This is why I love TNG so much. Even though TOS is the original that laid the groundwork for everything, TNG took that “boundless optimism” and ran with it. Watching TNG inspires me to continue to self-improve and encourage it in others.
This is almost certainly it, but my first thought was that it was just one of those weird alterations that scifi shows/movies do to everday objects to make them look different and futuristic.