Spock has been an inspiration to me, through the years . . . and, of course, a cautionary tale, though I didn’t understand that until I was older. Child of a human mother and Vulcan father, he had a dual nature that most of us can appreciate. And, despite his dual nature, he was effectively presented with a binary choice: be Vulcan or be human. He chose his Vulcan lineage, but his human nature was always there, underneath, largely suppressed in his regular interactions, but nonetheless central to his life choices.

At his funeral ceremony, just before Scotty pipes him out with Amazing Grace, Kirk says of his friend, “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human.” Spock himself would likely have been insulted by the sentiment, but it was absolutely true — even though he was also, unquestionably, Vulcan. Almost alone of his contemporaries, Kirk saw that Spock’s dual nature allowed him to be the best of both.