Sci-Fi Whys

[rom65536]

All of these issues are because the writer isn't "playing with" all of the "toys" he or she has available to them. Granted, it's sometimes hard to remember that in a future with star ships and warp drive and transporters little things like baldness would still be meaningful to people. And that "Oh, the population has matured and they no longer suffer from vanity" line is pure crap and we all know it. There will always be a market for cosmetics, baldness treatments and erectile dysfunction cures. It may not be a pill or a cream like we know today, but there'll be some technology to make people more attractive and virile for as long as possible.

As for birth control/family planning, I can think of several sci-fi stories that have addressed that - Larry Niven's "Known Space" setting had a procreation lottery on earth. And I can't remember what book it was in, but I remember a story about earth having a population control monitoring program where the population was maintained with automated birth control, and when someone did die, somewhere in the world a woman got pregnant.

The airlock thing is just a case of modern day earthbound humans not knowing on a visceral level the dangers of the vacuum of space.

I'm more upset with Starfleet engineers that don't understand that seat belts and circuit breakers might be a good idea.