voice he uses for Quark! In fact, he's so relaxing that I fell asleep the first time through. Not from boredom -- it was a hard day and I was tired. But this experience does suggest you probably shouldn't listen to this while driving on the freeway. On the other hand, if you play it at bedtime and fall asleep, you will learn subliminally.

This was a good book if you understand Eastern philosophy (If not, go back and read The Tao of Pooh). Cohen and Baber separate personality into several character types within ST and offer analyses based on these characters, with the ultimate goal being personal growth and development. NOT for light reading, but quite interesting if self-analysis-through-Trek is your "thing".

I listened to this cassette and I am sure it will change my life. This cassette shows you how to make Star Trek and its superb characters an every day part of your living and growth as a human being. It explains how we can improve mankind and how we can bring the 'real' universe closer to the Star Trek universe. It is a must for any Trekker who is seeking to become more like her or his favorite Star Trek character or to fill the emptiness in his or her life. It will help you become a warrior like Worf, a leader like Kirk, a relator like Guinan, or an analyst like Spock. It is definately the best way to spend a few dollars

I read this book many years ago and thought it was pretty good, but nothing special. After reading it, I passed it on.

Yet, over the years, I found myself time and again remembering it and its message about the achetypal models present in each of the Star Trek shows. Picard as the leader; Worf as the Warrior; Troi as the Communicator, etc.

I read other books on the Jungian concept of achetypes, but none seemed to "connect" as much as this book did.

It took a long time for me to find this book again (I couldn't remember the title or the author!) but when I re-read it recently, I realized that its lessons were simple but profound. Not "new agey" but sound psychological concepts that can help us live better lives.

I can't say that it literally "changed my life" but it has had a fairly powerful and positive impact on it.

On a prosaic note, the book goes as far as DS9.