7 Life Lessons Learnt from Battlestar Galactica

Filed in Science

I have been wiling away time watching Battlestar Galactica. Althought the quality is somewhat disappointing, as I am watching it online, I have fallen in love (in a geeky sort of way) with the show and its characters.

Now, after wading through the Battlestar Galactica Archives, I feel like I have submerged myself sufficiently in the lore to write an article about what I have learned. I have been digging below the surface of the story to find nuggets of knowledge.
I plan to pass that on to you.

If you are wondering what Battlestar Galactica is about, go read about it here. Lastly, I am talking about the new version..not the 1978 version. Sorry retro fans.

1. Don’t Trust Computers

You can see what happened to the earth when we started messing around with Artifical Intelligence. It got destroyed. For all you know, your computer could be a dark menace of a botnet, waiting to strike. Or it could be compromised, haxored, or ownaged. Like in Battlestar Galactica.

A Quick Summation: Make sure everything on your computer is locked up tight, because you might never know what would happen to it.

2.The Spaghetti Monster Is Watching Out For You

In the series, a common theme of gods and goddesses crops up. During the series, a “bad guy” is consistently saved by a robot god..known to me as “The Spaghetti Monster” because of his snort-inducing fanatical robot supporters. The Cylons dedicate themselves to it, and therefore have a purpose. It is always good to have a purpose.

A Quick Summation: Believe in the Spaghetti Monster (or anything really) so that you know what your purpose is.

3. Don’t Trust Women that Always Walk Around in Red Dresses

If you watch the show, then you know what I am talking about. One of the characters is attracted to a robot. Okay, that’s cool. Besides the fact that she is controlling his mind. (I am never letting any robots near my mind…) In the mind-controlled characters life, the robot was authority, and he never seemed to question it. It was attractive, and he didn’t seem to question the purpose. If he would have questioned, and thought about what he was doing, he might have saved himself alot of trouble.

A Quick Summation: Be wary of people who can control minds. Like Chuck Norris, or Ron Paul. In the words of my history teacher, “Question Authority” (to a reasonable extent).

4. Old Stuff Works

One of the reasons that Battlestar Galactica is cool, is its large heap of big brawny spaceships.

The show wouldn’t even be called Battlestar Galactica if the old hunk (lorefiends reckon at least old enough to be my grandfather) would have been upgraded, subsequently opening it up to Cylon viruses. In other words, save your money till you really need it. Besides, old computers fill up landfills anyway (and with toxic materials at that).

A Quick Summation: Don’t fix something that isn’t broken. You can wait for that computer till you really need it two years down the road.

5. A Mind is A Terrible Thing to Close

Originally, I thought Battlestar Galactica was a waste of time, pile of drivel. How could I have? However, I was still willing to try it, and I was led to the production of this article. Although some dismiss the thought of embracing geekiness off-hand, I did. I stood up and bellowed, “I am Geek.”

A Quick Summation: A mind is a terrible thing to waste (as in keeping it closed). Keep your mind open, and you might be surprised what you like.

6. How To Develop a Cult Following

Although geeky to the max, Battlestar Galactica illustrates a success in finding a niche and filling it. Like other shows before it that dealt with the Science Fiction Genre, geeks have proven to be a worthy set of fan boys. See Ron Paul, Trekkies, Mac Fanbois, Linux Heads. In a recent examination of social news sites, most noticeable Digg, people who have developed a cult following routinely make it to the front page garnering free publicity.

A Quick Summation: Building something aimed at intelligent computer users/geeks that know how to use the internet, and your nerdy product has just one more outlet. Choose a niche.

7. Make the Choice to Do It Right

Focus, and perserverance are some other things that I learned from Battlestar Galactica. I needed make the choice to watch the whole way through, the right way. I decided to do it right, instead of watching bits and pieces, reading spoilers on accident, and spending so much time between watching episodes, that you forget what is happening in the meantime. It was a decision that I have taken to heart in other areas.

A Quick Summation: Only you can make the choice to do it right. Most of the time.

Well, that is it for this short list, which I hoped that you would like.

If you anything that you have learned from BSG, feel free to leave it in comments!

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