Author:: [[Douglas Adams]] DateFinished:: 3/1/2022 Rating:: 9 Tags:: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  ## 🚀The Book in 3 Sentences - Everyday average human Arthur Dent's life is upheave led when he discovers his friend Ford Perfect is actually an alien and Earth is about to be destroyed by an evil intergalactic race, the Vogons. Together they embark on an epic quest across the universe encountering insane improbability, meaningless, power, and more. ### 🎨 Impressions - Love this book. The humoristic voice that Adam Douglas exudes in his writing is just perfect. A interesting mix of seriousness and humor create a wild read. ### 📖Who Should Read It? - One of the rare books I think everyone should read. ### ☘️ How the Book Changed Me - I'm re-realizing the importance of enjoying life for what it is. I have a tendency to plan my days quiet rigidly. I like to have things to look forward to. Overall this is a great habit to have but sometimes it makes it difficult to just go with the flow when things don't go to plan or I have quiet a bit of white space in my calendar. - I understand how important it is I don't let my own ego get ahead of me. If I start making lots of passive income through this content creation endeavor than I can't let myself feel above other people. The humans in the novel paid for seeing themselves as above mice and other creatures in the universe. ### ✍️ My Top 3 Quotes - ‘You think you’ve got problems,’ said Marvin as if he was addressing a newly occupied coffin, ‘what are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot? No, don’t bother to answer that, I’m fifty thousand times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer. It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level.’ - ‘Ford,’ insisted Arthur, ‘I don’t know if this sounds like a silly question, but what am I doing here?’ ‘Well, you know that,’ said Ford. ‘I rescued you from the Earth.’ ‘And what’s happened to the Earth?’ ‘Ah. It’s been demolished.’ ‘Has it,’ said Arthur levelly. ‘Yes. It just boiled away into space.’ ‘Look,’ said Arthur, ‘I’m a bit upset about that.’ Ford frowned to himself and seemed to roll the thought around his mind. ‘Yes, I can understand that,’ he said at last. ‘Understand that!’ shouted Arthur. ‘Understand that!’ Ford sprang up. ‘Keep looking at the book!’ he hissed urgently. ‘What?’ ‘Don’t Panic.’ - The PA slammed back into life again. The voice was annoyed. It said: ‘What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? For Heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light-years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that’s your own lookout.’ # Summary # Major Themes ### Happiness and Meaninglessness Throughout the novel there are many examples of characters struggling to find meaning in their life. Adam's implies their difficulty finding happiness stems from the fact that they try so hard to find it in the first place ([[The pursuit of happiness for its own sake is foolhardy]]). They look for meaning in arbitrary things like "small green pieces of paper." This unwillingness to accept the meaningless of life but rather juxtaposing it onto arbitrary things leads characters to be less happy than they would be otherwise. Here are some examples of meaningless throughout the novel: - Deep Thought the supercomputer answers 42 to the question of what the meaning of life is. - The improbability drive turns the two missles coming after the group into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias. - Earth was a just a simulation of an incredibly intelligent computer program, deep mind. - The ancient primordial beings of Magarethea are mice. - The Vogon meant to lead Arthur and Ford to the incineration chamber when they come onto the ship doesn't even know the reason why he does what he does. He just likes screaming. Arguably the most happy character in the novel is Zaphod Beeblebrox who is said to "never really fully understand the significance of his actions." Zaphod takes things as they come and thus enjoys his life to a greater degree than many of the other characters. ### Probability and Impossibility Throughout the novel there are countless examples of stupidly improbably things occurring. For example: - Arthur and Ford getting picked up by the Heart of Gold - Two nuclear missiles getting turned into a Sperm Whale and Petunia - The Heart of Gold itself literally being an improbability drive One of the things Adams is trying to highlight is how humans can't be sure of anything even if they emperically study it. [[Selective perception 1]] causes us to see the world as we are. Our brain sees what the eyes see but the eyes see what the brain believes. As organic beings it's impossible for us to know if what we see is objectively real or not. This is why [[Science is a belief system]]. ### The Pursuit Of Knowledge Adam's portrays the pursuit of knowledge as something that is not only enjoyable in itself but should be pursued for its own means ([[Curiosity is a good in itself]]). Examples in the novel: - The philosopher mice that get mad when they realize Deep Thought the computer meant to definitively answer things is ready to answer. They don't like the idea of definitive answers. They have spent much of their lives debating unanswerable things with other mice. - Zaphod Beeblebrox doesn't know why he wants to become president, go to Magrathea, or steal the Heart of Gold. He just does. We realize later in the novel it's because he himself altered his brain to give him ideas without his knowldge. This leads him on a quest he doesn't even know the answer to whys he's doing. But he profoundly enjoys the journey along the way, showing Adam's himself sees the pursuit of knowledge and curiosity for its own sake as a good one. ### Humans Overemphasize Our Importance - The Vogons treat destryoying our planet as if it's just another walk around the block. - ‘This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council,’ the voice continued. ‘As you will no doubt be aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions of the Galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you.’ ([Location 592](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=592)) - ‘There’s no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now.’ ([Location 599](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=599)) - The PA slammed back into life again. The voice was annoyed. It said: ‘What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? For Heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light-years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that’s your own lookout.’ ([Location 601](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=601)) ### Power and Control In three major parts throughout the novel, Arthur--symbolizing the average human--is forced to confront how little power he actually has in the universe. 1. He is forced to confront it while failing to stop his house from being destroyed in the beginning of the novel. 2. He is forced to accept that all of Earth is destroyed by the evil Vogons and everything exists only now in his mind. 3. He is forced to confront the fact that Earth was a simulation and ruled by mice rather than humans ruling the mice by Slartibartfast. One of the major themes of all of these things is that power and control exert their greatest influence when you don't realize they are being used against you. Arthur wasn't aware of the Vogons, of Earth being a simulation, of Zaphod Beeblebrox being a cover up for more nefarious galactic exploitations. ### Language and Communication Adam's repeatedly shows throughout the novel how language and communication are highly contextual and can be used for great good and evil. For example it's used incredibly effectively by Ford Prefect in the beginning to get Arthur to come with him to the bar. Later on in the novel Arthur's statement to Slartibartfast about "I seem to be having problems with my lifestyle" translates to one of the most horrendous insults imaginable on another planet. ### Symbols Vogons - Everything evil in the world Heart of Gold - Improbability Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy - Symbol of how uncertain and ambiguous the universe is. Even the widely regarded best guide in the universe is riddled with ambiguous language and humor which is the most biased type of communication there is. ## Characters Arthur Dent - Symbolizes the average human being. Attends to the most random and silly of things when much more important matters are at hand. For example, asking "where's the tea" while on the Heart of Gold, or worrying about his house as the world is being destroyed. Ford Prefect - Just a guy trying to have a good time. Zaphod Beeblebrox - Symbolizes the problems of corruption, power, and ineptitude. He's everything you don't want in a leader. Outspoken, extroverted, and yet irresponsible. He distracts people from seeing the people who have the true power. ## Highlights The PA fell silent again and its echo drifted off across the land. The huge ships turned slowly in the sky with easy power. On the underside of each a hatchway opened, an empty black square. By this time somebody somewhere must have manned a radio transmitter, located a wavelength and broadcast a message back to the Vogon ships, to plead on behalf of the planet. Nobody ever heard what they said, they only heard the reply. The PA slammed back into life again. The voice was annoyed. It said: ‘What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? For Heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light-years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that’s your own lookout.’ ([Location 601](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=601)) - Note: Humans have a very high view of themselves ## New highlights added 25-02-2023 at 9:19 AM ‘Ford,’ insisted Arthur, ‘I don’t know if this sounds like a silly question, but what am I doing here?’ ‘Well, you know that,’ said Ford. ‘I rescued you from the Earth.’ ‘And what’s happened to the Earth?’ ‘Ah. It’s been demolished.’ ‘Has it,’ said Arthur levelly. ‘Yes. It just boiled away into space.’ ‘Look,’ said Arthur, ‘I’m a bit upset about that.’ Ford frowned to himself and seemed to roll the thought around his mind. ‘Yes, I can understand that,’ he said at last. ‘Understand that!’ shouted Arthur. ‘Understand that!’ Ford sprang up. ‘Keep looking at the book!’ he hissed urgently. ‘What?’ ‘Don’t Panic.’ ([Location 853](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=853)) - Note: The scale of te universe dampens empathy Visions of it swam sickeningly through his nauseated mind. There was no way his imagination could feel the impact of the whole Earth having gone, it was too big. He prodded his feelings by thinking that his parents and his sister had gone. No reaction. He thought of all the people he had been close to. No reaction. Then he thought of a complete stranger he had been standing behind in the queue at the supermarket two days before and felt a sudden stab – the supermarket was gone, everyone in it was gone. Nelson’s Column had gone! Nelson’s Column had gone and there would be no outcry, because there was no one left to make an outcry. From now on Nelson’s Column only existed in his mind. England only existed in his mind – his mind, stuck here in this dank smelly steel-lined spaceship. A wave of claustrophobia closed in on him. ([Location 933](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=933)) ## New highlights added 26-02-2023 at 10:06 AM ‘Oh, just trying to take an interest in the world around me, OK?’ he said. ‘So the hours are pretty good, then?’ he resumed. The Vogon stared down at him as sluggish thoughts moiled around in the murky depths. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘but now you come to mention it, most of the actual minutes are pretty lousy. Except…’ he thought again, which required looking at the ceiling – ‘except some of the shouting I quite like.’ He filled his lungs and bellowed, ‘Resistance is—’ ‘Sure, yes,’ interrupted Ford hurriedly, ‘you’re good at that, I can tell. But if it’s mostly lousy,’ he said, slowly giving the words time to reach their mark, ‘then why do you do it? What is it? The girls? The leather? The machismo? Or do you just find that coming to terms with the mindless tedium of it all presents an interesting challenge?’ Arthur looked backwards and forwards between them in bafflement. ‘Er…’ said the guard, ‘er…er…I dunno. I think I just sort of…do it, really. My aunt said that spaceship guard was a good career for a young Vogon – you know, the uniform, the low-slung stun-ray holster, the mindless tedium…’ ‘There you are, Arthur,’ said Ford with the air of someone reaching the conclusion of his argument, ‘you think you’ve got problems.’ Arthur rather thought he had. Apart from the unpleasant business with his home planet the Vogon guard had half-throttled him already and he didn’t like the sound of being thrown into space very much. ‘Try and understand his problem,’ insisted Ford. ‘Here he is, poor lad, his entire life’s work is stamping around, throwing people off spaceships…’ ‘And shouting,’ added the guard. ‘And shouting, sure,’ said Ford patting the blubbery arm clamped round his neck in friendly condescension, ‘…and he doesn’t even know why he’s doing it!’ Arthur agreed this was very sad. He did this with a small feeble gesture, because he was too asphyxiated to speak. Deep rumblings of bemusement came from the guard. ‘Well. Now you put it like that, I suppose…’ ‘Good lad,’ encouraged Ford. ([Location 1058](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=1058)) ## New highlights added 01-03-2023 at 7:27 AM ‘You think you’ve got problems,’ said Marvin as if he was addressing a newly occupied coffin, ‘what are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot? No, don’t bother to answer that, I’m fifty thousand times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer. It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level.’ ([Location 1839](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000XUBC2C&location=1839))