The Weekend Philosopher: Douglas Adams

This has been an extraordinarily busy weekend.  With my Towel Day Blogfest going on through Monday, and this being a holiday weekend on top of all that, I'm going to do something simple for my philosophical post for the week.

In this spirit of Towel Day and Douglas Adams, I'm going to share a few quotes that I feel are philosophical in nature.

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much-the wheel, New York, wars and so on-whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.  But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man-for precisely the same reasons."

-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be."

-The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

It's all about perspective, indeed.  If that makes you feel uncomfortable at all, remember this.

"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."

-The Salmon of Doubt

If your new expanded perspective on life is freaking you out, you can choose your outlook, as we learn from the following quote:

“What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer.”

―The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts

And, above all, keep this in mind.

"Don't Panic."

-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hopefully that gave you plenty to think about as you go about your weekend. Cheers!