Betazoids

Betazoids are a telepathic member race of the Federation from Betazed. They have been Federation members since 2273 and have made a swift impact on the dynamics of the Federation council. Betazoids are notable for their dark retina and cultural requirement for nude weddings. The capital city of Rixx has been described as a paradise of the free universe. As Cherry psychology paper on the Cocktail Party Effect (1953) showed, perception is something that happens all the time as the senses monitor everything in range. For Betazoids, this means all thoughts are heard within a dozen metres or so all emotions are felt. This is subconscious monitoring,only triggered to the conscious by use of the person;s name or other relevant stimulus. (Sci-Fi tropes of social rules not allowing minds to be read are nonsense, as Cherry (1953) shows).

This constant subconscious monitoring of thoughts directly influences Betazoid childhood, adolescence, dating, parenthood and interactions with non-Betazoid species.

Unlike the Deltans, Betazoids do not have the aspects of pheromones and their psionic abilities develop at puberty and not birth. They are open with their abilities and what they sense; the regulations regarding thought privacy more an aspect brought in from the Federation (see open attitude of Lwaxana Troi and Tam Elbran, in episode Tin Man). Like other telepaths, their ability to sense pain in others makes them natural pacifists. Betazoid culture takes this further: negative emotions such as grief, rage, hatred, vengeance are numbed or buried by the Betazoid collective conscious. This collective conscious is like a web connecting every adult Betazoid with every other receptive mind, both Betazoid and other. Only adult Betazoids actively are able to connect outwardly,being able to modify the emotions in those around them. This Emotional Censorship promotes kindness and positive emotions, suppressing and numbing negative ones. Culturally this is seen as a normal activity on Betazed, to other species like humans this can be seen as harmful; deadening grief can confuse a bereaved person and make them feel like they aren't 'feeling'the loss. Suppressing rage against an injustice makes you indifferent; suppressing hatred has the same result. Freudian psychology also questions the wisdom of suppressing negativity: it will only find expression in other unhealthy outlets. It takes the higher Emotional Intelligence of Betazoids to be able to cater for the removal or numbing of negative emotions, processing and understanding the result.

A Betazoid child doesn't have telepathic abilities at this age. They do have the olfactory senses and acute vision for sensing emotional states. A Betazoid must learn to understad and hone these skills. This is more heightened than in humans and is trained by feedback from parents. Betazoid parents can sense lying and can read their child's mind, making bunking school impossible and secrests are just impractical - either in a lying sense or surprise party one. Betazoid children are one-way participants n the Betazoid open, shared mindset with adults.

Societal oversight is absolute in Betazoid culture. Each adult Betazoid can sense the thoughts and emotions of every other Betazoid in range; every lustful glance, every secret fear, every feeling of like or dislike is felt by all surrounding Betazoid adults. In a city like Rixx, this means sensing dozens of people's thoughts unconsciously every second. It'll be like having a dozen conversstions in your ears@ ou'll have to tune out until you hear the one you want. Strong emotions are likely to break through the filter, like love, lust, hate, rage; all these are likely to be felt. Adults have to learn how to obfuscate and bury their thoughts and feelings, where needed. No surprises unless you know how to hide them. Negotiations are difficult when you cannot bluff. Dealing with these abilities at puberty - an emotional crescendo of yoru life - is the biggest challenge. Supressing emotions in others close to you is an accepted part of Betazoid culture. Tampering with emotions, however, is a criminal activity.

Betazed, like Vulcan, is a matriarchal society. The Troi family are the first family of Betazed. Major cities are erfect for many, however isolated homes or hamlets are good for neurodiverse or reclusive Betazoids who shun noise or invasive minds. Mental outliers are detected in youth. Road to Hell is paved with good intentions: nurturing kindness, surpressing negativity leads down the dark path of emotional censrship, unresolved grief in unconscious expressed in 'unhealthy outlets'...

Dream analysis and psychodynamics are more advanced on Betazed; the university is renown across the Federation for it. The subconscious and unconscious are far better understood, as are the mechanisms linking these to conscious. Betazoid society has an emphasis on defusing tension, defence over aggression. As everyne can read minds reason behind actions are clear: no pride, no revenge, no jealousy withiut EVERYONE knowing. A high percentage of Betazoids, Deltans, Vulcans and Aenar are successfulon the Psychology course at the university. Their innate abilities make them adept. Where Deltans have high IQ and EQ, Betazoids have average IQ and high EQ (IQ for general intelligence, Q is for emotional intelligence).

Betazoid empathic abilities explained: Betazoid DNA has developed for eons since they lived in the caves. A hyper tuned ability to accurately read all facial micro expressions and body language with a high EQ (emotional intelligence) to interprete what they see. Added to this an innate ability ability to detect and interpret pheromones and sweat, knowing what emotional state these signs show. Betazoids have a moist, sensitive inner nose like a dog: able to sense scents and sweat one hundred times better than a human. Betazoids have a keen sense of smell. This keen sense of smell aids in familial bonding and these empathic senses are an evolutionary survival and reproductive strategy.

The University of Betazed is renowned throughout the Federation for their Psychology facilities. The University has had a close relationship forged with Starfleet Academy to teach both psychology and other social sciences. Comparative psychology and atypical psychology are both popular courses at the establishment. Felamina Wish is the current Principal of the University; Wish was a former Vice-principal and has served in the psychology department for two decades. She was instrumental in creating the current close ties with Starfleet Academy. For Cadet Hawkins, the time he spent at the University of Betazed on secondment from the Academy, helped him to become the Psychologist and Social Scientist he is today. By the time he entered the Academy, the Betazoids that were also joining had lived most of their lives as Federation citizens. The pacifistic and almost spiritual attitude of the Betazoids was starting to be felt in terms of ethics and diplomacy over conflict.

Whereas the Deltans see races like the Klingons and Andorians as passionate people to whom they feel an affinity, Betazoids sense the actual, sometimes violent, thoughts these races exhibit. Comparisons have been made broadly between the Deltans and Betazoids, but the emotional intelligence and sensuality of the Deltans is a degree of difference from the telepathy and openness of the Betazoids. Whilst the Deltans have the full package of pheromones and empathy that has made them put their home planet off-limits to non-Deltans, the Betazoids, by comparison, are fully open and encourage visitors to their world.

Sources:

Star Trek: TNG The Child.

Star Trek: TNG The Loss.

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Star Trek: TNG Best of Both Words part 2..

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Star Trek: TNG Face of the Enemy.

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Star Trek: TNG Half a Life.

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Star Trek: VOY Pathfinder.

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Star Trek: PIC Vox.

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Lie to Me

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Koline Trin is a Betazoid journalist from the Federation News Network. She was head-hunted from the Federation News Service and has headlined the peak news programme on FNN for the last ten years. There is no secret that part of the success of Trin is her ability to sense when the interviewee is lying or hiding something. This has made some companies and individuals send psi-blocking representatives for the interview, or avoid the show altogether. The skill of Trin has been to turn this fear of being caught out as a sign of guilt. Indeed, many people use her gift to their advantage by forwarding their case by telling the truth.

Beyond her natural talent, Trin is a first class journalist who has been unafraid to take on the controversial issues facing the Federation today, including immigration, the Romulan crisis, the plight of the Venturi and the militarism of Starfleet. One article that brought her Federation-wide notoriety was the exposé about Starfleet Intelligence using telepaths. This flagrant breach of the Mental Privacy Act (2286) cost the Head of Starfleet Intelligence their early retirement and great viewing figures for FNN. Some say it would have cost Ra-ghoratreii his next election if he was able to have done another term; he was lucky not to be impeached.

One of the notable characters is Senator Toroxin Besh. Besh is a pacifist and senior member of the Federation council. He has made the case for politically engaging with the Klingons, Tholians and Romulans and sees military action as a failure of the Federation to abide by the principals of its formation. Besh mirrors the current British politician George Galloway MP, of the Respect party in Bradford. As with his 21st Century counterpart, Besh was turned on politically when the Romulans attacked Federation space in an aggressive blitzkrieg.

Besh has been described as a Romulan sympathiser, but has recently started to forge a political bloc with the Deltans, Vulcans, Tellarites and Venturi to de-militarise the Starfleet and to politically engage with the neighbours of the Federation. One of the recent results of this bloc is the announcement of the Starfleet Review, which aims to look at making Starfleet Fit for Purpose for the 24th century. This pacifist bloc is attempting to pressure Starfleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Khmelnova into reducing the tactical element of the Starfleet, especially in light of improving relations with the Klingons and the withdrawal of the Romulans from the active scene.

Author's Notes:

Betazoids were introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Encounter at Farpoint" in the form of main character Deeana Troi. The Betazoids were a modernised, television-friendly version of the earlier concept of the Deltans that Gene Roddenberry imagined. Gone were the bald heads and sexuality, instead there was a television friendly idea of telempathy and mind-reading. The most daring that Betazoids got was their naked weddings - a point that came to a head in Star Trek: Nemesis.

Unlike in other cultures, the female surname is the dominant one that is adopted at weddings. Most Betazoids seen have been female: Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Majel Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi and Alicia Coppola as the ill-fated Lieutenant Stadi from Star Trek: Voyager "The Caretaker". Tam Elbrun was the most notable male Betazoid, seen in third season TNG: "Tin Man". Elbrun was both gifted with powerful abilities, but also cursed from the effects of those same abilities.

The main theme of Star Trek: The Interim Years is change. The Betazoids are a big part of that. As fairly recent new members of the Federation in 2273, the Betazoids - along with the Vulcans, Deltans and Venturi - are forming a pacifist bloc in the Federation Council. Their aim is to de-militarise the Starfleet and project a more peaceful and diplomatic front to the explorering Starfleet personnel. Conflicts with the Romulans are weighed up against diplomatic successes with the Klingons. The hope is to create a better Federation and, through Starfleet, project a better vision of this nation. This will explain the change in attitude from Kirk and Sulu to Picard.



Betazoid Language was depicted in Star Trek: Discovery season 5: episode "Labyrinths":









Visit to Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna. Friday 29 March 2024.















































































































Visit to Sigmund Freud Museum, London. Saturday 1 June 2024.