I’ve never been much of a Star Trek fan, but I went to see it because everyone seems to like it. Yes, it’s good. And in addition to being good sci-fi, it also carries some important life lessons. (Contains spoilers.)

1. Being different isn’t a bad thing.

The young Spock, being half human and half Vulcan, is a child of two worlds, and doesn’t appear to belong in either one. He’s not accepted by the other kids, and even adults speak of his heritage as a disadvantage. In time though, he makes his own path, finding a huge asset in the combination of Vulcan logic and human emotion.

Do you ever assume that being different is a bad thing?

2. Find a balance between the extremes.

At first, Kirk overindulges his reckless nature with nearly disastrous results, while Spock completely shuts off his emotions and follows the rules to a life he doesn’t want. Eventually, they settle on more moderate personalities. Not exactly in the middle, but at a point where they can avoid most of the consequences of the extremes while still being themselves.

Do you have a tendency to be too extreme in any aspect of your personality?

3. Anyone can be worth listening to.

As the fleet responded to a Vulcan distress call, Kirk connected the dots and realized it was a trap. He tried to warn the crew, who wouldn’t even hear him out at first. After all, he had been suspended, and he was regarded as a loose cannon. Still, he was the only one who knew all the relevant information, and because the crew finally decided to listen, they were prepared for the trap.

Do you ever ignore potentially good advice because of your personal bias?

4. Anyone can make a difference.

George Kirk was captain of the U.S.S. Kelvin for only 12 minutes. But he spent those 12 minutes evacuating the crew and sacrificing himself to save 800 lives.

Are you capable of doing more than you give yourself credit for?

5. Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

The saying “revenge is a dish best served cold” is said to be a Klingon proverb. It means that revenge is more likely to succeed when carefully planned out (cold-blooded) as opposed to being hasty and emotional (hot-blooded).

That might be true, but why not skip revenge altogether? It rarely works out to your benefit. Did Captain Nero really need to sit around doing nothing for 20 years, waiting for Spock to emerge from the black hole? That’s a long time to stay mad at someone, especially someone who didn’t intentionally do anything wrong.

Are there any grudges you can drop today?

6. Don’t play with red matter.

Red matter is a substance that ignites to create a black hole. Spock used it to contain a supernova that would have destroyed the galaxy, so this is dangerous stuff. Apparently, Nero forgot that part when he fired on Spock’s ship. Metaphorically, playing with red matter is doing something that can potentially work, but isn’t worth the risk.

Do you ever try to succeed at any cost, regardless of the consequences?

7. Extreme situations call for extreme measures.

When the Enterprise’s engines weren’t powerful enough to escape from the black hole’s gravitational field, Kirk went with Scotty’s idea of ejecting the warp drive reactor cores and exploding them to propel the ship forward. It was a risk – they could have blown themselves up, or the explosion could have done nothing but destroy their warp capability. But since full speed ahead wasn’t enough, they had to try something.

Have you ever ruled out a risky but feasible option, while clinging to something that wasn’t working?

8. There’s no such thing as a no-win scenario.

Kirk took a test that was designed to be a no-win scenario. It’s a simulation in which no matter what you do, your ship is destroyed. The point of the test is to judge your response to the fear of certain death.

On his third attempt, Kirk beat the no-win scenario by altering the simulator’s programming. He was accused of cheating and missing the whole point of the test, to which he responded that he doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario.

The no-win scenario really doesn’t exist, although you may have to reconsider your definition of “winning.”

Are you facing any scenarios you consider to be “no-win?” Are you sure that’s an accurate perception?

(Randy Pausch, a life-long Star Trek fan, received an autographed picture of William Shatner, on which Shatner wrote “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.” Randy makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo appearance early in the movie as a crew member on the Kelvin, with the line “Captain, we have a visual.”)

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