Listen, three eyes," he said, "don't you try to outweird me, I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal.
Douglas AdamsRead
A computer chatted to itself in alarm as it noticed an airlock open and close itself for no apparent reason. This was because Reason was in fact out to lunch.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously depicts a malfunctioning computer experiencing confusion when it encounters an unexplained event.
Douglas Adams uses this quote to illustrate the absurdity of technology and the concept of artificial intelligence. The image of a computer becoming alarmed over an unexplained event, due to 'Reason' being unavailable, serves as a comedic commentary on the limitations of machines when faced with the unpredictable nature of the universe and human-like traits attributed to them.
Themes
TechnologyHumorComputersAbsurdityArtificial Intelligence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a tech conference to lighten the mood.
More from Douglas Adams
All quotes β"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "Ask a glass of water."
Douglas AdamsRead
Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen. [...] Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.
Douglas AdamsRead
Computers are still technology because we are still wrestling with it: it's still being invented; we're still trying to work out how it works. There's a world of game interaction to come that you or I wouldn't recognise. It's time for the machines to disappear. The computer's got to disappear into all of the things we use.
Douglas AdamsRead
What the computer in virtual reality enables us to do is to recalibrate ourselves so that we can start seeing those pieces of information that are invisible to us but have become important for us to understand.
Douglas AdamsRead
We are stuck with technology when all we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.
Douglas AdamsRead
Similar quotes
If someone ever says youβre weird, say thank you.
Ellen DegeneresRead
Isnβt it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?
David NivenRead
I left school and couldn't find acting work, so I started going to clubs where you could do stand-up. I've always improvised, and stand-up was this great release. All of a sudden, it was just me and the audience.
Robin WilliamsRead
Nothing like a little judicious levity.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
If I paid ten dollars for a cigar, first I'd make love to it, then I'd smoke it.
George BurnsRead
Just to keep bad dreams at bay, she took a swig out of a bottle that smelled of apples and happy brain-death.
Terry PratchettRead