Fascinating

In his memoir I Am Spock, Leonard Nimoy writes about his “trek”, about how he came to know, and developed Spock – the famous character on TV show Star Trek OS. He mentions one day he has a Eureka moment, then, he claims he finally “gets” his character. It happens in a scene where Spock is looking at some space anomaly on the viewscreen and in awe of what he is seeing, he mumbles himself: “Fascinating”.

At this moment Nimoy says he truly understood the soul of his character. But what was Spock’s soul?

First off, he was a scientist. It should be fitting than that a lot of science’s essence is captured in this single word. If someone is fascinated with new knowledge, new data, this means that person is able to be fascinated, he is able to say and think “I did not know everything about what I am witnessing, I did not even expect what I am seeing, but here it is… And it is fascinating”. Hence the word indicates a person who knows what she does not know. A prerequisite for science.

Second, this word is most likely uttered by someone who appreciates knowledge, almost at an aesthetic level. It is like a painter enjoying a painting, a composer in awe with a brilliant composition. Third, this person goes after, wants, welcomes new knowledge. Also prerequisites for good science.