Whenever someone asks me why the blog is called katra, the short answer is: Spock.

In the Star Trek universe, Vulcans have a concept with no real equivalent in any Earth language. The katra is a person’s living essence: everything they were, everything they learned, everything they thought. It’s not exactly the soul — it’s more like a whole mind you can hand off.

The most famous scene comes at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Spock knows he’s going to die. Before stepping into the reactor chamber, he puts his hand on McCoy’s face and transfers his katra with a whisper: “Remember.” Everything Spock was ends up in someone else’s mind.