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A Tide That Never Ebbs: What Star Trek's 'Tin Man' Can Teach Us About Social Media Overload
- Damian Ali
- Sep 5
- 3 min read
What happens to the individual when they can no longer separate their thoughts from the collective noise?
"There are too many minds. I can't shut them out. Never could learn. All their loves, their hates, their fears, their needs. It's like a tide that never ebbs. I could drown."
— Tam Elbrun,
Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Tin Man"
Star Trek has always had a way of feeling oddly prophetic. Even the episodes that seem like filler can sneak up on you with something timely. One quote. One character. One quiet idea that suddenly feels like it was written for right now.
For the uninitiated: In The Next Generation's Season 3 episode "Tin Man," the Enterprise is sent to investigate a mysterious alien vessel near a dying star. The ship turns out to be a living being called Gomtuu, mourning the loss of its crew and waiting for death. Starfleet assigns Tam Elbrun, a gifted but deeply troubled telepath, to make contact.
Tam was born with his Betazoid abilities fully active. He's never known silence. From birth, he was flooded with other people's thoughts, unable to filter them out. Tam walks through life carrying the weight of every emotion, opinion, and secret of everyone around him. The line he delivers about drowning in a tide of minds may have been about telepathy, but it could just as easily describe what it feels like to scroll through social media today.
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Every ping, every notification, every comment, we're absorbing it all. Not just facts and headlines, but people's fears, anger, insecurities, and judgments. Maybe we are not wired for this amount of daily input. And like Tam, many of us are quietly drowning in it.
In the episode, Tam is drawn to Gomtuu because, like him, the creature is alone, overwhelmed, and misunderstood. What makes their connection powerful isn't that they speak, it's that they understand each other without the noise. It's a reminder that peace isn't found in isolation or in the crowd, it's found in real, quiet connection.
Tam was born this way, forced to absorb every thought around him. But when we hear his line today, "I can't shut them out. Never could learn," it sounds familiar for a different reason. For us, it's not biology, it's addiction, FOMO, and the pressure to stay connected. We weren't born into this tide, but we willingly stepped into it. And now, like Tam, many of us are struggling to swim against it.
Before I end this article, I want to highlight one more message that stood out in this episode. In the end, it was only the two of them. Tam didn't need everyone to accept him; he just needed that one connection.
It's a powerful reminder for anyone navigating social media and worrying about follower counts, or for those who feel their inner circle is too small because it's just them and a friend. Whether it's on an app or in your personal life, one follower or one thousand, it's not about the size of your community. It’s about the strength of your connection.
This spotlight is a small thank-you to the writers who gave us those words, and to the actor who delivered them in a way that still makes us pause and reflect decades later.
What shows have helped you draw boundaries or see life differently? If you've watched this Star Trek episode, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
Keep life interesting, stay channel surfing
— Damian Ali
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