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
Fifteen birds in five firtrees, their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze! But, funny little birds, they had no wings! O what shall we do with the funny little things? Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot; fry them, boil them and eat them hot?
J. R. R. TolkienRead
I'm offended by political jokes. Too often they get elected.
Henny YoungmanRead
Someone who makes you laugh is a comedian. Someone who makes you think and then laugh is a humorist.
George BurnsRead
It is hard enough to be good at all, but to be good in comedy speaks for your character.
Roger EbertRead
The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.
Will RogersRead
No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.
Thomas CarlyleRead