Trek Origins: How Spock Got His Mind Meld

Although the mind meld didn't exist when Star Trek first debuted in 1966, its origins go back much further than the first time Spock used it in "Dagger of the Mind." We'll explore how a gadget called the “truth beam” evolved into this hallmark trait of the Vulcan people. Creativity thrives under constraint, and more than one constraint led to the creation of the Mind Meld. See how a tricky situation led to an exciting new tool for Spock and allowed him to have all kinds of unique experiences!

Audio of Leonard Nimoy from:
I Am Spock
Written and Narrated By: Leonard Nimoy
Release date: 09-29-08

**Please note that because of the lack of any conceptual images for "the Truth Beam" and "Dr. Adams' Thought Machine" (devices purged from the "Dagger of the Mind" script early on), I've represented them with images of real devices similar to their description. The "Truth Beam" is represented by the Yokogawa Electric Corporation CSU-X1and the "Thought Machine" by the CARV commercial spinning disk scanning unit.**

All video clips from Star Trek: TOS
All media and images used under the Fair Use law.

#startrek #startrektos #startrektheoriginalseries #mrspock #spock #mindmeld #vulcans

[frankcabanski]

Spock: "This is not hypnosis. Were this a television show from the mid to late 20th century, the cen sors would have no reason to remove the scene showing what I am about to do."

[jenpeterson]

Everything about Spock was hypnotic. He had the warmest smile, when he was allowed to

[EastGermany]

Looking forward to part 2 ! Funny to think Spock was randy in his younger years . Seems like some of the books would go into more detail about the meld, such as why it is necessary to touch, do Romulians have the ability to meld since they are related to the Vulcans, etc . I was surprised to see buttons with actual labels on them in TOS, didn't notice that before, they probably needed it for the plot .

[justheart]

the quality of your work is astounding. paramount should have you doing documentaries

[stevencasteel]

Correction, the neural neutralizer was also seen in "Whome Gods Destroy".

[MatthewCaunsfield]

I'd not heard of the "truth beam" before, a fascinating nugget of what Trek might have been ☺️

[basennel]

Great and interesting video! Thank you for sharing. Greetings 🖖

[davideversole]

If memory serves, in the scipt (forget which draft) Spock puts one hand on Van Gelder's head and one on his stomach. I'm sure there's a snide comment in there somewhere.

[mpmolyneaux]

I think using the Yokogawa CSU-X1 to represent the "Truth Beam" is confusing to anyone who does not read the description.

[txvoltaire]

I prefer what Mad Magazine called it: The Vulcan Mind Melt!

[scotpens]

" . . . that is, until the CBS censors intervened."

Star Trek was originally broadcast on the NBC network, not CBS! Sorry, you lose 20 geek cred points.

[jameskrys]

I watched this trying to find out what was going on when Pope Francis and Joe Biden touched foreheads at the G7 meeting a few days ago. Was it a Mind Meld?