Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Those of you who believe in intellectual property, don’t go here.

And don’t click here:

Douglas Adams and technology

I like technology. I don’t worship it; nor do I believe it is appropriate for a Jew to do so, but I do respect it as a tool to improve our lives — and not just b’gashmius, but also very much b’ruchnius.

Here is Douglas Adams writing on technology, in his 1999 article “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet”. The article is interesting on multiple levels, as is all the writing of DNA and people like him (in Russia they used to be called intelligentsia, which meant at first the educated, intellectual class, then started to mean eidel, refined people; then it meant Jews, and now — especially if you live in Sheepshead Bay — refers to the people who are not necessarily racist and whose topics of discussion go beyond good places to find parking, brands of liquor, or very expensive chess boards).

I think the bit about trusting sources of information is brilliant and should be read and thought about by all Lubavitchers, frankly.

DNA on PGW

Douglas Adams was incredibly funny. Some might also find him offensive, but not in American or Russian bullying way, but in that English, refined method.

One my favorite parts from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is:

"Whhhrrrr…" said Arthur Dent. He opened his eyes.
"It's dark," he said.
"Yes," said Ford Prefect, "it's dark."
"No light," said Arthur Dent. "Dark, no light."
One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about human beings was their habit of continually stating and repeating the obvious, as in "It's a nice day", or "You're very tall", or "Oh dear, you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you alright?" At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behaviour. If human beings don't keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months' consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favour of a new one. If they don't keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical and decided he quite liked human beings after all, but he always remained desperately worried about the terrible number of things they didn't know about.
"Yes," he agreed with Arthur, "no light." He helped Arthur to some peanuts. "How do you feel?" he asked.

Well, here is Douglas Adams on P.G. Wodehouse and a few others in English literature. Prepare to be offended.