Sinclair\'s Pacifist Answer
This turned out a bit long, but I think you'll find it intellectually engaging. In response to an ISN reporter’s question in the episode Infection about whether space exploration is “worth it,” Sinclair says, “there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars.” (In watching the episode again I caught a contrast with Dr. Hendricks who gives a list of notable scientists to Dr. Franklin.)
I find it interesting that a fan challenged JMS on the appropriateness of the question, but apparently nobody has commented on the meaning of the answer. In reality, the answer sounds more like something JMS himself believes than what a person like Sinclair would actually say. It’s also possible that JMS with his degree in psychology and certainly acquainted with developmental psychology constructed an answer that could be interpreted in at least two ways.
COGNITIVE LEVEL
From this POV Sinclair’s answer is ridiculous and inane. If you listen to the arguments now about going to the stars the principal reason is utilitarian, that is, outer space exploration will somehow improve life on earth. And, indeed it has. As for scientists, they have an interest because they are naturally curious and want answers to scientific questions. There is also the appeal of exploration, “to go where no man has gone before” (a familiar purpose statement).
Instead of the expected (and good) reasons Sinclair offers a philosophical answer that borders on nihilism. He offers a list of people whose deaths he would supposedly consider tragic and meaningless (and everyone else’s) except for the redemption of space travel. However, the truth is that there are millions of people who have lived and died since creation who to this day are unnamed and unremembered. Going to the stars will not make their lives any more meaningful.
No reason is given for the choice of names and it is more likely the list has special meaning to JMS. I was surprised at the seemingly out of place mention first of Marilyn Monroe, a cult sex symbol who died in 1962. Lao-Tsu lived in the 6th century and was the reputed founder of Taoism. Einstein, familiar to all, was a German scientist who proposed a special theory of relativity and won the Nobel prize; he died in 1952. Maruputo is a totally fictional person, so one can’t assess his/her significance in this context. Buddy Holly, was a pop music artist who died in 1959, an event memorialized among rock and roll enthusiasts in the song “The Day the Music Died” and no doubt remembered by JMS with a replica of his guitar in the B5 museum. Aristophanes was a 5th century Greek dramatist who wrote plays that ridiculed political figures, an archetype for many in the Hollywood left.
Of the names in the list only Lao-Tsu and Einstein (IMHO) have made anything resembling a major impact on civilization and world history, although it can be said that Holly and Monroe have their thousands, if not millions, of adoring fans. Given the occupation of the writer it is probably no accident that three of the six names come from the performing arts. Taoism is probably the basis of the alien belief systems in B5 so give a nod to Lao-Tsu. (You could call the Vorlons and Shadows representative of Yin and Yang in B5). Without Einstein’s relativity there is no theoretical model upon which to build a B5 universe.
The irony is who Sinclair does not mention. I find it difficult to believe that a military officer who comes from a long line of fighter pilots would not mention a single military strategist, such as Sun Tzu (6th century), perhaps the most famous military strategist, or those who contributed to the development of manned flight, such as the Wright Brothers or Chuck Yeager. I find it even more difficult that the Jesuit-trained Sinclair would omit Jesus Christ from his list who has had the most significant impact on civilization than anyone else in history. It’s also odd that Sinclair mentions Aristophanes, but not his beloved Tennyson. Maybe JMS didn’t know Sinclair loved Tennyson at this point.
There are also many famous people from other fields of human endeavor that could have been mentioned. Of course, maybe Sinclair had the deer in the headlights syndrome (camera, microphone) and said the first stupid thing that came into his head. Maybe he offered a politically correct to avoid adverse reaction by EarthGov as happened the last time he talked to a reporter. The answer can sound noble while being utterly pointless.
IDEALIST LEVEL
Interestingly, Aristophanes, Einstein, Holly and Lao-Tsu were all pacifists and Monroe was once married to a noted pacifist, William Miller. JMS may have been having a bit of fun with the audience by having Sinclair, the war veteran and hero, to give these names. (Is JMS a pacifist?) From the standpoint of the character maybe Sinclair was just playing with the dumb blonde reporter who probably wouldn’t have recognized such subtlety in his list. Perhaps the list was intended as an echo of Sinclair’s opening narration, “to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully.”
In the context of answering the reporter the statement “All of this was for nothing” probably refers to the building of Babylon 5 as the extension of all the efforts of pacifists down through the centuries, principally utilitarian and commercial pacifists, although it can be debated which type of pacifist would fit the names in Sinclair’s list. Unfortunately, the absolutist form of pacifism has been more willing to coexist with evil than doing justice for victims. It was true in the 1930s and 1940s when Hitler and Stalin were murdering their millions and its still true today.
JMS has not provided enough evidence in the record of Babylon 5 to determine whether or what kind of pacifist Sinclair is supposed to be. I’ve never known a military officer that wanted to go to war for its own sake. So, in the end I am struck with the enigma of Sinclair’s answer and the cleverness of JMS.
QMCO5
This turned out a bit long, but I think you'll find it intellectually engaging. In response to an ISN reporter’s question in the episode Infection about whether space exploration is “worth it,” Sinclair says, “there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars.” (In watching the episode again I caught a contrast with Dr. Hendricks who gives a list of notable scientists to Dr. Franklin.)
I find it interesting that a fan challenged JMS on the appropriateness of the question, but apparently nobody has commented on the meaning of the answer. In reality, the answer sounds more like something JMS himself believes than what a person like Sinclair would actually say. It’s also possible that JMS with his degree in psychology and certainly acquainted with developmental psychology constructed an answer that could be interpreted in at least two ways.
COGNITIVE LEVEL
From this POV Sinclair’s answer is ridiculous and inane. If you listen to the arguments now about going to the stars the principal reason is utilitarian, that is, outer space exploration will somehow improve life on earth. And, indeed it has. As for scientists, they have an interest because they are naturally curious and want answers to scientific questions. There is also the appeal of exploration, “to go where no man has gone before” (a familiar purpose statement).
Instead of the expected (and good) reasons Sinclair offers a philosophical answer that borders on nihilism. He offers a list of people whose deaths he would supposedly consider tragic and meaningless (and everyone else’s) except for the redemption of space travel. However, the truth is that there are millions of people who have lived and died since creation who to this day are unnamed and unremembered. Going to the stars will not make their lives any more meaningful.
No reason is given for the choice of names and it is more likely the list has special meaning to JMS. I was surprised at the seemingly out of place mention first of Marilyn Monroe, a cult sex symbol who died in 1962. Lao-Tsu lived in the 6th century and was the reputed founder of Taoism. Einstein, familiar to all, was a German scientist who proposed a special theory of relativity and won the Nobel prize; he died in 1952. Maruputo is a totally fictional person, so one can’t assess his/her significance in this context. Buddy Holly, was a pop music artist who died in 1959, an event memorialized among rock and roll enthusiasts in the song “The Day the Music Died” and no doubt remembered by JMS with a replica of his guitar in the B5 museum. Aristophanes was a 5th century Greek dramatist who wrote plays that ridiculed political figures, an archetype for many in the Hollywood left.
Of the names in the list only Lao-Tsu and Einstein (IMHO) have made anything resembling a major impact on civilization and world history, although it can be said that Holly and Monroe have their thousands, if not millions, of adoring fans. Given the occupation of the writer it is probably no accident that three of the six names come from the performing arts. Taoism is probably the basis of the alien belief systems in B5 so give a nod to Lao-Tsu. (You could call the Vorlons and Shadows representative of Yin and Yang in B5). Without Einstein’s relativity there is no theoretical model upon which to build a B5 universe.
The irony is who Sinclair does not mention. I find it difficult to believe that a military officer who comes from a long line of fighter pilots would not mention a single military strategist, such as Sun Tzu (6th century), perhaps the most famous military strategist, or those who contributed to the development of manned flight, such as the Wright Brothers or Chuck Yeager. I find it even more difficult that the Jesuit-trained Sinclair would omit Jesus Christ from his list who has had the most significant impact on civilization than anyone else in history. It’s also odd that Sinclair mentions Aristophanes, but not his beloved Tennyson. Maybe JMS didn’t know Sinclair loved Tennyson at this point.
There are also many famous people from other fields of human endeavor that could have been mentioned. Of course, maybe Sinclair had the deer in the headlights syndrome (camera, microphone) and said the first stupid thing that came into his head. Maybe he offered a politically correct to avoid adverse reaction by EarthGov as happened the last time he talked to a reporter. The answer can sound noble while being utterly pointless.IDEALIST LEVEL
Interestingly, Aristophanes, Einstein, Holly and Lao-Tsu were all pacifists and Monroe was once married to a noted pacifist, William Miller. JMS may have been having a bit of fun with the audience by having Sinclair, the war veteran and hero, to give these names. (Is JMS a pacifist?) From the standpoint of the character maybe Sinclair was just playing with the dumb blonde reporter who probably wouldn’t have recognized such subtlety in his list. Perhaps the list was intended as an echo of Sinclair’s opening narration, “to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully.”
In the context of answering the reporter the statement “All of this was for nothing” probably refers to the building of Babylon 5 as the extension of all the efforts of pacifists down through the centuries, principally utilitarian and commercial pacifists, although it can be debated which type of pacifist would fit the names in Sinclair’s list. Unfortunately, the absolutist form of pacifism has been more willing to coexist with evil than doing justice for victims. It was true in the 1930s and 1940s when Hitler and Stalin were murdering their millions and its still true today.
JMS has not provided enough evidence in the record of Babylon 5 to determine whether or what kind of pacifist Sinclair is supposed to be. I’ve never known a military officer that wanted to go to war for its own sake. So, in the end I am struck with the enigma of Sinclair’s answer and the cleverness of JMS.
QMCO5
