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They always were. Even when Spock was using them, he only used them when there was no other choice, and even then, there was no generally no small risk to both parties.
From Enterprise, mind melds are treated as something both sensitive and private. Things you do with someone you trust. That seems to have carried over in the intervening centuries, but you're still not meant to meld with everything willy-nilly.
Because it IS dangerous. Trek lore has established that mind melds carry the risk of neurological damage, emotional overload, and Panar Syndrome in the melder.
And even if all of those risks are mitigated, mind-melds are incredibly personal and Vulcans don't engage in them flippantly.
Mind melds are overused and treated too lightly and simply by modern trek. I actually like Voyager’s take on it.
Interesting take. Do you have an example?
i haven't watched modern trek because blehhhh, but i presume it's just used as a deus ex machina? "ah crap we don't have a sensible solution to this situation, let's just have them mind meld to get the information", shit like that?
I don’t really remember the details. I just remember rolling my eyes and thinking “Not this shit again.”
Enterprise has a mind meld rape causing a disease for T’Pol so VOY isn’t the only series with bad mind meld juju.
that’s kinda different though… enterprise happened before the kir’shara discovery which changed vulcan society from “telepathy taboo” to “telepathy okay”. in their taboo society, there were references to the fact that pa’nar syndrome was incurable only because anyone with it were outcasts and thus undeserving of help
after the discovery of the kir’shara, vulcan society changed and their attitudes to mind melds in particular changed significantly
That is such a bizarre image.
Mind melds are like unprotected sex. Fine to be done with a trusted partner, not something you want to do a lot with randos