Star Trek is something I'm seriously passionate about. I'm a Trekkie and proud. No shame

If you have yet to hear about or seen a single episode of any Star Trek series do you live under a rock? Don't come at me with the whole "Star Wars in better" debate either. They are different. One is about a rebellion and space wizards, and the other is about nerds exploring space as peacefully as possible.

This franchise is infamous for its ability to inspire. After more than fifty years of Star Trek. the franchise has inspired generations of scientists and their resulting technology and scientific innovations.

Are you reading this on a smartphone? You can thank Martin Cooper for watching Star Trek and being inspired by the Original Series communicators, he worked with Motorola to develop the first cellular telephone.

Martin Cooper and a modern cellphone compared to Captian Kirk and his communicatorBiography

Star Trek as a whole has the amazing ability to show what the future can really be like, not just with the new-fangled technology and spaceships.

The future portrayed is one where humans finally did away with racial, gender, and other injustices. Earth in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth has none of the problems we face today.

The Original Series aired during the cold war, despite the time of turmoil it showcased a diverse crew that included a Russian, a Japanese American, a woman or color, and a Scotsman. The show even aired the first televised interracial kiss.

It only makes sense we need to deal with our own internal problems before we go interacting with people from other planets, right?

Star Trek TOS crewCBS Studios

Star Trek, like many other shows, started as entertainment, but the platform was used to discuss real world issues in a way the average person could understand and relate to. It was easier to use examples set in space than to attack social issues using a more realistic show. This way the writers had more leeway with the topics they chose to showcase.

There are many more examples of Star Trek inspiring change both technologically and culturally. The franchise has had an enormous impact and continues to even today.

Star Trek has been breaking barriers since the very beginning. Gene Roddenberry created a show that was amazing on several different levels

I encourage everyone to watch a few episodes of any series, if not because of the inspirational power of the show than just for pure entertainment.