How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
Quote #1
UHURA: Would you look at that.
KIRK: My friends, the great experiment, the Excelsior. Ready for trial runs.
SULU: She's supposed to have transwarp drive.
SCOTTY: Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon.
Let's take this opportunity to consider the Excelsior. In the Trek universe, the technological revolution that began in the 19th Century continued on through our present day and into the future. The Excelsior and its transwarp drive represent one step in that process. Putting aside Scotty's comment—because we don't even know what that means—humanity's future looks all the brighter with all this slick tech.
Quote #2
MORROW: I'm sorry, Mr. Scott, but there will be no refit.
KIRK: Admiral, I don't understand. The Enterprise is not…
MORROW: Jim, the Enterprise is 20 years old. We feel her day is over.
KIRK: But we had requested…We'd hoped to take her back to Genesis.
We all know this feeling. We go to download a game or app only to discover our beloved tech isn't up to spec. Time to murder a piggy bank and upgrade. This scene shows us an oft over-looked aspect of the incessant march of technological innovation. Like a force of nature, it has little consideration for the feelings or goals of the individuals swept up in it.
Quote #3
KIRK [recording]: To fully understand the events on which I report, it is necessary to review the theoretical data on the Genesis device, as developed by Doctors Carol and David Marcus. Genesis, simply put, is life from lifelessness. It was the intention to introduce the Genesis device into a preselected area of a lifeless space body, a moon or other dead form. The device, when delivered, would instantaneously cause the Genesis effect. Instead of a dead moon, a living, breathing planet now exists, capable of sustaining whatever life forms we see fit to deposit on it
Here we get into the ethical considerations. Just because we can create life from lifelessness, should we? Might there be unintended consequences that could have disastrous effects? If you're a science fiction fan, no doubt you've seen these questions repackaged in forms like time travel and dinosaur zoos.