Taoism In Star Trek: Action Versus Inaction

Part I of Essay
The Star Trek The Next Generation episode: "Booby Trap" shows a perfect example of Taoist thought. The crew of the Enterprise is always taking some action in order to achieve a specific goal. This episode shows that through inaction you can sometimes achieve far more than ....

Part II of Essay
.... world; the Tao goes beyond action or inaction of a physical sense. The Tao Te Ching states, "the Master does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone."(pg. 38) The Master does not rely on the world of the senses to decide her action. Everything the crew of the enterprise tried to do was based on overpowering the trap. "More energy, faster adjustments. But that's exactly what we can't do because that's what we're supposed to do."(Star Trek La Forge) All of the attempts to overcome the trap were based on action, trying to do something about the prob ....