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I became a sociologist because of "Star Trek."

For the past 20-plus years, I have been teaching sociology courses for most of the colleges and universities in my area. Even though I thought sociology was fascinating since I was about 13, all my best friends? parents were either sociology or physics professors at Stony Brook University. I didn?t plan on being a sociologist (or a physicist). I figured I would never find work in the field, so I never even tried. I just sort of stumbled into it.

I?ve been a fan of Star Trek since I was 8 years old. I watched the original series when it was in first-run on NBC starting in 1966. I grew up in the first generation to live with Star Trek.

I would be lying if I said it didn?t influence me. As some people on this site know, I became an avid fan of Spock, and was strongly influenced by the character. I became a vegetarian at the age of 13 ? which was a first in my family. To this day, I am still a vegetarian.

I also married a man who is reminiscent of Spock. He?s of the same general build and appearance (though my husband is better looking), he was a physics major in college, with a minor in astronomy, and went on to be a science teacher and then a mathematics professor. He?s more-or-less even-tempered, and often takes on the logical, unemotional demeanor of, well, Spock.

Of course, Spock wasn?t the only reason I married my husband or became a vegetarian, but the example was established for me to seek out science-oriented men, be studious and value intellect and academic achievement, to follow up on my own misgivings about eating animals, and to do what Spock did best ? look at humanity and human history from the point of view of an outsider.

I grew up in a time of social upheaval and turmoil. The war in Vietnam started when I was in first grade, and ended when I was an adult. We witnessed assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy during the Star Trek years. The Civil Rights movement, the women?s movement, the anti-war movement, the farm workers? movement, and so many more, got their starts or were in full bloom during the original Star Trek years.

While growing up, I often wondered about my choices. I was a painfully serious person, an activist in many causes, who often devoted 24/7 to a cause, and yet, I still loved Star Trek. I often thought I was being frivolous, because Trek and other science fiction shows and movies, caused me to abandon reality for a while, and I sometimes felt wrong for dabbling in the fantasies they would allow.

At the same time, though, it all made sense ? and most of my comrades in the organizations I worked for or with, were also fans of Star Trek. All the years of experience working within a major social movement which coincidentally allowed me to meet and work with a supportive Trek actor, led me to settle into working and teaching in the field of sociology, which is what I?ve been doing for the past 23 years.

Sociology and science-fiction are connected. The two have the same historical roots. Both were born out of the times just before and since the Industrial Revolution. Both came about in the effort to explain what social life is like now and what will it be like be like in the future.

Early sociologists and social observers witnessed technological and social changes occurring that had profound effects on humanity and the entire planet. Modes of production changed. Small villages of at most a dozen families, were dying away as cities formed around factories and what became centers of industry. Families were changing. The concept of childhood caught on as the demand to eliminate child labor and provide public schools for kids arose.

Sociology grew out of a desire to understand human social behavior and the changes in societies by using systematic, scientific methods to study them. Science-fiction grew out of a desire to understand the changes in human beings and societies through stories and emerging forms of literature. Early science-fiction questioned the nature and role of science and its impact on humanity. Early sociologists in turn began to consider how literature impacted on humanity.

"Star Trek" presented episodes that dealt with the issues that were burning in the late 1960s. Episodes such as "Balance of Terror," "A Taste of Armageddon" and "Day of the Dove" dealt with the brutality and futility of war. "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" dealt with racism. "The Cloud Minders" presented a story about class conflict and exploitation of one group by another. "The Ultimate Computer" addressed how humans could be made obsolete if computers and machines took over all the work and pursuits that people normally perform.

All of these are issues that are the bases for sociological studies and teachings everywhere. I understood them as a child because "Star Trek," as well as "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits," made them so clear to me. Just as exposure to the alphabet becomes a primer for learning to read, the messages in Star Trek became a primer for me to think and analyze the world sociologically.

Of course there were a lot of awful episodes of "Star Trek" that made me wish I could put Spock?s brain through a ricer, and dress Kirk up in a bottomless miniskirt and pasties; but when the show was at its best, it had the power to influence the choices in life so many of us who grew up with it made. My husband pursued physics and astronomy, as well as sociology, because "Star Trek" influenced his interests growing up.

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, credits Nichelle Nichols as Uhura for being her inspiration to pursue science and entering the space program. Many of the designers of computers, cell phones and other new technology also credit "Star Trek" as an influence in their lives.

Over the years, I?ve passed by other classrooms as other professors were teaching, and I?ve heard a number of them making reference to Star Trek. Recently, I heard a math professor use the 2006 Christie?s auction of Star Trek props and costumes to set up a series of math problems.

In another case, an English department chair made a Star Trek reference during a student orientation.

A former history professor of mine, who is still teaching, frequently makes Star Trek references both in his lectures and in his writing.

My gynecologist wears a Star Trek com badge pin on her white lab coat.

Maybe we?re all insane, but we all brought something along with us in our journeys through life that we took from Star Trek. So ? how has Star Trek ? in any of its incarnations ? influenced your life choices?

Robin Brownfield is a staff writer for Airlock Alpha, contributing out of her home in New Jersey. She can be reached at rbrownfield@airlockalpha.com.