“My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts…”

Vulcans right before they guess your phone password.

We’ve all seen them do it. A Vulcan gets cozy with an individual, gently places a perfectly-manicured and long-fingered hand along their face, gets that distant look in their eye, and suddenly their minds are one. No, it’s not a clever party trick, it’s an incredibly useful information gathering tool, as well as an intimate (even emotional) act that Vulcans don’t take lightly and thus only deploy in circumstances that absolutely demand it. Yes, we’re talking about the Vulcan Mind Meld this week! And despite being one of the most famous pieces of Star Trek lore there is surprisingly (or perhaps thankfully) little on screen explanation of it.

But explaining how a mind meld may or may not work requires us to dig into how brains actually conjure up and store things like memories, the electrical impulses that make up thoughts, and actual real world non-verbal communication. There are also some fascinating pieces of Star Trek history to be uncovered in our quest to determine not just the “how” of this famed plot and story device, but the “why” of how it came to be. Our hosts, Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi and Tamara Krinsky have once again performed a mind meld of their own to bring you the very best breakdown of sci-fi and pop culture you’re going to find in this quadrant.

Check out the latest episode of Does it Fly? right here if you don’t believe us!

https://youtu.be/YllWLbrhKP0?si=xJxH6Gbb2mUVnbUd

FURTHER VIEWING

Despite being one of the most famous bits of Star Trek lore, the Vulcan Mind Meld is something that’s only been used relatively sparingly on screen. You probably know the broad strokes of what it is and what it’s supposed to do, but here are the specific episodes and moments we used for reference in this episode:

Star Trek season 1 episode 9 - “Dagger of the Mind”

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode 23 - “Sarek”

Star Trek: Voyager season 1 episode 8 - “Ex Post Facto”

Star Trek: Voyager season 2 episode 16 - “Meld”

Star Trek: Enterprise season 1 episode 17 - “Fusion”