So on my way to work this morning, I got to thinking about how Captain Picard is always spouting off random numbers for vectors ....course headings. And I got to thinking about navigation in general. Even if I were to navigate somewhere, I don't instinctively know which direction North is. I need a compass or something to help point me in the correct direction. Assuming I'm in a room here.
Aboard the Enterprise, there aren't really any gauges that Picard could reference quickly. There's no tactical data on that giant view screen in front of the bridge. Although, I'm sure his little arm rest has some sort of terminal for data output, but he hardly ever used it. He's always spouting off a 360x360 bearing while standing in the middle of the Bridge!
So, it's almost like he's just spouting off completely random numbers! Wouldn't it make more sense to say the name of a registered database destination, like Regula 3 or something? I mean, just walking around on Planet Earth, one could get seriously lost without knowing their true bearings. In the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy, you could end up warping right into an event horizon or something, right?
Aboard the Enterprise, there aren't really any gauges that Picard could reference quickly. There's no tactical data on that giant view screen in front of the bridge. Although, I'm sure his little arm rest has some sort of terminal for data output, but he hardly ever used it. He's always spouting off a 360x360 bearing while standing in the middle of the Bridge!
So, it's almost like he's just spouting off completely random numbers! Wouldn't it make more sense to say the name of a registered database destination, like Regula 3 or something? I mean, just walking around on Planet Earth, one could get seriously lost without knowing their true bearings. In the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy, you could end up warping right into an event horizon or something, right?