One of the funniest lines in the Movie version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is this little bit of philosophy. It speaks nicely to the failings of many belief systems. While an idea may support our Story, it often doesn’t actually serve us. I was surprised to discover I hadn’t posted this here yet…
“Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I think the chances of finding out whats really going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and keep yourself busy. I’d much rather be happy than right any day.”
“And are you?” asks Arthur
“Ahhhh, no (snorts). That’s where it all falls down of course.”
–Slarty Bartfast
More great quotes from the flick:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/quotes
Note: Don’t Panic is not Marvin’s line. It’s from the back cover of the Hitchhiker’s Guide.
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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
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You have answered the ultimate question!
I think I agree with the second theory.
And this one:
“Curiously the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias, as it fell, was, ‘Oh no, not again.’ Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly *why* the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now.”
It should be noted that the petunias had been called into existence high up in the atmosphere of a mythical planet by infinite improbability.
I read all of the Hitchhiker’s books in Japan way back in 1999. At the same time, I read all of Stephen Hawking’s then published books. I would alternate chapters, so after finishing one of the Hitchhiker’s, I would read one of Hawking’s, and so on until all were finished.
By the time I finished all of them, something was different in my brain…I might have broken it somehow… 😉
Love this comment
Alas, Takuin’s blog has returned to the ether. 🙂
(laughs) And we all know what the consequence was. Seems like a good thing…
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