But they’re mostly right about the hopeful part. When it isn’t shown that the Federation is super corrupt and being controlled by evil outside forces, of course.
In 2364, when the USS Enterprise-D was unexpectedly thrust millions of light years into a realm where thoughts became reality, Kosinski described this explanation of the phenomenon as akin to being asked to believe in magic. Captain Jean-Luc Picard felt the explanation made sense, however, as only the power of thought could explain the strange events that were manifesting aboard the vessel, such as his own apparent meeting with his maman, Yvette Picard. (TNG: “Where No One Has Gone Before”)
There’s also a regular invocation of Clark’s Law, producing a rich surplus of “Space Wizards” - from TNG’s Q to Gabrielle Burnham, the Red Angel, in Discovery.
That’s before you get into hyperdrives and teleporters and replicators and holodecks and other very naked violations of established science. Functionally no different than characters casting spells and using magic items in a game of D&D.
Magic
Laser Sword
But they’re mostly right about the hopeful part. When it isn’t shown that the Federation is super corrupt and being controlled by evil outside forces, of course.
That article about magic talks about religious ritual and advanced technology. No actual magic, except in one alternative universe.
There’s also a regular invocation of Clark’s Law, producing a rich surplus of “Space Wizards” - from TNG’s Q to Gabrielle Burnham, the Red Angel, in Discovery.
That’s before you get into hyperdrives and teleporters and replicators and holodecks and other very naked violations of established science. Functionally no different than characters casting spells and using magic items in a game of D&D.
Invoking Clark’s Law is saying “there’s no magic, just stuff we don’t understand yet”.
But yeah, no answer on Q’s species, that’s literally magic.