History Main / StrawVulcan

* ArbitrarySkepticism is a hat that he keeps at hand all of the time. Even if the character has encountered every single damn weird thing under the sun and then some, it is impossible for him to accept the appearance of something new that doesn't fits within the rules of MagicAIsMagicA or the other kinds of PhlebotinumDuJour in the series because as far as he knows, those rules supposedly say that this weird thing cannot happen, and so logically it is ''not'' happening, ''period'' (so he can accept FasterThanLightTravel, aliens, InstantAIJustAddWater, telepathy, telekinesis, the existence of Atlantis, alternate dimensions, ghosts, and even the theory of all of these together ''somehow'' were involved in the assassination of JFK, but TimeTravel? Nope, his alma matter hasn't proven it existed yet, so it doesn't exists). Any scientist worth their salt is always (and must always be) open to the possibility that there is ''always'' stuff that has not been encountered, and if that phenomenon exists, then what does that says about the laws that have been theorized (not that they are wrong, maybe, just that whoever made them didn't encountered ''this'' particular situation), and is it possible to replicate the results? A lot of the time this is tied to the above bullet point, doubly so if the Straw Vulcan is the one who discovered whatever the phenomena is putting under question. Sometimes this applies to the paranormal, but if a writer decides to do stuff like add TimeTravel to his show, then obviously the Straw Vulcan will be the first to call it hogwash.

* ArbitrarySkepticism is a hat that he keeps at hand all of the time. Even if the character has encountered every single damn weird thing under the sun and then some, it is impossible for him to accept the appearance of something new that doesn't fits within the rules of MagicAIsMagicA or the other kinds of PhlebotinumDuJour in the series because as far as he knows, those rules supposedly say that this weird thing cannot happen, and so logically it is ''not'' happening, ''period''. Any scientist worth their salt is always (and must always be) open to the possibility that there is ''always'' stuff that has not been encountered, and if that phenomenon exists, then what does that says about the laws that have been theorized (not that they are wrong, maybe, just that whoever made them didn't encountered ''this'' particular situation), and is it possible to replicate the results? A lot of the time this is tied to the above bullet point, doubly so if the Straw Vulcan is the one who discovered whatever the phenomena is putting under question. Sometimes this applies to the paranormal, but if a writer decides to do stuff like add TimeTravel to his show, then obviously the Straw Vulcan will be the first to call it hogwash.

* ArbitrarySkepticism is a hat that he keeps at hand all of the time. Even if the character has encountered every single damn weird thing under the sun and then some, it is impossible for him to accept the appearance of something new that doesn't fits within the rules of MagicAIsMagicA or the other kinds of PhlebotinumDuJour in the series because as far as he knows, those rules supposedly say that this weird thing cannot happen, and so logically it is ''not'' happening, ''period''. Any scientist worth their salt is always (and must always be) open to the possibility that there is ''always'' stuff that has not been encountered, and if that phenomenon exists, then what does that says about the laws that have been theorized (not that they are wrong, maybe, just that whoever made them didn't encountered ''this'' particular situation), and is it possible to replicate the results? A lot of the time this is tied to the above bullet point, doubly so if the Straw Vulcan is the one who discovered whatever the phenomena is putting under question.

* The Straw Vulcan is an intellectual ArrogantKungFuGuy. If, for example, his calculations showcase that there is a 98.99% chance of success in a plan and another scientist proves that there is a 100% chance of success in the same plan (and they both reach the same conclusions using the same data and using the same calculation methods, but the Straw Vulcan is not discovered until later that he forgot to CarryTheOne), the Straw Vulcan will simply clamp down on that 1.01% chance of failure as an ''absolute'' probability of failure and drag his feet into helping as a result (at best) rather than admit the infinitesimally small chance that he's wrong .

* Albert in ''WesternAnimation/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas'' is a [[InsufferableGenius genius]] [[MouseWorld mouse]][[TheSpock kid]] who repeatedly expresses disbelief in Santa, and refuses to think with his heart. Even when Santa is literally real, with an actual postal address on the South Pole and everything. Every single fact he says about how he doesn't believes in Santa is InstantlyProvenWrong (for example, he states it as a hard-core fact that grown-ups don't believe in Santa, when not a single adult in the whole film acts that way and even go a long distance in trying to make things right). The calamity of the story happens because he decides to send a letter to Santa where he says he isn't real and he stupidly signs it "all of us" -- meaning Santa believes that ''all of the people in town'' told him to get lost and ''nearly'' decides not to give them presents.

* In general, Straw Vulcans will often act as TheCynic and consider [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids the more idealistic choice as illogical and improbable]], even though there's no direct logical connection between logic and pessimism. While many logicians are human and can be driven cynical (especially when they're the OnlySaneMan or are logically justified by a painful life), logic itself does not lean on either side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.

* Happened more than once in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', with Spock.
** In "The Galileo Seven", we're shown Spock's first command, as the shuttle he is in charge of crashes on a desolate planet filled with savage aliens. Spock determines that a display of superior force will logically frighten away these aliens while the crew make repairs to the shuttle. Instead, as [[TheMcCoy Dr. McCoy]] points out, the aliens have an emotional reaction and become angry and attack, something Spock did not anticipate. In the end, Spock's desperate act of igniting the fuel from the shuttle to create a beacon proves to be the correct action since it gets the attention of the Enterprise and allows for a rescue. When called on this "emotional" act, Spock replies that the only logical course of action in that instance was one of desperation. The most irritating part of their razzing on him about it was that, even by the narrow definition of "logic" in said episode, that was in fact the most logical choice. The two options were drift and conserve fuel for as long as possible despite a remote chance of being seen and found ultimately and dying anyway, or ignite the fuel source, which might lead to a quicker death from lack of power but would far increase visibility and the chances of being found. The latter of the two choices is smugly called "emotional" despite still being perfectly logical. The part with the aliens doesn't really make sense either. Everyone, including Spock himself, comes down ''hard'' on him when his plan doesn't work, but what did he do that was so wrong? He wanted the aliens to leave them alone and hoped to avoid unnecessary bloodshed in the process. The aliens were enraged rather than frightened, and quickly renewed their attack, but no one could have ''known'' that would happen. He made a ''mistake''; it happens.
** Happens straight in the second Pilot. [[SmartPeoplePlayChess Spock and Kirk play 3D chess]]. Spock is about to win, but Kirk makes an "illogical move" and wins. It'd perhaps be more accurate though to say Kirk used ConfusionFu and made an ''unexpected'' move.
** However, the trope is notably averted at the end of the [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan second film]], when Spock makes a HeroicSacrifice on the basis that he alone can survive the radiation exposure long enough to make needed repairs to the warp core, under the premise that "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one." In the same film, Spock argues that Kirk accepting promotion is illogical ("a waste of material") because he makes a better starship captain than an admiral. In most scenarios, choosing to do what one loves over accepting a higher rank is presented as the "emotional" response.
** Averted in "Space Seed", where we see fairly clearly from early on the episode that Kirk, Scotty, and (worst of all) Marla [=McGivers=] are looking at Khan through various sorts of romanticized shades, reading things into him that were never really there and deceiving themselves about who and what he really is. Spock, on the other hand, clearly recognizes that Khan is, fundamentally, just a mass murderer and a power-hungry egotistical thug who escaped from the catastrophe he helped create and is now potentially dangerous.
** Averted in "The City On the Edge of Forever" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In the first, Spock's cold, clear-eyed logic reveals to him what the choices before Kirk and himself in the time-trip into the 1930s are, and that Kirk's love for Edith Keeler is beside the point of those choices. He is not unsympathetic, as we see in his quiet words: "He knows, Doctor." after Kirk prevents [=McCoy=] from saving Edith. In WNMHGB, Spock analyzes the necessary implications of the changes in Kirk's then-best-friend Gary Mitchell, and the trend of where those changes are taking Mitchell, and knows that there is no way out: either Mitchell dies or catastrophe follows, and subsequent events prove him right-Kirk very nearly does wait too long out of sentiment, even after Mitchell ''himself'' affirms that Spock is right. In both cases, cold logic is revealing a painful truth that emotion and sentiment can cloud but not change.
** Also subverted in "A Piece of the Action".

** Averted in "Court Martial", when the ship's computer's records make it appear as though Kirk murdered another officer. Despite not being able to find any evidence of malfunctioning in the computer, Spock steadfastly maintains his confidence in Kirk's innocence, and is ultimately proven right. Spock knows from extensive personal experience that Kirk is a noble man who is consistently able to keep his cool in life-or-death situations; in his view, believing that Kirk killed someone out of panic or spite is as illogical as expecting a hammer not to fall when dropped.
** Subverted ''and'' inverted in an episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''; Sarkona, a Vulcan, joins the Maquis because she agrees with their position and believes their rather crude and barbaric actions to achieve "peace" to be logical... but she's called out by ''Quark'', locked in the brig with her after her plans are exposed, noting that, as the Federation had caught the Cardassians (the Maquis' enemies) red-handed supplying their people with weapons to fight against the Maquis, sitting down with them and hammering out an arrangement would bring the peace in better and "at a bargain price" compared to continuing the fight.
** In another episode from ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', Captain Solok has been hassling Benjamin Sisko across the known galaxy for the past two decades, all in the name of proving that emotional, illogical humans (like Sisko) are inferior to emotionless, logical Vulcans (like himself). Somewhat subverted by the end of the episode, when the Deep Space Nine crew successfully goad Solok into losing his temper, and it's generally implied that Solok is by no means representative of Vulcans, and [[FantasticRacism is really just kind of a jerk.]]
** In one episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'', Troi beats Data at chess. She then explains to him that chess isn't just a game of logic, but also intuition. As the Nitpicker's Guide puts it, "Try playing 'intuitive' chess against a computer and you'll lose in no time flat" (and then suggests that perhaps she had his DifficultyLevel set to "below novice"). Shown for laughs in [[http://xkcd.com/232/ xkcd 232]]. Great chess masters can play via intuition (and indeed, when playing speed chess, it's a necessity), however, intuition when playing a game such as chess is merely the player's experience in playing the game allowing them to make strong plays without thinking too much. Ultimately, that intuition comes FROM logic, as the player has enough experience to recognize generally favorable moves and positions on sight. The Troi example is particularly egregious because she really just reverses the correct terms. Her move was unintuitive, but was entirely logical because it immediately led to victory.
** In early episodes of both ''The Original Series'' and ''The Next Generation'', humans who have uploaded their minds into android bodies discover that they have lost some ineffable, illogical, ''human'' quality in the transfer. Despairing at this loss, they choose to terminate their existence -- a strangely emotional reaction for [[TinMan beings which now supposedly have none]]. Ironically, this is referenced and deconstructed by ''Data'', of all people, in the episode of ''The Measure of a Man''; a scientist wants to disassemble him and dump his memory into a computer so he could study him and learn how to create more like him, and Data refuses, fully believing in that same ineffable quality to memory and believing he, himself would lose it in the transfer, despite ''himself being an android''. In an attempt to explain this, he compares it to how learning how to play poker from a book isn't the same as actually playing the game, in person, implying that the "ineffable quality" being lost is the personal importance and significance of those experiences, the context which makes the event special for that individual, which -- when read out of that context as a mere descriptive text readout -- cannot be fully understood or appreciated -- an actually logical argument when you think about it.
*** This is also the episode in which Data claims to have "read and absorbed every treatise and textbook on the subject" of poker, but was completely surprised by the existence of bluffing. What kind of poker textbook doesn't discuss bluffing?

*** In one episode of Voyager Tuvok is being impersonated, and when he encounters the impostor, they are at a standoff.
---->'''Impostor Tuvok:''' Logic would dictate that neither of us is at an advantage.\\
'''Tuvok:''' [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Your logic is flawed.]] ''[[[CombatPragmatist shines a light in his eyes]]]''

* Albert in ''WesternAnimation/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas'' is a [[InsufferableGenius genius]] [[MouseWorld mouse]][[TheSpock kid]] who repeatedly expresses disbelief in Santa, and refuses to think with his heart.

* Albert in ''WesternAnimation/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas'' is a [[InsufferableGenius genius]] [[MouseWorld mouse]][[TheShortKidWithGlasses kid]] who repeatedly expresses disbelief in Santa, and refuses to think with his heart.

** Happens straight in the second Pilot. [[SmartPeoplePlayChess Spock and Kirk play 3D chess]]. Spock is about to win, Kirk makes an "illogical move" and wins. So what ''is'' illogical about making the necessary move to win? Sacrificing pieces? Except that's a valid and basic tactic of chess to begin with!

** Averted ''painfully'' in "The City On the Edge of Forever" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In the first Spock's cold, clear-eyed logic reveals to him what the choices before Kirk and himself in the time-trip into the 1930s are, and that Kirk's love for Edith Keeler is beside the point of those choices. He is not unsympathetic, as we see in his quiet words: "He knows, Doctor." after Kirk prevents [=McCoy=] from saving Edith. In WNMHGB, Spock analyzes the necessary implications of the changes in Kirk's then-best-friend Gary Mitchell, and the trend of where those changes are taking Mitchell, and knows that there is no way out, either Mitchell dies or catastrophe follows, and subsequent events prove him right-Kirk very nearly does wait too long out of sentiment, even after Mitchell ''himself'' affirms that Spock is right. In both cases, cold logic is revealing a painful truth that emotion and sentiment can cloud but not change.

* Possible example in Creator/EECummings's poem ''[[http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/feeling.html since feeling is first]]'', although it doesn't say logic is wrong per se, simply that it's less important than love.

* The Straw Vulcan is an intellectual ArrogantKungFuGuy. If, for example, his calculations showcase that there is a 98.99% chance of success in a plan and another scientist proves that there is a 100% chance of success in the same plan (and they both reach the same conclusions using the same data and using the same calculation methods, but the Straw Vulcan is not discovered until later that he forgot to CarryTheOne), the Straw Vulcan will simply clamp down on that 2.1% chance of failure as an ''absolute'' probability of failure and drag his feet into helping as a result (at best) rather than admit the infinitesimally small chance that he's wrong .

* Sokka of WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender is often put in this position when the Gaang is trying to help people. However, it's subverted in "The Fortuneteller", where they have to convince the people that the [[spoiler:volcano will erupt]]. Although a lot of times Sokka will act on instinct and emotion, oftentimes, he is actually very practical and logical in the non-straw sense. Over the course of the series though, he grows out of it. By the time of ''Legend Of Korra,'' when Sokka is a judge, his response to [[spoiler: a crime-boss being accused of blood-bending without a full moon,]] is more or less, "Yes, it's supposed to be impossible, but I've seen a lot of weird, seemingly-impossible crap in my life, and a ''lot'' of victims have come forth, so let's discuss it."

* The original Prowl from {{Transformers}} was described as being logical to the point of shutting down when faced with an unexpectedly crazy situation. In the cartoon, this wasn't really touched on and he was portrayed more as a just-the-facts-ma'am style military policeman.

This is, of course, a BrokenAesop. Fiction often [[LogicalFallacies gets the concept of logic wrong]] in a number of ways.

This is when a [[TheWarOnStraw straw man]] is used to show that emotion is better than logic.

A [[TheWarOnStraw straw man]] used to show that emotion is better than logic.

*** That said, there was also an episode where the crew met an offshoot culture of Vulcans who ate meat and believed that emotion in moderation was not harmful in the slightest; as long as you had control over your emotions, there was no reason you couldn't allow yourself to feel and express that emotion. They were sort of an exploration of what would happen if you had Vulcans who weren't straw.

* A variation of this can happen to Alchemicals in ''{{Exalted}}'' -- as they grow into cities, install Exemplar charms, or go long periods without human interaction, they accumulate Clarity. The sourcebook for Alchemicals goes out of its way to point out that this means they focus on efficiency and do not become needlessly cruel.

* The Straw Vulcan is also [[ScienceIsBad cold-hearted and merciless]]. When they (for whatever reason) calculate that some people have to die (or suffer in another way), they just have to, and there's nothing you can do about it. Enter the [[TheMcCoy emotional man]] to show pity and protect them form the evil intellectual.

* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' parodies an instance of this from ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' in [[http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=980 this strip]]. Willis labeled the strip "Is this something already covered by TVTropes? I haven't checked yet." in his update blog.

** [[spoiler:V.I.K.I.'s motivations]] are entirely rooted in logical thought. Sonny even comments that he can understand the logic behind the plan perfectly, "but it just seems too... heartless." [[spoiler:V.I.K.I.]]'s motivations are logical for her premise, it's her premise/goal that is wrong. She is looking to save lives at all costs, but one could argue there was a much better way to go about the coup that wouldn't set up an us-vs-them mentality that would encourage humans to fight to the death. The problem is that humans want more than just personal survival. We would rather accept small risk if it means enjoyment or a meaning in life, and would be inadvertently encouraged to die for freedom when it's an AndIMustScream world dictated by robots. If she had started out with the premise of "I must preserve human happiness" instead of "I must preserve human life" things would have been far different. Of course, life, unlike happiness, can be quantified.

* The computer in ''WarGames'' is supposed to have mastered all sorts of game theory, without ever having realized that there could possibly be a game in which neither player could win [[spoiler:(until, of course at the end, they introduce it to tic-tac-toe, and have it play against itself)]]. The message isn't so much that you can't win a nuclear war, but that the ''correct'' move is not to "play the game" at all. At least that seems to be the Aesop. In any case, WOPPER's "logic" is sound and subverts the notion that one can rationally plan a nuclear war, so this may count as a subversion of the trope.

* The Straw Vulcan is also [[ScienceIsBad cold-hearted and merciless]]. When they (for whatever reason) calculate that some people have to die (or suffer in another way), they just have, and there's nothing you can do about it. Enter the [[TheMcCoy emotional man]] to show pity and protect them form the evil intellectual.

* Kyoya from ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' averts this to a degree; his actions are based purely upon what he can gain, and he acts exactly as a truly logical person would. In one manga chapter, Haruhi hypothesizes that emotional gains might be part of these. Kyoya is intrigued.

* The Straw Vulcan will proceed to disturb everyone with doomsaying that their current plan "only has a 10% chance for us to succeed", and then the emotional protagonist proceeds to disprove him by saying "NeverTellMeTheOdds" and succeeding. Actually, when all other options are depleted, the plan that has a 10% chance of success is logically superior to other courses of action that have less chance of success. (And presumably doing nothing means a 0% chance) Bothering people with remarks about low chances of success in critical situations may degrade their morale and thus further diminish said chances, so it doesn't make logical sense to quote poor odds unless there's a better option that can be taken.[[note]]Or the "logical" character forgot to factor the other characters' personalities into the equation, so telling the others it's unlikely to work actually [[InspirationalInsult makes it MORE likely they'll try harder than usual and therefore succeed]], just to prove the "logical" character wrong.[[/note]] Pessimism for pessimism's sake in a time of need simply isn't logical, no need to be the sensitive guy of the cast to figure ''that'' out.

* In the GratefulDead song ''Terrapin Station'', a potential love interest [[SecretTestOfCharacter tests]] the [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan worthiness]] of the heros, a [[TheSpock soldier]] and a [[TheMcCoy sailor]], by [[MoralDissonance throwing her fan into the lion's den]] and promising her love to whoever would retrieve it for her. The sailor [[MadLove decides to]], while the soldier refuses, and says "Strategy is my strength, not disaster." The sailor [[MillionToOneChance succeeds, and gets the girl, rather than getting his ass handed to him by the lions]].