Does this quote have any relevance to real life?

Phalanx · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:26

"The Babel fish," said The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy quietly, "is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy not from its carrier but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish. "Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindboggingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. "The argument goes something like this: 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.' "'But,' says Man, 'The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.' "'Oh dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic. "'Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. "Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best- selling book Well That About Wraps It Up For God. "Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation."

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by the way.

I was just wondering, does it actually have any relevance to Religious arguements. At first I thought it was clever but now that I completely understand it, it actually seems a bit pointless.

Gilly · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:28

Um, no.

Phalanx · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:30

Gilly said:
Um, no.

Comprehend -> acknowledge -> reply

iSam · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:37

I can see where you are coming from mate, but I dont think that meaning was originally intended. Either way, its down to personal opinion I guess.

Phalanx · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:38

I was just thinking it the babelfish might be a metaphor for something.

semi-pro waster · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:41

I doubt you will find any particularly serious meaning to it, it is a piece of comedic writing in much the same way as when Douglas Adams said "time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so". You can take it to have a significance in terms of religious arguments if you want but I'm pretty sure Gilly has it wrapped up with "no".

Lagmeister · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:51

I think its more a jab at what people say about each other when they think they cant understand or hear them, with a side jab at religion thrown in.

Phalanx · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:51

semi-pro waster said:
I doubt you will find any particularly serious meaning to it, it is a piece of comedic writing in much the same way as when Douglas Adams said "time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so". You can take it to have a significance in terms of religious arguments if you want but I'm pretty sure Gilly has it wrapped up with "no".

doh, and to think I found that quote in a thread about

"if god is almighty and powerful, then he can create a rock so heavy, not even he can lift it"

Jotun · 29 Nov 2006 at 22:58

There was an episode of futurama where bender got hit by a rock and had mircobes on him that grew and evolved, and thought he was God and worshipped him. Whilst Futurama isn't the most serious program, I thought it had the best argument of why if God exists, he doesn't prove it (even if it wasn't intended as that)

semi-pro waster · 29 Nov 2006 at 23:01

Phalanx said:
"if god is almighty and powerful, then he can create a rock so heavy, not even he can lift it"

It is analogous to that quote, as it is just a play on that sort of logical paradox but it doesn't add anything much more. Some pieces of comedic writing do have must deeper messages but I don't think this is one of them.

Beansprout · 29 Nov 2006 at 23:02

Phalanx said:
Comprehend -> acknowledge -> reply

Vonhelmet · 29 Nov 2006 at 23:04

semi-pro waster said:
It is analogous to that quote, as it is just a play on that sort of logical paradox but it doesn't add anything much more. Some pieces of comedic writing do have must deeper messages but I don't think this is one of them.

Except the God/rock question isn't a logical paradox, but simple nonsense. The notion of there being a rock so heavy it can't be lifted, and a force (God) that can lift anything, in the same universe is logically absurd, never mind paradoxical.

starscream · 29 Nov 2006 at 23:12

It is a metaphysical argument for the non-existence of God on the following lines

1) God's existence is born on faith (creationism) and he refuses to prove himself
2) The babel fish is proof of creationism
3) God has proved himself, therefore has broken his own rule

In theory, it is a sound premise, but with I don't think you could ever find a theological unity that point 1) holds true, and of course, you would also need to find a Babelfish!