Imagination Imagination was the ability to form images in the mind . Elim Garak once commented " " The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination " " . ( ) Zefram Cochrane was known for his imagination and intoxication . ( ) In 2269 , a Romulan commander accused James T . Kirk of having an imagination that was " " creative but obviously out of control " " when the captain accused him of using a Vendorian spy to lure the into the Neutral zone . ( ) In 2366 , when Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge had issues with the performance of Lieutenant Reginald Barclay , he sought the advice of Guinan , who told him that Barclay was " imaginative . " When La Forge suggested that maybe Barclay was in the wrong line of work , Guinan asked if " engineering types " didn ' t appreciate imagination , and told him of Terkim , a cousin of hers whose sense of humor nobody else appreciated because they wouldn ' t stay around him long enough . Later when , when La Forge discovered Barclay participating in an unusual holographic program , Barclay was worried , but La Forge told him that what he did on the holodeck was his own business , so long as it didn ' t interfere with his work . He agreed that he wouldn ' t tell anyone else about it , as they might not appreciate his imagination like he did . ( ) In 2369 , several alien s studying the crew of Deep Space 9 took the form of people from their imaginations , including Jadzia Dax , Buck Bokai and Rumpelstiltskin . The aliens had never experienced anything like it and found it to be extremely unusual . Prior to this incident , Odo had a discussion with Quark in which he told him that he didn ' t have time for fantasies . He told Quark that imagination was a waste of time , that too many people dreamed of places that they would never go or wished for things that they would never have instead of paying attention to their real lives . Later , during the incident , Odo complained to Quark of having to chase after " " incarnations of the Prophet s , long - dead lovers , Gunji jackdaw s , blizzard , trollops " " from people ' s imaginations that had been made real by the aliens . Quark called him a man without any imagination , but Odo chuckled to himself when he experienced a vision of Quark being placed in one of Deep Space 9 ' s security cells . ( ) Garak would often say Julian Bashir had an active imagination when he questioned Garak about his past . ( ) In 2370 , Lieutenant Commander Data took part in a clay sculpting class on the . He made a sculpture of a PADD that had dimensions accurate to within 1 . 3 % , but Counselor Deanna Troi told him he was there to work on his imagination and suggested that he sculpt something a little more abstract . Later , when the " Enterprise " fell under the control of a D ' Arsay archive , Data sculpted a mask with a rose motif that Troi considered " amazing . " When she asked Data how he came up with it , he told her that he had followed her advice and used his imagination . ( ) In 2372 , when Major Kira Nerys had trouble enjoying a Hoobishan Baths holoprogram , Lieutenant commander Jadzia Dax told her that she simply had to relax and use her imagination , but Kira replied that she didn ' t have much of one . Dax asked if she had ever played make - believe when she was a child and she replied that she had pretended that the Cardassian s had stopped killing Bajoran s and just gone away . She then apologized and admitted that she had never had much use for imagination , that Dax had planned a fun evening and she was sitting there worrying about Klingon s . Dax replied that she could worry about the Klingons tomorrow and that she was prescribing a strict regime of exercise for her imagination , starting immediately . ( ) Later that same year , when Captain Benjamin Sisko represented Lieutenant commander Worf at a hearing regarding his having fired at a supposedly civilian ship , he asked the opposing advocate Ch ' Pok if he could imagine any circumstance in which the Klingon Empire would deceive the Federation . Ch ' Pok replied that he had a poor imagination and Sisko stated " " Let ' s see what we can do to spark it " " , presenting information that proved that the names of the supposed civilians on the ship were likely fabricated . ( ) In 2373 , when Lieutenant commander Tuvok told Marayna that he had never felt the illusion of being able to control the wind and the waves on the ocean , she asked if he had an imagination . He replied that if she meant the ability to generate images in his mind , then he did indeed have a highly developed one , as did all members of his race . She then asked him to imagine he was skimming atop waves of emotion , believing himself to be in control , but that control was an illusion . ( ) In 2374 , Captain Kathryn Janeway had Seven of Nine do clay sculpting in her holoprogram . Seven of Nine wondered what the purpose the environment , a messy workshop , was , and Janeway told her that a little disorganization can be very encouraging to the imagination . When Seven told her that she didn ' t understood why things such as imagination , creativity and fantasy were necessary , she replied that they weren ' t , but were nevertheless an important part of one ' s life , because imagination frees the mind . ( ) When Damar expressed his interest in picturing the conflict between the Prophet s and the Pah - wraith , Weyoun warned him that too much of an imagination was dangerous . ( ) During a vision being sent Benjamin Sisko by the Pah - wraith , Wykoff told Benny Russell the Deep Space 9 crew were all in his imagination . ( ) In 2376 , The Doctor was upset when Lieutenant B ' Elanna Torres didn ' t choose him to go on an away mission , as he had been hoping to snap some holographic images of an interesting canyon on the planet they were visiting . Torres offered to take some pictures for him instead , but he told her not to bother and after she left ' s sickbay commented " " I ' ll just use my imagination " , " referring to his new daydream ing subroutine . Later , after The Doctor saved the ship from the Hierarchy , Janeway awarded him the Starfleet Medal of Commendation for his imaginative defense of the ship and her crew . ( )