It may be a source of amusement to many that much of my present modus operandi has been influenced by a fictional character – namely Mr Spock – from a mere Sci-Fi movie; so weird am I. As a youngster I watched every Star Trek film on TV. I was fascinated by Spock – I still am. I have followed all the big screen Star Trek movies.

Mr Spock is a remarkably stubborn man in some important respects. No – I don’t have a single item of Star Trek memorabilia and I do not dress in Star Trek costumes!! Chysst! (I hear that bleeding idiot in the background again).

The clip on this page resonated with my post of a couple days ago: Getting ahead. Spock decides not to get ahead on a point of principle. Sure – many will now say they would have done the same. Yuh know, everybody likes to be seen on mount ‘moral high-ground’ at some time or the other.

Spock’s human mother is proud, full of admiration and human love for her very bright son. You can see it in her eyes. The acting is brilliant. She allows him to achieve what he wants. It brings tears to my eyes.

But suddenly he asks a ‘stupid’ question of the esteemed Vulcan Academy of Science and the genuinely stupid answer causes him to do an about turn. He departs from tradition and expectation. He decides to do as he pleases, guided by his own logic and appraisal of the situation.

For the avoidance of doubt, for the simple minded who may come across this blog, I am not suggesting that everybody behave like Mr Spock.

However, I do admire his independence of mind and his razor sharp application of logic. Strangely and admirably Mr Spock, has always been portrayed as coldly calculating in his logic. But for those with deeper insight, you can see that the emotion is actually just below the surface in his facial expressions and tone of voice. It has always been a very brilliant piece of acting and directing in relation to this ‘character’ on the screen.