This is a repost of an old article from October 2011 with a few tweaks.
The video below is from the BBC TV series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. It is based upon the novel by Douglas Adams, which in turn was based upon the radio series of the same name. I started to read the books in my last year at prep school and continued into my time at Marlborough. It was something of a departure from my usual fare of Agatha Christie and James Herriot.
In the sequence below, the hero, Arthur Dent (an ape-descended Earth man), is learning about an experiment performed long ago by a hyper-intelligent species. They built a massive computer; the largest ever built. It was called Deep Thought and was designed to answer the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. This is one of my favourite clips because it includes two angry philosophers. They arrive to complain that thinking about the deep questions of life is the job of philosophers, not machines (nor, by extension, scientists).
I often express a dim view of philosophy (although partly in jest), so I enjoy the assertion that the philosophers demand “rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty“. Science strives to provide answers – it doesn’t try to keep you ignorant. It looks for uncertainty and attempts to dispel it by providing evidence and explanation. It thrives on the unknown and supplies a mechanism for establishing what is (most likely) true and what is very unlikely to be true. It doesn’t ever say anything with absolute certainty but does try to give the best possible explanation for its observations. The more that people appreciate that simple idea, the less unsettled they will be by the media’s reporting of scientific research.
I recommend the Hitchhiker’s series as an excellent, amusing and thought-provoking read. I know it’s in the library because I donated my copies a few years ago. The books are by far the best ways to consume the story, although the various radio adaptations are excellent, and the original TV series has a low-tech charm that sets it apart from the recent movie version.
Questions…
- What is the name of the character who changes the cartridge in the computer to which Arthur is attached?
- What planet is Arthur on when he hears about “Deep Thought”?
- What is the occupation of the inhabitants of that planet?
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