Honestly probably the worst thing that could have happened to him personally.
He wanted booze, money, good music, and naked women, and fully accomplished the grueling work he thought would deliver it. Instead, He got paperwork, speeches, unwanted deification, and diplomatic pressure.
And the aliens he met and had the most contact with A) treated humans like special needs kids/lower lifeforms well past his death, and B) were for all intents and purposes among the humanoid species most allergic in the galaxy to what he wanted: fun.
Imagine wanting to go to the strip club, and instead being taken to a lecture hall and pressured to give a lecture on warp theory and interplanetary diplomacy.
Zefram Cochrane: … poor me, poor, poor me … pour me another drink.
He wanted booze, money, good music, and naked women, and fully accomplished the grueling work he thought would deliver it.
I know this feeling, especially about the booze.
Instead, He got paperwork, speeches, unwanted deification, and diplomatic pressure.
I also know most of this, except deification. I feel so bad for that guy.
So what we’re saying is, meeting Vulcans makes you a square…
At least you’ll live long and prosper … without First Contact, all we have is rock 'n roll and liver and heart disease
Is it better to burn out or make first contact?
As a burnout (capitalism, not substance abuse), I say bring on the space squares.
Yes, but he was also more than a little bit insane. Let’s not forget that part.
Edit: the whole time. Not before or after. Always.
Alcoholism, recovery and sobriety is only about stopping drinking … it has nothing to do with your personality or mentality.
Personally, I’ve been in recovery for almost 30 years now (28 years now? I always have to think about that). One of the funniest thing about recovery is that it doesn’t always change people in the ways you would think. I had one excellent addictions counsellor who became a lifelong friend tell me once about some people in recovery … “I really don’t care who you are or what you think, I just want to help you stop drinking … I’ve known guys who were an asshole while they were drinking and then they remained an asshole when they went into recovery and stopped drinking … it doesn’t matter how they turn out, as long as they stop drinking”
Zefram was always loopy, before and after the drinking … at least after Contact he saved his liver … for 150 years
Apparently alchohol can also take you from Alpha Centauri to Earth.
… or at the very least make you think that you went to Alpha Centauri
