Part 38 (2/2)

At the same time, however, machines are portrayed with a certain ambivalence in Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's. Like the b.u.t.ton on the Heart of Gold Heart of Gold, the sole function of which seems to be the illumination of a panel reading ”Please do not press this b.u.t.ton again”, they can be ill-designed, frustrating and pointless. They can also be malevolent, as with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Mk 2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Mk 2, which threatened to spark a Terminator Terminator-style rise of the machines, although the story is not allowed to develop that far. Unlikely though it sounds, Arthur even becomes the dressing-gown-clad equivalent of John Connor, the Terminator Terminator franchise's anti-machine warrior. His argument with a Nutri-Matic drink dispenser has unwittingly made him a hero on the planet of Bront.i.tall, whose population have exiled their robots and built a statue of Arthur in tribute. franchise's anti-machine warrior. His argument with a Nutri-Matic drink dispenser has unwittingly made him a hero on the planet of Bront.i.tall, whose population have exiled their robots and built a statue of Arthur in tribute.

Parallel universes Closely linked to infinite improbability, parallel universes though strictly speaking, as The Guide explains, neither ”parallel” nor ”universes” are a prominent theme in Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's. In the first novel, we encounter the idea of a replacement Earth. In So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Arthur learns that the dolphins saved Earth from destruction by replacing it at the last minute with a planet from another dimension. And in Mostly Harmless Mostly Harmless, we discover the planet of NowWhat, occupying exactly the same location as planet Earth but in a h.e.l.lish parallel dimension; ”right planet, wrong universe”, as Arthur gloomily puts it.

Though parallel universes might feel like the stuff of science fiction, they're actually regarded by many scientists as perfectly possible. One reason for this is simply that s.p.a.ce is so enormous; the odds are that somewhere out there is a planet identical to ours (and, on it, someone very nearly identical to you). This is essentially the well-worn argument, alluded to when Arthur and Ford first encounter the Infinite Improbability Drive, that even a monkey could write Shakespeare, given a typewriter and sufficient time. Somewhere in the cosmos it's probably already happened.

There's also a quantum interpretation for parallel universes that, like everything involving the dreaded Q word, is rather harder to get one's head around. Simply, this states that whenever an event has multiple possible outcomes, all all of these outcomes will occur: new universes are constantly being created. In of these outcomes will occur: new universes are constantly being created. In Mostly Harmless Mostly Harmless, for instance, Tricia McMillan fails to leave the party with Zaphod, but another version of herself does does leave the party and goes on to lead an entirely independent life gallivanting around the Galaxy. According to this view, the answer to the ”grandfather paradox” see leave the party and goes on to lead an entirely independent life gallivanting around the Galaxy. According to this view, the answer to the ”grandfather paradox” see time travel time travel is that in one universe you kill your grandfather, and in another you don't. is that in one universe you kill your grandfather, and in another you don't.

One other type of parallel existence in Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's is that experienced by Zaphod on Frogstar World B not a real world at all, but rather a virtual reality: an electronically synthesized universe controlled from Zarniwoop's briefcase. Like the characters in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Zaphod is unable to distinguish reality from the shadows in this case, shadows of the digital variety, like the simulacra beloved of theorist Jean Baudrillard. Anyone who thinks this is merely the stuff of films such as is that experienced by Zaphod on Frogstar World B not a real world at all, but rather a virtual reality: an electronically synthesized universe controlled from Zarniwoop's briefcase. Like the characters in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Zaphod is unable to distinguish reality from the shadows in this case, shadows of the digital variety, like the simulacra beloved of theorist Jean Baudrillard. Anyone who thinks this is merely the stuff of films such as The Truman Show The Truman Show or or The Matrix The Matrix has perhaps not encountered Second Life, a virtual world whose appeal is all too real. has perhaps not encountered Second Life, a virtual world whose appeal is all too real.

Sub-etha networks When Ford Prefect hitches a ride on a pa.s.sing s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, he does so by means of an electronic sub-etha ”thumb”. When Trillian visits Arthur on Lamuella, she informs him that she is now working for a major sub-etha broadcasting network. And it is via the sub-etha net that field researchers submit their material to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy itself. itself.

Unlike many of Adams's ideas, the sub-etha network requires no hypothetical quantum physics to evaluate its chances of one day becoming a reality. It is, of course, here already, in the form of the Internet. Though its use in military and academic fields pre-dates Adams's initial radio script by some years, the World Wide Web as we know it didn't arrive until at least a decade later, thanks to the invention of HTML, not to mention the growth in home computing. (Adams was a predictably enthusiastic early adopter, first going online in 1983.) Just as the sub-etha network became a reality in the guise of the Internet, Adams actually attempted to launch an Earth-based Hitchhiker's Guide Hitchhiker's Guide, in the form of online encyclopedia h2g2.com. The collaborative nature of this site, open to contributors all over the world, parallels that of The Guide, whose entries are as likely to come from pa.s.sing strangers as from established researchers such as Ford Prefect.

Of course, this editorial stance has become standard practice with the growth of ”wiki” sites, of which by far the best known is Wikipedia, launched in 2001. As with Wikipedia, The Guide's content can be biased towards the interests of its particular demographic, and neither is it always reliable. (One apparently minor typo has led many trusting interplanetary hitchhikers to their death at the hands of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beasts, which unfortunately make a good meal of, of, rather than rather than for, for, visiting tourists.) Also like Wikipedia, however, it has clear advantages over its book-based equivalent. Not only does The Guide have more entries and greater portability than the visiting tourists.) Also like Wikipedia, however, it has clear advantages over its book-based equivalent. Not only does The Guide have more entries and greater portability than the Encyclopaedia Galactica Encyclopaedia Galactica, but as every Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's fan knows, it is also slightly cheaper and has ”Don't Panic” inscribed on the cover. fan knows, it is also slightly cheaper and has ”Don't Panic” inscribed on the cover.

Recent phenomena such as blogging and social networking sites like Mys.p.a.ce and Facebook are also reminiscent of The Guide's egalitarian editorial policy. And the concept of open-source software, developed in a transparent, collaborative fas.h.i.+on via peer review rather than behind closed doors by copyright holders, goes one step beyond Adams's wildest predictions.

Teleportation When Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin find themselves on a stolen s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p heading into the heart of a sun, they escape via a teleport. Indeed, it's the same mode of transport that allowed Arthur and Ford to escape from Earth right at the start of the Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's story. story.

Though it may sound just as unlikely as travel via the Infinite Improbability Drive, teleportation or matter transference is in fact far closer to reality. The basis for this is a seemingly impossible but readily observable phenomenon known as quantum entanglement, which appears to contradict Einstein by seemingly operating faster than the speed of light. (It is not known how its speed compares with the Hingefreel s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, powered by the one thing faster than light: bad news.) Much like time travel, however, teleportation throws up some tricky questions. Would it really be you you that arrived at the other end, or simply a facsimile? Does the original subject simply vanish (and would this const.i.tute an act of murder?), or remain in the original that arrived at the other end, or simply a facsimile? Does the original subject simply vanish (and would this const.i.tute an act of murder?), or remain in the original UniversesAs if parallel universes weren't confusing enough already, they also throw up some pretty awkward questions in terms of semantics. For if the Universe by definition encompa.s.ses all of existence, how can there can be a parallel version? Some have responded by referring to the counterparts in different terms: rather than parallel universes, some suggest ”alternative realities”, ”interpenetrating dimensions”, ”parallel worlds” or ”alternative timelines”. Others, adherents to the so-called ”many universes interpretation”, have instead coined new umbrella terms for the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash, including ”multiverse”, ”meta-universe” and even ”omniverse”. This last term found a strong champion outside the scientific community in the form of the late cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra, whose Arkestra for a while actually incorporated the term into their ever-changing group moniker. Sadly, scientists have thus far been unable to conclusively prove whether or not the bandleader was, as he claimed, born on Saturn.

location like a faxed piece of paper? The answers to such conundrums are as yet unknown beyond the cast of Star Trek Star Trek.

Time travel Though less prominent than in some science-fiction tales H.G. Wells's The Time Machine The Time Machine (1895) remaining the cla.s.sic example time travel still plays an important role in (1895) remaining the cla.s.sic example time travel still plays an important role in Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's. It is the only means, for instance, of reaching the Restaurant at the End of the Universe (except for Marvin, of course, who gets there by simply being very patient indeed).

Thankfully for those of us without a robot's longevity, scientists have suggested it would not be inconceivable to reach Milliways the short way. Certainly some believe that we could achieve a sort of time travel via the very method unwittingly practised by Arthur Dent, who in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish returns from eight years in s.p.a.ce only to discover that a mere six months have pa.s.sed on Earth. In reality, however, this time discrepancy would actually work in reverse: that is, more time would have pa.s.sed on Earth than in s.p.a.ce, the logic being that the faster one moves through s.p.a.ce, or the further one is from a ma.s.sive object such as Earth, the slower one moves through time. Arthur's cover story that he's had a ”face drop” would not, therefore, be necessary. returns from eight years in s.p.a.ce only to discover that a mere six months have pa.s.sed on Earth. In reality, however, this time discrepancy would actually work in reverse: that is, more time would have pa.s.sed on Earth than in s.p.a.ce, the logic being that the faster one moves through s.p.a.ce, or the further one is from a ma.s.sive object such as Earth, the slower one moves through time. Arthur's cover story that he's had a ”face drop” would not, therefore, be necessary.

If a brief holiday from Earth feels like a bit of a cheat as a means of time travel and let's face it, it's not going to get you to Milliways then rest a.s.sured that many other methods have also been deemed worthy of scientific consideration. Mathematical logician Kurt Goedel, best known for his Incompleteness Theorem, suggested that twists in the fabric of s.p.a.ce time could allow for time travel. There is also talk, for instance, of entering a wormhole in one era and exiting in another.

Moving any of this from the theoretical realm to the practical has, as usual, proved a little tricky. Yet Adams seemed less concerned by the science of time travel than by a.s.sociated philosophical questions, such as a situation in which you travel back in time and kill your grandfather (in a strictly hypothetical sense, it must be stressed). This, of course would mean that you yourself were never conceived so how could you have travelled back in the first place? Adams offers his own take on this ”grandfather paradox”, except that in Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's, the danger is not killing but becoming becoming one's own father or mother; it might be dubbed the ”Marty McFly paradox” in honour of cult movie one's own father or mother; it might be dubbed the ”Marty McFly paradox” in honour of cult movie Back to the Future Back to the Future. Adams, however, says that becoming one's own parent is nothing a broadminded family can't handle.

Adams even offers his own time travel paradox, in the story of the great poet Lallafa, who was offered an endors.e.m.e.nt deal by manufacturers of correcting fluid who travelled back in time for the purpose. So lucrative was the deal that Lallafa never actually got round to writing the poems in the first place. It was this event, we're told, that led to the formation of the Campaign for Real Time. Lacking such a real-life pressure group, some quantum physicists get round this sort of paradox by suggesting that if one travelled back in time, every change one made would result in the creation of a parallel universe see parallel universes parallel universes.

Total Perspective Vortex No removal of fingernails, no electrodes to the genitals the Total Perspective Vortex does nothing but reveal to its victim their size in relation to the whole of the Universe. And yet, it is the cruellest torture method in the whole Hitchhiker's. .h.i.tchhiker's saga, worse even than Vogon poetry in that only Zaphod Beeblebrox has ever survived it (and only then because he was in an electronically synthesized universe). saga, worse even than Vogon poetry in that only Zaphod Beeblebrox has ever survived it (and only then because he was in an electronically synthesized universe).

Invented by a character named Trin Tragula in an attempt to silence his nagging wife, the Total Perspective Vortex relies on channelling the whole of Creation through one small piece of fairy cake. Adams's logic here was that every piece of matter in the Universe is in some way affected by every other piece of matter, and thus the whole thing can be extrapolated from any individual component.

Michael Hanlon has confirmed that this idea has at least one foot in pa.s.sable scientific theory; it does seem to chime, for instance, with the ”cosmic web” idea that the whole Universe is bound together by an invisible cobweb of dark matter. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, Hanlon points out that extrapolating the entire Universe from a piece of fairy cake might in practice not be so easy. Again, the relevant arguments concern Werner Heisenberg and the multiplicity of possible electron locations (see Infinite Improbability Drive Infinite Improbability Drive).

The Ultimate Answer It may have been conceived, let us never forget, as a joke, but the number 42 has a tendency to have theories thrust upon it. Some of the more creative interpretations have been dealt with in the previous chapter, but there is also a scientific approach to this most enthusiastically investigated number.

Certainly, the concept of distilling Infinity into numerical form has become markedly less ridiculous in the years since Adams conceived of the idea. In 1999, Martin Rees, the UK's Astronomer Royal, declared that the Universe could be boiled down to six numbers, including the strength of gravity and the speed at which the Universe is expanding. Each has a value that, for whatever reason, falls within the terrifyingly narrow conditions required for life.

Admittedly, none of Rees's figures was 42. Yet that number did enjoy specific, if short-lived, scientific endors.e.m.e.nt, as the exact value of the Hubble Constant, a measure of the rate of expansion of the Universe. This was truly ”a delicious moment”, as Adams's friend and collaborator John Lloyd recalls. The joy was tempered somewhat, however, by the discovery that Hubble's Constant wasn't constant at all, and hence promptly changed to a completely different number.

Of course, Adams conceived the notion of the Ultimate Answer well before either of these events, rendering them of pa.s.sing interest only (though he was apparently deeply tickled by the Hubble episode). Instead, he was presumably poking fun at the broader desire for a single unifying theory to explain our existence. It's this same concept, indeed, that he mocked in Mostly Harmless Mostly Harmless as the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash, which ”doesn't actually exist but is just the sum total of all the different ways there would be of looking at it if it did”. as the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash, which ”doesn't actually exist but is just the sum total of all the different ways there would be of looking at it if it did”.

Absurd though it may sound, however, the idea of the Ultimate Answer is not too far removed from a genuine drive in contemporary physics that towards a Grand Unified Theory, or the even more ambitious Theory of Everything. This latter is, in essence, an attempt to reconcile the fundamental forces of gravity, electromagnetism, and weak and strong nuclear forces. Each makes sense on its own terms but the otherwise elegant theories cannot yet Time travel grammarFar from killing your grandfather or becoming your own mother, Adams writes in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe The Restaurant at the End of the Universe that the most challenging problem a.s.sociated with time travel is in fact one of syntax. Apparently, the only solution in such circ.u.mstances is to consult the that the most challenging problem a.s.sociated with time travel is in fact one of syntax. Apparently, the only solution in such circ.u.mstances is to consult the Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations by Dr Dan Streetmentioner. Among the grammatical constructions contained within are ”wioll haven be”, in place of ”which is”; ”willing watchen” for ”whilst watching”; and, as the correct subst.i.tution for ”can meet and dine with”, the spectacularly verbose ”mayan meetan con with dinan on-when”. We would go on, but Dr Streetmentioner's book stops dead at the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional. So rare was it for a reader to get beyond the section, it was deemed unnecessary to actually print the subsequent pages. by Dr Dan Streetmentioner. Among the grammatical constructions contained within are ”wioll haven be”, in place of ”which is”; ”willing watchen” for ”whilst watching”; and, as the correct subst.i.tution for ”can meet and dine with”, the spectacularly verbose ”mayan meetan con with dinan on-when”. We would go on, but Dr Streetmentioner's book stops dead at the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional. So rare was it for a reader to get beyond the section, it was deemed unnecessary to actually print the subsequent pages.

be encompa.s.sed within a single theoretical framework. In technical terms, ”big stuff” (stars, black holes) doesn't seem to work like ”small stuff” (electrons).

While some scientists don't believe in a unifying Theory of Everything, others are pinning their hopes on superstrings, M-branes and mind-meltingly complex ten-dimensional Calabi-Yau shapes. Whether the number 42 plays any particularly significant role within these Calabi-Yau shapes, of course, remains to be seen.

About the book

The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Question.

This new Rough Guide explores the ever-expanding universe created by Douglas Adams. A must-have companion for both long-term enthusiasts and those discovering the Hitchhiker's stories for the first time.

Features include: A lightspeed crib of the stories so far Everything you need to know about the saga's numerous incarnations: book, TV show, movie, radio series and more Coverage of key Hitchhiker's concepts and plot devices: tea, cricket, towels and small yellow fish.

The stories behind all your favourite characters: Ford, Arthur, Zaphod and, of course, Marvin.

The life and times of Douglas Adams: his influence, pa.s.sions and an overview of his other works.

Details of online resources, including the lowdown on the official fanclub, ”ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha”.

You've been reading an extract from The Rough Guide to The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Marcus O'Dair, 7.99.

<script>