The original Star Trek consulted with a RAND Corporation researcher to brainstorm futuristic technology, which may explain why its communicator devices resemble modern smartphones.
Where this was said
At 38:26 · chapter starts 37:20
The hosts broaden the lens to Star Trek, another franchise long cited as prescient for its communicator devices that resemble modern smartphones. The explanation is less mystical than it might seem: the show's writers worked with a consultant from the RAND Corporation, a government-funded think-tank specializing in policy and technological forecasting [1] — Carter Roy "Star Trek's eerily prescient communicators weren't pure imagination — the writers consulted a RAND Corporation researcher to brainstorm pla…" 38:10 . The consultant helped them brainstorm plausible futures grounded in real research — which is why the technology feels prophetic rather than fantastical. In a neat feedback loop, the creator of the first real mobile phone later credited Star Trek as inspiration. Art imitates life; life imitates art. The hosts close the loop with a Simpsons Easter egg: a 1994 episode features a joke about the RAND Corporation, saucer people, and reverse vampires controlling Springfield's adults — which either proves the show knows more than it lets on, or proves that even when The Simpsons mocks a conspiracy, it gets cited as evidence of one.
Star Trek's eerily prescient communicators weren't pure imagination — the writers consulted a RAND Corporation researcher to brainstorm plausible future technology. RAND is government-funded. The creator of the first mobile phone has even credited Star Trek as inspiration. Art and life don't just imitate each other; sometimes they're built together.
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