The Psychology of Star Trek vs. Star Wars at WonderCon 2013 (Recap)

I had a blast last week at WonderCon 2013 geeking out about science fiction, fantasy, and comics. The highlight was a panel I developed with my colleague, Andrea Letamendi, on the psychology of Star Trek versus Star Wars. Not only did we have some fantastic panelists including Larry "Dr. Trek" Nemecek (The Con of Wrath, Trekland: On Speaker), Hugh Sterbakov (Robot Chicken, City Under the Moon), and Brian Ward (Shout!Factory), but our audience was AMAZING - people were so engaged that we were encouraged to resubmit this panel for San Diego Comic Con.

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If you couldn't make it, check out a full video recap of the panel on YouTube:

Yahoo has a summary of the panel up at their Sideshow Blog. I've also highlighted some of my favorite moments below.

Introduction

After discussing how both franchises have impacted our own psychology, Andrea and I discussed what's unique about each series.

Andrea: The story of Star Wars is about…self-actualization…fulfilling your own potential, being everything that you were destined to be.

Ali: [Star Trek has] shown us how as humanity we can improve…with science and knowledge we can overcome a lot of the differences we have.

Round 1: Villains

Brian started the debate with a question about nature versus nurture of Darth Vader and Khan.

Andrea: [Star Wars has] a sophistication of understanding risk and vulnerabilities in a person's development to show that there are many factors that go into making a person destructive, evil, and anti-social…[Anakin] wasn't necessarily born this way…he experienced extreme adversity, loss, and trauma…as [his story] comes full circle we are reminded that humans are complex - we have good sides and evil sides.

Ali: [Khan] demonstrates one of the most dangerous things in social psychology - when you dehumanize other people, it is so easy to rationalize insane things that you do to them. We see this in every war - the very first thing propaganda does is dehumanize [your enemy]…the moment we start to dehumanize people and think of them as less than us, like we do in every conflict, you get things like the eugenics wars and the nazis.

Round 2: Resilience

Next, Brian asked about how trauma, strength, and resilience are portrayed in both franchises.

Ali: What's beautiful about Star Trek is that its demonstrated strength and resilience in all phase of [trauma]. You take Star Trek (2009)…and how Spock's lost all control of his emotions…that's what trauma looks like in its most infant stages…You take my favorite episode of Deep Space 9, "In the Pale Moonlight", you look at [Captain Sisko] and his rationalization process…the transformation that's happening in his thinking, that's what happens to a lot of people who experience trauma who do things that he might not actually have wanted to in war and other situations and how they come out on the other side…And you take [Captain Picard in "Tapestry"]…you see a traumatic event, an attack from nausicaans that takes out the Captain's heart…that touch with death changed his life. That's a concept in psychology called post-traumatic growth - just because you experience trauma doesn't mean necessarily you're going to be someone who's traumatized. The struggle after trauma can lead to growth.

Andrea: Star Wars does handle trauma and adversity with sophistication…There are multiple trajectories after trauma…There is a complicated presentation of that in Star Wars that really embodies what those complicated mechanisms are in all of us. For instance, maybe back in the day we thought of something called the main effects model where one thing leads to one result. So one gene leads to schizophrenia…Psychologists think of a more complicated, transactional, ideological model of normality and pathology. Darth Vader had experienced risk and protective factors…things like having a mother who is very caring, strong attachment, and let's say, can I say midichlorians? Let's say, as an example, that midichlorians represent some genetic code…he has a combination of genetic and environmental factors that interact in a complicated way to determine whether he will experience a normal or pathological future…

Round 3: A.I.

The most spirited round of debate focused on Brian's question about artificial intelligence in Star Trek versus Star Wars.

Andrea: The difference between how these two universes deal with this has to do with how androids and robots are presented and how humans interact with them. There is this intersection of robotics and psychology that deals with something called the uncanny valley…the uncanny valley refers to non-human beings like androids and robots. The closer they start to represent human form, the more revulsion and disgust we humans feel…This is a biological response…The closer you get to human form, the more negative emotions people feel…If you think of R2D2 being purely robotic and not trying to be anthropomorphic, not trying to emulate human form…Star Wars understands that humans and andriods/robots need to work together with a clear distinction…whereas we have someone like Data who you would think would instill this disgust and revulsion because he's just a little too close to being human, but you've got [Star Trek's] universe interacting with him and loving him as if it's not weird. 

Larry: Everything you said is very true…That reaction is completely what happens in Trek…you've got stories like "What Are Little Girls Made Of"…they're all disgusted when Dr. Korby turns out to be an android…it's the same thing with "I, Mudd"…Star Trek over its own eras…has a spectrum of how it treats artificial intelligence…There were plenty of people…who didn't like Data…it's a complex question in the Star Trek universe and its constantly evaluating.

Hugh: Star Trek really glosses it over and they're almost afraid of it. If you look at Battlestar Galactica, that's humanity reacting to artificial intelligence or robot kind that could wipe us out, that could take our jobs. Star Trek never deals with unemployment…Some schmo is not on the Enterprise because Data is. You gotta figure somebody somewhere has some ambition in Star Trek, I don't know where they are, but someone is losing their job to Data right?

Larry: …that's the core of "The Measure of a Man". Guinan finally gets to Picard about the secret to defending Data in their trial and says, "Oh yeah a whole army of Datas, that'll be just the ticket." The subtext is slavery.

Ali: You're both right…What Star Wars does beautifully…is it deals with emotion really well. The droids have emotion and personality. R2D2 has personality and all you hear from him is BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP…with Data the reason we don't have the revulsion…is because he doesn't have emotion…that's why people aren't scared of him to the degree psychologists would predict because we don't see him as completely like us. 

Round 4: The Test

The Kobayashi Maru versus the Dagobah cave - what does each test say about its hero?

Andrea: Both tests represent pieces of [A Hero's Journey]. The Dagobah Cave is a more emotional...It's almost a projective test…of all the deep emotional stuff Luke is dealing with…It is a test of his ability to balance [emotions], just like the Jedi way of balancing positive and negative emotions.

Ali: The Dagobah cave is a great test of fear. Something that we do as psychologists is exposure therapy. People come to us with fears…and we slowly have people learn that they can ride out their fears and the urge to want to run away from [their fears]. The Kobayashi Maru test is test of heroism - we know heroes put their lives in danger and make a decision that might risk their life for the benefit of other people…how do you respond to that when you're in this no-win scenario?

Be sure to watch the full video for much more including lots of jokes about lightsabers, the Borg, Star Wars prequels, and a great debate on the Death Star versus the genesis device!

Stay tuned for more panels on the psychology of science fiction at future conventions.

First Contact with Aliens Could Bring Peace, but We Might Kill Our Extraterrestrials Guests

Today is First Contact Day. Well, it will be in 50 years.

According to Star Trek canon, on April 5th, 2063 humans make first contact with an alien race - the Vulcans. This is the moment that leads humanity out of the rubble of World War III and into the utopian future of Star Trek. Counselor Deanna Troi summarizes the importance of this event in this clip from Star Trek: First Contact:

"[First Contact] unites humanity in a way that no one ever thought possible when they realize they're not alone in the universe. Poverty, disease, war - they'll all be gone within the next 50 years."

So, with a half century to go, what would it take to make Star Trek a reality? The psychology of first contact indicates we need to do 3 things – end prejudice, foster cooperation, and develop empathy for aliens.

1) Ending Prejudice.

Our first challenge is overcoming bigotry. ​

We can't work together if we hate each other. So step 1 in creating Star Trek's utopia is ending prejudice.

The problem is humans are wired with a self-serving bias - we really like ourselves and the groups we belong to. Think of it as a psychological immune system - we take credit for good stuff ("I was promoted because I'm smart") and blame others when things don't go our way ("I didn't get promoted because my boss is an idiot"). When you combine this with the ingroup/outgroup bias (see my post on jocks and geeks), it's easy to understand why we can be so closed-minded to people who seem different from us.

How can we eliminate prejudice? After reviewing over 500 studies on the topic, researchers have identified three necessary ingredients for tolerance:

1. Learn about the other group.
2. Make contact with the other group.
3. Develop empathy for the other group.

This is exactly what happened in the United States after desegregation - when Blacks and Whites were allowed to interact with each other, friendships eventually developed and groups became less scared of each other.

First contact alone wouldn't end prejudice. Look at District 9 - just because we meet aliens doesn't mean we stop being bigots. In Star Trek, first contact occurred after decades of a genocidal war that culminated in a nuclear holocaust. The planet's cities and governments were destroyed. It's likely that the horrors of global devastation led to a period of increased empathy for one another. When you combine that with a lack of nationalistic identity (since there're no governments), it makes sense why a post World War III Earth was ready for tolerance.

2) Cooperation.

​Working on large goals, like preparing for the first warp flight, helps people overcome their differences.

Having developed empathy for one another, the humans of Star Trek started to work together on big projects - ending poverty, eliminating diseases, and exploring the final frontier.

This type of collaboration is very hard for us to do. Our history is full of "tragedies of the commons". If no one person is responsible for a resource, we deplete it (think of climate change or the shared candy bowl at work). This gets back to the self-serving bias - we do what's in our best interest, not the group's. The same is true of the prisoner's dilemma - even when it is in our best interest to work together, most of the time we don’t.

Is there any way humans can overcome our biases and collaborate on a large scale? Yes, absolutely. It requires regulation, small social groups, clear communication, superordinate goals, and reinforcement.

To overcome common pool resource problems (like poverty), some type of regulation is required. For example, a small portion of the world cannot be allowed to use the majority of the planet's resources. It’s hard to imagine global regulations being implemented now, but a unified world government, like what emerged after Star Trek's World War III, could make it so.

Large social groups also need to be broken down into smaller ones. This builds empathy and a better use of resources. Maybe the few humans who survived Star Trek's nuclear holocaust became accustomed to living in small groups and shared what they had.

Trusted communication between groups cuts through the prisoner's dilemma (just like the hotline between Moscow and Washington during the cold war). I have no clue how they managed to do this in Star Trek after World War III – Earth had limited infrastructure and no governments. Maybe the Vulcans lent humans communicators?

Requiring groups to work together and accomplish superordinate goals is one of the best ways to reduce competition. This was famously demonstrated in Muzafer Sharif's robbers cave study - groups of boys who hated each other learned to get along when they had no choice but to cooperate. Remember how connected the world felt when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon? Now imagine a space project that requires participation from the whole planet. Working on such a project could easily unite humanity (especially if we've just discovered the existence of alien life). 

Lastly, cooperation and responsibility must be rewarded (just like H.O.V./carpool lanes). While the possibility of advancing science, developing new technologies, and improving quality of life sound great, psychology maintains that people do what is in their best interest, not what is in the best interest of groups. Somehow, Star Trek figured out a way to encourage people to "work to better themselves". This is the key ingredient to creating a utopia. Just meeting aliens won't encourage us to work together - we need concrete rewards for cooperating.

3) Empathy for aliens.

Who doesn't like a Vulcan? They look and talk just like us. 

Humans are far from united. We fight about race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, region, and lots of other stuff. Whenever we experience conflict, we unite against common enemies (e.g. usually the folks who aren’t like us). If aliens come along, make humanity feel more united, and we learn to cooperate on a global scale, then it's going to be VERY easy to see aliens as our common enemy.

This actually happened in the Star Trek mirror universe - instead of welcoming Vulcans with open arms, Zephram Cochrane looted and plundered their ship.

Anytime we see someone as less than human, we do really bad things to them. That's the first job of war propaganda - to dehumanize your enemy.

The only way to prevent us from hurting our alien visitors is by developing empathy for them. Our best hope would be finding a way to communicate (but a universal translater is about as unrealistic as a Heisenberg compensator).  

Star Trek gets around this issue because Vulcans look a lot like us (and they somehow speak English). The aliens we’re likely to meet probably won’t look like Vulcans. Think of the prawns from District 9 or some of the strange deep-sea creatures we’ve found – that’s what aliens will look like. This is bad news because the less an animal looks like us, the less empathy we have for it (which is why we kill insects without thinking about it).

It's possible, but not likely.

​The EU is one model of a Star Trek​ future. 

It's completely possible that in the wake of a global catastrophe, humans may overcome our differences, develop empathy for each other, and collaborate on big picture shared goals. We've actually done this before. The European Union was created in the wake of World War II as an attempt to escape nationalism and force economic cooperation. For the most part, this federation has succeeded.

The problem is motivating people to cooperate and developing empathy for aliens. The EU functions because there are strong economic incentives for countries to work together. Star Trek throws all those incentives out the door (literally – there is no money in Star Trek). Without rewards, people continue to do what is in their best interest, not the group’s. Lastly, if we can’t find a way to talk to extraterrestrials, we're not going to develop empathy for them – in fact we might kill them.

I remain an optimist. There’s a chance that our scientific findings, developed in a world where no other intelligent life exists, just won’t apply to a post-first contact Earth. Meeting aliens might cause us to feel, think, and act radically differently. We have to wait and see. 

September 16, 2013 Update: To see a live version of this talk, check out my NYC Nerd Nite talk: 3 Easy Steps to Create Star Trek's Utopian Future. 

The Top 10 Science Fiction Film & TV Scores from the 2000s

​Just a couple of psychologists celebrating science fiction and music at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum.

A few days ago I wrote about how music changes the way we act, think, and feel. What I didn't mention is how much I'm obsessed with film and TV scores - they suck me in, focus my mind, and make the rest of the world disappear.

While some write off Hollywood composers as "sell outs", the genre is essentially the same as the romantic era of music (you know, the time period that gave us Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9", Strauss's "Blue Danube", and Holst's "Mars") - both use music to tell a story that produces very specific feelings.

Science fiction is home to some of the best film and TV scores. To celebrate the musical contributions of science fiction, I'm starting a series highlighting the 10 best scifi scores of each decade, beginning with the 2000s (2001 - 2010). Check back for updates or save this link to view the whole series.

Here we go...

#10: Wall-E, Thomas Newman

Since Wall-E rarely speaks, the film relies on Thomas Newman's score to communicate how the robot is thinking and feeling. This is done effortlessly. I also love how fun the score is. While things start seriously with "2815 A.D.", there's goofiness to "Wall-E", a sense of wonder to "Bubble Wrap", and playfulness to "First Date". Listen to samples of these tracks below.

If you like this score, check out Newman's scores to Skyfall, Finding Nemo, and American Beauty.

#9: District 9, Clinton Shorter

It was great to see a science fiction film that doesn't revolve around the United States. That's also what I enjoyed about Clinton Shorter's score to District 9 - South African vocals are integrated throughout resulting in a unique sound. Highlights include “District 9”, “Exosuit”, and “Heading Home”.

I listen to District 9 during my morning subway commute. It gets me fired up to take on the hoards of New York City pedestrians.

#8: Moon, Clint Mansell

Moon is one of the best science fiction films that no one has seen. The score is clean and delicate. It makes you feel the loneliness of being stuck on the moon. Just listen to "Welcome to Lunar Industries", "Memories (Someone We'll Never Know)", and "The Nursery" to get an idea of what I mean.

To hear more from Mansell, try his scores to Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, and Black Swan.

#7: Tron: Legacy, Daft Punk

Tron: Legacy was a letdown, but the score exceeded all of my expectations. Daft Punk created a true synthesis of electronic and orchestral music that has yet to be replicated. Standouts include "The Game Has Changed", “Fall”, and “TRON Legacy (End Titles)”.

I listen to this album anytime I need an extra boost of motivation - at the gym, during chores, and when I'm behind on paperwork. Tron: Legacy just makes me want to get things done.

#6: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jon Brion

Like Moon, Eternal Sunshine's score is razor sharp. Here, the focus is on a man desperately trying to hold on to fading memories and the music highlights the fuzziness of that process. Favorites include "Peer Pressure", "Row", and "Elephant parade".

I use this score for short bursts of contemplation, usually when I'm planning something new.

#5. The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

Both Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard did the right thing when Christopher Nolan rebooted Batman - instead of competing with Danny Elfman's heroic original theme, they created a murkier score. While elements of Batman’s theme were teased in Batman Begins, they weren't fully fleshed out until The Dark Knight. For a sample, listen to “A Watchful Guardian” (Batman), “Why So Serious” (Joker), and “Harvey Two-Face” (Harvey Dent). 

While The Dark Knight Rises's score has some nice moments (I love the chaos in "Gotham's Reckoning"), it lacks the subtly of the first two movies (probably because Howard wasn't involved). The Dark Knight remains the best film and score of the trilogy.

#4: Children of Men, John Tavener

Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men has been compared to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The score is more similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey, both in style and gravitas. Unlike 2001, John Tavener composed original music for the film in addition to using existing orchestral music. "Fragments of a Prayer, "Eternity's Sunrise", and "Mother of God, Here I Stand (For String Orchestra)" are all powerful examples of the film’s style.

#3. Star Trek (2009), Michael Giacchino

Like the movie, the score feels fresh and modern. Spock's theme is reflective and tragic ("Head To Heart Conversation") while Kirk's is searching for a purpose ("Hella Bar Talk"). The best part is Giacchino's take on the original 1966 Star Trek theme ("End Credits") - it honors the past while boldly moving the franchise forward.

When JJ Abrams picks a composer for Star Wars Episode VII, I hope he selects Giacchino – I’d love to see what he can do with that universe.

#2: LOST, Michael Giacchino

This decade witnessed the rise of Giacchino. Along with Star Trek, he composed Alias, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible 3, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Super 8, and Up (for which he won an Oscar). He also did the music for Disneyland’s revamped Space Mountain and Star Tours rides and a bunch of video games. His most creative work remains the score to TV’s LOST. Throughout the series, Giacchino expresses complex emotion with a few simple notes and uses silence as a way of building or releasing tension. He even used pieces of an airplane fuselage to create some of the show’s strange sounds. Below are some of the best moments from LOST's six seasons including "Oceanic 815", "Hurley's Handouts", "Claire-A Culpa", "The Constant", "Sawyer Jones and the Temple of Boom", "The Tangled Web", and "Closure".

#1: Battlestar Galactica, Bear McCreary

To keep Battlestar Galactica from sounding like just another space opera, McCreary used non-traditional orchestral instruments like the duduk, taiko drums, an erhu, sitars, gamelans, and bagpipes. Their synthesis results in a score that transcends all genres and is just really beautiful music.

I could go on and on about McCreary's score, but I'll just touch on some of my favorite themes of the series. The Adama theme ("Wander My Friends") highlights the role of family in the show. "Roslin and Adama" is rich and soothing while "The Sense of Six" is cold and unnerving. "Prelude to War" combines strings and percussion to create a dramatic standoff. "Heeding The Call" sets up the biggest reveal of the show and "Diaspora Oratorio" takes the series into its final act.

If you haven't heard of Battlestar Galactica, go to Netflix right now and watch the pilot. It’s that good. You won't be disappointed. 

Honorable Mentions

Inception, X2, The Island, Firefly, and Halo (yes, the video game) came close to making the list, but beyond the signature themes the scores weren't that memorable.

Notable Exceptions

Nothing from the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (Iron Man 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers) came close to reaching the top 10. None of the music from these movies is memorable.

We didn't get anything fresh from John Williams. I liked his Minority Report theme, but the Star Wars prequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Artificial Intelligence scores sounded A LOT like his previous work. Similarly, James Horner's score to Avatar reminded me of James Horner's score to Titanic. 

The 2000s saw the passing of Jerry Goldsmith, one of the greatest science fiction composers (Planet of the Apes, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Alien). I really miss hearing his music.

That's it for now. Let me know what you think. What did I get right or wrong? What would you put on your list? And don't forget to come back for my list of the top scifi scores from the 1990s. 

Music is a Social, Mood Altering, Time Machine

​"My name is Darth Vader. I am an extraterrestrial from the planet Vulcan!" - Back to the Future
 

A few weeks ago, my friends and I were wandering through 6th Street in Austin, Texas when we heard a band covering Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in a nearby bar. "They sound perfect, like Kurt Cobain reincarnated or something" my buddy said. The group was called Nothing Left Austin. They didn't just sing some of the best music from the 90s, they became the bands they were covering, both in sound and style. We stayed at that bar until the end of the set list and went to all of their shows that weekend.

Nothing Left transported me back to my adolescence. Listening to them reminded me of what it was like to discover Green Day's Dookie for the first time, being totally fascinated by the music video for The Smashing Pumpkins's "Tonight Tonight", and all the times I played Radiohead's "Creep" when I thought I was a loser. I felt younger, more invigorated, less inhibited. It was like time travel. 

I wanted to see if others had experienced anything like this. So I did what any good psychologist would do—consult the scientific literature. Here's what I learned about the psychology of music.  

1) Syncing us together.

​Listening to Nothing Left Austin brought me closer to my friends.

We still don't know what advantage the ability to hear pitch, rhythm, and timbre gives us as a species. But I really like the conclusions of Aniruddh D. Patel's research on the neuropsychology of music. Patel studied how humans and animals synchronize with musical beats through head bobbing, foot tapping, and dancing. It turns out not only is this an incredibly complex process which integrates auditory, vocal, visual, and movement regions of the brain, but it's also very rare—besides humans, some birds, whales, dolphins, and seals, no other animal on the planet can sync to music. According to Patel, music helps us connect with each other:  

“Somehow moving in time with other people to a common beat blurs the line between self and other and makes you more likely to be cooperative or pro-socially oriented toward the person outside of a musical context.”

This was definitely my experience listening to Nothing Left. I remember all of us singing along to Foo Fighter's "Learn to Fly". I felt closer to my friends, other random folks dancing along, and the band itself.

2) Working like language. 

​No Doubt crams a lot of expression into their music. 

One of Patel's first experiments concluded that the brain responds to music similar to how it hears spoken language. Both language and music use sounds to help us be social, so some similarity in brain functioning makes sense. Music also has a major role in helping us to remember and teach information (e.g. the alphabet song), just like language.

Five-time Grammy winner Victor Wooten summarizes this nicely in his TED ED video below. 

Wooten states:

"[Music] serves the same purpose [as language]. It's a form of expression. A way for me to express myself, convey feelings, and sometimes it actually works better than a written or verbal language."

A great example of this is "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Lead singer Gwen Stefani wrote the song shortly after a breakup with her ex-boyfriend (and band mate). The music quickly communicates the shock, sadness, and anger of being dumped better than language alone.  

3) Changing how we feel. 

​My gym playlist always gets me psyched for my workouts.

The human brain really likes music. When we listen to our favorite songs, the brain releases dopamine (the neurotransmitter linked to reward and pleasure) right before our favorite parts (e.g. 1 minute and 50 seconds into Oasis's "Wonderwall"). This is rare—the release of dopamine is primarily reserved for important things related to our survival (like food and sex).

Music is also linked to specific emotions. We've all experienced this. Every time I hear Jewel's "Foolish Games" I get a crushing feeling of isolation and anger while The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There For You" just puts a smile on my face. Daniel Levitin believes “[music] is a regulating force for our moods” and can be used to energize us in the morning, relax us at night, and give us a kick in the butt when we need extra motivation. The same is true of violent music, which increases our aggressive thoughts and feelings.

4) Taking us back in time.

​Watching Third Eye Blind in 2000, my first big concert.

Important music from our lives can take us back in time by activating key memories, especially if they're strong emotional memories. Whenever I hear Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" I vividly remember the excitement and anxiety I had the summer before starting high school. Music often makes us feel nostalgia. Listening to Nothing Left, I remembered what it was like to be a teenager, both the freedom from responsibilities and the excitement about an unwritten future.  

5) Part of our identities.

Karaoke is one way I express my passion for music.

Music is a big part of who we are. The type of music we like matches our personalities. Our musical taste becomes another form of expression, just like our clothes and hairstyles. 

My favorite type of music is reflective and personal. It's not just stuff from my adolescence like Collective Soul or Pearl Jam. I'm drawn to classics like Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Fleetwood Mac for the same reason I love indie rock bands like Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, and The Decemberists—each tell great stories about incredibly emotional experiences.   

How has music impacted your life? Have you ever had a moving experience at a concert? Do you use music to change how you feel?

5 Leadership Lessons From Science Fiction

Today is Presidents Day in America. While the holiday is supposed to honor President George Washington's birthday, we don't actually do anything to celebrate besides take the day off work and buy stuff that's on sale. 

This year's holiday has me reflecting on leadership. I just completed a one-year term as the executive leader of a psychological association. As a part of that leadership transition, I wrote a letter to my successor about the lessons I learned, the mistakes I made, and advice I had for the future of the organization.

I referenced science fiction many times in that letter. It wasn't just because both of us are big geeks (though that certainly helped). After writing that letter, I realized how much the genre influenced the decisions I made as a leader in psychology.

Here's a peek at what I wrote in that letter. 

1) Have a bold vision.

I used to believe that an organization's greatest challenge is limited resources (money, staff, tools). I now know that what is much more important is having a bold plan for the future. Creating a simple (and powerful) mission, vision, and strategic plan is the most important job for a leader. When done correctly, a strategic plan energizes all members of a group, prioritizes tasks and the allocation of resources, and helps the organization move forward. Without it, organizations risk fading into obscurity.

Science fiction has one of the most inspiring mission statements ever written and you probably already have it memorized.

Space, the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Starfleet captains prioritize exploration above all else. 

The mission of Star Trek's U.S.S. Enterprise is short, powerful, and makes you want to enlist in Starfleet. Everything on the Enterprise is organized around its mission. That's why Captain Picard has so many scientists on his starship while the Klingons have drunk warriors with swords (their mission is to fight honorably and drink blood wine). This also explains why the Federation has become the dominant group in the Alpha Quadrant—they have a plan that inspires while their neighbors keep changing their minds about who they are and what to do next.

2) Build a leadership pipeline.

I didn't seek my position. I was encouraged to run by someone else. Once I was elected, my predecessors trained me. Since most individuals won't seek out leadership opportunities (because they’re intimidating), it's the job of those who are currently in positions of power to always be on the lookout for potential successors. That's how leadership works—experienced people transitioning out mentor new passionate folks in. This type of leadership pipeline keeps an organization nimble and creative.

The Jedi have perfected their leadership pipeline.

The Jedi (and Sith) of Star Wars know this well. As Yoda said, "Always two there are…a master and an apprentice." Jedi masters identify children with a strong connection to the force and pass down their knowledge through an apprenticeship. What I love about this example is how integrated it is throughout the Star Wars universe—anywhere you see a Jedi Knight or Sith Lord, not too far away you'll find their apprentice observing, learning, and getting ready to step in and continue the mission of their mentors. 

3) Honor the past.

I campaigned on a platform of change. After settling into my position, I learned in order to be an effective agent of change I had to balance change with continuity. That meant learning my organization's history, understanding how it worked, and talking to experienced staff and leaders about the changes they (not I) would like to see happen. By honoring the past, leaders ensure consistency with an established plan and open people to the possibility of change.

Can human and cylon leaders overcome the mistakes of their ancestors? 

Understanding the past is a major theme in Battlestar Galactica. Both the cylons and humans believe "All this has happened before…All this will happen again." Patterns of creation, destruction, and rebirth are common throughout the 12 Colonies. Past leaders failed to understand how these patterns repeated. The major question of the series became whether or not the current generation could understand the mistakes of the past in order build a peaceful future.

4) Diversity makes a team stronger.

In the first meeting I chaired, I tried to get everyone to agree with each other. That was a mistake. Not only is it impossible to get complete consensus, but that type of groupthink is also incredibly dangerous. I learned the hard way that a leader's responsibility is to create a space that allows people with different perspectives to engage in honest dialogue. Then, the team acts on an idea that makes the most sense for the existing strategic plan. Without diversity in a group, leadership is stuck kicking around the same stale old ideas.

Charles Xavier: "I always believed I couldn't be the only one in the world. The only person in the world who was different."

Someone who knows about the advantage of diversity is the founder of the X-Men, Professor Charles Xavier. He built a team of mutants with different powers and personalities. While members of his team often clashed (the conservative Cyclops never really got along with the anti-establishment Wolverine), the X-Men were much more powerful because of the diversity of talent within the group.

5) With great power comes great responsibility.

Sitting in a meeting surrounded by many of the psychologists I grew up reading about helped me realize that my position gave me privileges others did not have. Shaping the future of science, education, healthcare, and public policy skyrocketed my career forward. But with that power came a lot of responsibility—meetings to attend, agendas to review, reports to write, emails to send, conference calls to schedule, and crises to resolve. The work was crushing, especially since it was on top of my day job. Last year all of my vacation time was used just to attend meetings, which really took a toll on my friends and family. The experience was deeply meaningful, though it was not without sacrifice.

Power and responsibility play a major role in the origin of Spider-Man. 

Marvel's Spider-Man had a similar experience. A radioactive spider bit Peter Parker, giving him arachnid strength, agility, and the ability to climb walls. Peter first used his powers for fame and ignored an opportunity to stop a criminal. Later, the same criminal killed Peter’s uncle. The experience helped him understand what his uncle meant when he said, "With great power there must also come great responsibility". Accepting the responsibilities of power is what separates heroes from the villains.

Based upon your own experiences, what advice would you give to individuals entering leadership positions?