September 17th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)

Announcements

• IFest: International Festival (this is quite a good time)
  Sat., 9/28 from from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
  Barnhardt Student Activity Center

More Questions than Answers

Now that we're 5 weeks (a third) into the semester, we've probably settled into the pace of the class and what's expected. If you come to class, you'll probably continue to come to class; if you don't come to class, you'll probably continue not to come to class; if you post reflections before the midnight deadlines, you'll probably continue to do so; if you don't post, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. Also, if you know about this Web page, you'll probably continue to use it to supplement your learning. So what are you learning?

Let's consider what you are and aren't learning.

An Adventure in Absurdity...or Life as We Know It!

Ok, so this really isn't a book that gets assigned in many science fiction classes because, as did mice's ruse did on Earth, it's veiled as pure juvenile entertainment. As I mentioned before, sci fi isn't given too much literary weight because it's considered genre fiction--formulaic stories that entertain audiences but don't have them contemplate. Well, it's way smarter than that. In Adams's novel, he tackles the big question--THE MEANING OF LIFE. No easy task, but he does it brilliantly if we look closely enough. I've tried to divide our time (today and Thursday) for this book by going over the main points of the text and grounding us into what's going on: For instance, what's an Improbability Drive. Then, on Thursday, we'll focus more on interpretation. Don't Panic! I promise to leave you with more questions than answers...

Major characters in the novel

• Arthur Dent
• Ford Prefect
• Zaphod Beeblebrox
• Tricia McMillian/Trillian
• Marvin--the depressed robot
• The Vogons
• Slartibartfast

Bureaucracy, Politics, and Human Existence

Eminent domain and why do we make the rules? What if a more advanced species thought we were in the way? Perspecitve on who or what's important.

Zaphod [Zay-fahd] Beeblebrox is president because he's successful at what presidents are supposed to do: Presidents don't have power. Their job is to draw attention away from it (p. 41).

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy vs. The Encyclopedia Galactica

Direct experience vs. second-hand knowledge: Ford is one of the writers for the Guide and goes out and compiles data about the places and things he visits. The assumption about an encyclopedia is that it's the interpretation and (re-re-re-)reinterpretation of knowledge compiled by others. It's success is due to its appearance of authoritativeness.

That's impossible…No, just very improbable

Infinite Improbability Drive [42:13-43:00].

This drive is a nice plot device that allows the characters to meet and get to Magrathea. Obviously, it's science fiction, and the drive passes through space, time, dimensions, the universe and ends up in improbable places. The use of such a device on the surface is supposed to be just a goofy technology for getting around the universe, but we're more interested in the deeper meaning. One possibility is that the drive acts as an allegory about impossible vs. improbable and possible vs. probable. We could have a rich philosophical discussion on the paradoxes "nothing is impossible" and "anything is possible." We like to deal in proof, logic, validity, etc.: Two plus two is four, measurements, cause and effect, induction, and deduction. Here's where it gets tricky: If there's no proof of something, does that mean it doesn't exist? Can you prove (offer proof) that something doesn't exist?

Burden of Proof

In order to debate successfully, you need to establish the parties' responsibility for burden of proof. Our legal system (in theory) places the burden of proof on the state (the prosecution) in criminal case: Is the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? And innocent until proven guilty. Imagine the situation one would find himself or herself in if the burden was on the defendant to prove his or her innocence and the motto was "guilty until proven innocent." This would be a radically different system.

When a person tries to debate the existence of something, he or she has the burden of proof to prove (usually with evidence) that this something exists. The speaker gives reasons for the existence of the thing. For instance, if a speaker claims to know that aliens have visited Earth, he or she will provide pictures, artifacts, and other evidence of such encounters. The burden of proof is on the speaker.

Now, let's reverse the burden of proof. Imagine if the speaker just stated that there are aliens that came to Earth and told the audience that they had to prove he or she was wrong. That changes the nature of the debate and makes it nearly impossible (maybe just highly improbable) to refute because refuting requires proving the nonexistence of something. How do you know aliens don't exist?

This concept of the burden of proof is important to remember when trying to find meaning in Adams's novel. He is presenting readers with possibilities of how the Earth and the Universe were created and how the Galaxy appears to be governed. One meaning we can take from this is to scrutinize the stories we tell ourselves about the origins of life. In our limited worldview, we think of our planet as the most important place (and for good reasons), but it is dwarfed by the seemingly infinitely possible scenarios for life. Why are our stories believable and Adams's is goofy?

Jump to Thursday's class

Prompt for Thursday (9/19)

As we've mentioned, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a peculiar book. It can't be taken literally because its ideas are very bizarre, and it purposely plays with our notions of reality if we take the time to read between the lines and not just read the surface meanings. However, it makes us think about the absurdity of life. What are some absurdities you've experienced in life that are (possibly) related to the absurdities in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Remember, Adams comments on bureaucracy, imminent domain, and attempts to make sense of life through stories. If you think it's just about space travel, you've missed more to the novels meanings.

Test 1 from last Thursday (9/12)

Everything seemed to work out well. If you have questions about the test, what to study, study strategies, etc., the best thing to do is meet me during office hours, so we can discuss your concerns. Everything is fair game for a test or exam. However, as I mentioned earlier, you're not going to do well just memorizing. You need to think about the bigger picture.

Next Class

We'll continue with Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979). Again, the movie is a poor substitute. It's a trite, pathetic love story that butchers the richness of meaning that the novel offers.

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