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The sickbay of the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Image credit: Derek Springer from Los Angeles, CA, USA
I wish Star Trek medical bays were real.
Some countries like Canada offer universal healthcare. Well, the basics are covered by taxes. The majority of us still have to buy insurance or pay out of pocket for things like prescriptions, dental care, (most) mental health care, basic vision care, private hospital rooms, and many medical devices that are meant for home use.
I’m grateful to be able to visit my family doctor without worrying about how much the bill will be, but I dream of a world where everyone can visit a Star Trek medical bay.
Imagine almost instantly getting a diagnosis after having a tricorder painless waved in front of you instead of waiting days or sometimes even weeks for results from our current and more invasive diagnostic procedures to come in.
Then you would probably be given a hypospray or a little pill to permanently cure any illness or injury faster and with less pain than even the most revolutionary treatments that are available today. All of this would happen without anyone worrying about how they can afford the treatment.
I dream of living in a world like that. Wouldn’t it be marvellous?
As much as I’d also love to experience a few hours of amusement in the holodeck or order all sorts of fancy dishes from a replicator in the mess hall, real-life medical bays would be life-changing for humanity as a whole. I hope they really do exist someday.
We are both in Star Trek mode and the medical bay would be second on my list of wants (and probably should be first…. those would help a lot more people). I was selfish…lol
thought your answer was fun! Now we just need some folks to request a holodeck and a replicator and a Star Trek starship to have the full experience. Hehe.
I could get behind that… lol
😀
I agree! Those medical wards sound fantastic.
So glad you think so!
In Star Trek IV, when they go back for the whales. Dr. McCoy gives a woman a pill and she grows a new kidney. That’s the way to go.
I’d forgotten about that scene, but you’re right. What a perfect way to heal someone.
And he just happened to be carrying it around with him, which is hilarious.
I think I’d agree with LS about the medical bay, though the replicators and holodeck are stiff competition.
🙂
OMG, yes. I’ve had discussions with other people before about how if just one piece of tech from Star Trek could be real what would you want? Transporters and holodecks and cloaking devices were popular fun answers, but my pick was always the tricorder. The whole medical bay would be lovely, and that’s definitely my “dream big” version, but if I could have just one specific thing it’s gotta be the tricorder. If we could get an accurate and fast diagnosis, we could help a lot more people.
I’m glad you get it! 🙂
Humanity has a long way to go for that to happen. Maybe it would happen one day.
Fingers crossed. 🙂
It would be great, but is it one thing or many things? 🙂
From sf I’ve written, I’d pick the robot cutworms that scuttle through wheat fields munching up grass sprouts. They contain a reagent that allows them to detect a difference. They’re not really artificial intelligence–that’s all they “know.” They could exist in our lifetimes.
From sf other people have written, Douglas Adams’ Babel Fish would be useful…if it could exist, which I doubt anything like it ever could.
Those cutworms sound so cool. Yeah, they could totally be created now.
And a Babel Fish would be very handy for sure.
I completely agree. I recognise that I’m privileged to live in a country with free healthcare, but there are drawbacks with regards to wait times and it’s a postcode lottery as to the care you get and the funding the service has.
Being able to easily treat and prevent illness – and without all those side-effects that the treatment can cause – would be wonderful. I’d also like the society that Earth has in Star Trek as well.
Yeah, that society was great.
Oh, I like this answer! Yes, fully effective medical care would be amazing.
Thank you.