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Originally posted by Da_bang80:
I don't know how long Vulcans live...

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The TNG episode "Sarek" gives the impression that at just about 200 Sarek is pretty old for a Vulcan, and he dies just a few years later. I'd say their life expectancy usually ranges from about 160-180, with Vulcans getting to the 200 mark being regarded as having a bloody good innings.

That said, has it ever been stated (or indirectly hinted at) how long the human lifespan is by the time of TNG? Picard would have been, if we take the chronology book as accurate, well into his seventies by the time Nemesis rolled around - I assume humans regularly break the 100 barrier by that point?
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
Well McCoy was 140 years old wasn't he in Farpoint?
 

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Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
 
137 years old, according to Starfleet records.
 

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Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Sarek was sick, though. With a disease that typically shows up in Vulcans over age 200. Sort of a Vulcan Alzheimer's, I suppose (in that it affects the elderly, rather than in its symptoms).

The impression I got was that, while Sarek wasn't young, his death was still rather premature, compared to dying by old age.
 

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Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
 
IIRC, the TOS writer's guide (as documented in Stephen Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry's The Making of Star Trek) said that a typical Vulcan lifespan "rarely exceeds 250 years."

T'Pol was already in her 60s during ENT's run, and TNG was more than 200 years later.

-MMoM
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by TSN:
Sarek was sick, though. With a disease that typically shows up in Vulcans over age 200. Sort of a Vulcan Alzheimer's, I suppose (in that it affects the elderly, rather than in its symptoms).

The impression I got was that, while Sarek wasn't young, his death was still rather premature, compared to dying by old age.

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But supposedly Bandii syndrome commonly affected vulcans over the age of 200 - if it was so common - then there wouldn't be many 200+ year old Vulcans.

The wording alone makes it sound as if there aren't many 200+ ers and of those that there are - many get Bandaii.
 

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
I think you're using an unworkably inflated definition of "common."
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
What I mean is - that I think they were trying to emphasise that he was OLD, by Vulcan standards and as a result was suffering from this condition.
 

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Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
 
Hmmm...a wonder that Sarek did not have more children: figure, once every seven years, and he was over 200.....(carry the seven)....

That's a whole lotta fucking.

What do poor lonely batchelor Vulcan males do when it's their time? Either they have a Vulcan square dance or Vulcans developed holotechnology by nessisity.
 

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Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Alzheimer's commonly affects people over the age of, say, 70. That doesn't mean most 70-year-olds get it. Nor does it mean that 70 is an overly high age to reach. It just means it's unusual for someone under 70 to have it.

Now, apply that logic to the Vulcans, and you'll see what I'm getting at.

"That's a whole lotta fucking."

Hardly. Assuming they don't start until at least their mid-to-late-teens (q.v. Star Trek III), and also assuming they don't have some sort of pon-farr-opause, that's about 26 instances of coitus in his entire life. Now, granted, this is a science fiction message board on the Internet, so one might expect that number to seem high to some of us. However, having sex 26 times and producing two children doesn't exactly seem improbable.
 

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
At the risk of the saddest and creepiest derail ever: I don't think the original intention (as per an interview with D.C. Fontana that I once read) was every seven years exclusively, just that it became mandatory at that point.
 

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Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
 
Fuck or die. Literally.

I seem to remember long ago reading an article or story in a Playboy from 1985 or 1986 wherein the author mused upon the differences in human life if we as a species still hat mating seasons & went into heat twice a year. What I recall with most clarity is how he posited the scenario of "imagine a busload of high school football players passing by a convent. What sort of chaos would ensue with nuns in heat? Would we even HAVE nuns?"
 

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Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
 
*The indication seemed to be that Sarek died at a ripe, but disappointing age. That is that he should have had years left if he hadn't been sick.

*There is a Monty Python joke in there...."but we've only had sex 28 times...."

*Let's stay clear of "nuns in heat", or at least I really, really, urge you to Shik.
 

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Posted by Mikey T (Member # 144) on :
 
Ah... yeah let's stay away from the nuns in heat and how much sex we've had.
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
Maybe Spock had sisters we never heard about?
 

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Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
 
A sissssster?
 

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Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
 
Sisters in heat?

(Sounds like it could result in bad habits.)

[WARNING: THIS JOKE IS NOT FUNNY!]
 

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Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
 
Sure it is: in the way a porno called Hannah does her sisters or Edward Penishandsis funny.
 

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