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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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