Its safe to say that you need to be pretty educated to graduate from Starfleet Academy. Its a great big galaxy out there, and theres a lot to memorise if you want to be able to chat up the Vulcan Ambassador or make small talk with a passing salt monster, but even so its remarkable the disdain with which 24th century humans treat the late 20th century in particular. Whenever time travel sends Starfleet back to our era, these supposed first contact specialists are so comically inept they almost always get caught out by a passing ten-year old. Kirks shelves are packed with antique novels but he doesnt remember to bring any currency when he goes whale-hunting in the 1980s. Lieutenant McGivers, whose speciality is apparently 20th century history, doesnt recognise infamous global conqueror Khan Noonien Singh when hes two feet away, and we have to wait for Spock to Google him instead. In The Royale, Riker gets confounded by that most archaic of contraptions a manual door. Whats even more insulting is when our home era is referred to as some sort of Dark Age, bereft of culture, sympathy or creativity apparently Starfleet only considers literature and music from before World War II to be worth anything. You can practically see the blood trickle out of Rikers ears when Zephram Cochrane forces him to listen to Magic Carpet Ride. Well, we may be tone-deaf, primitive savages to you, Commander - but at least we know the proper way to sit down on a chair.
