Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise is confronted by a vessel from the 26th century and a man who claims to be a historian.
In this episode there is a very interesting scene in which Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who along with his crew are trying to save a planet below that is suffering through the devastating effects of an asteroid collision, speaks with Professor Berlinghoff Rasmussen, an Earth man who claims to be from the future. Picard admits that he has in the past violated the Prime Directive. That he has done it is not news, as anyone watching the series will recall, but what is fascinating is that he admits that he did it because he thought that it was the right thing to do.
This scene from “A Matter of Time” is interesting from a depth psychological perspective because it is an acknowledgement from Picard, that he not only follows rational Starfleet directives, but also trusts his instincts, those irrational stirrings from our unconscious, when it comes to making decisions. We saw this in Star Trek: The Original Series when Captain James T. Kirk repeatedly violated the Prime Directive, but up until this episode, Picard never truly admits that he also has done so, because he had a feeling that to do so was the correct way to proceed. This we can analogize to how the rational ego can integrate an irrational bit of unconscious into itself, in order for the psyche to be more whole.
Original post created 2 October 2021
mydailysoultrek 