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This is the story of a book,
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00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,080
a book called The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy.
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00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,240
Not only is it
a wholly remarkable book,
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00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,240
it is also a highly successful one,
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00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,240
more popular than
The Celestial Homecare Omnibus.
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00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,920
Better selling then 53 More Things
to Do in Zero Gravity.
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00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:19,680
And more controversial
than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy
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00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,200
of philosophical blockbusters,
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00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,080
Where God Went Wrong,
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00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,720
Some More Of God's
Greatest Mistakes,
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00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,160
and Who Is This God Person, Anyway?
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00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,720
As kids,
we were fascinated by the future.
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00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,480
Unlike most generations before us,
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00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,560
we knew for sure that
it was going to be different.
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00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,880
We just didn't know
what it would be.
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00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,880
Would there be space travel?
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00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,440
Would there be time travel?
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00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,200
But I guess we can say
that our future is, for a while,
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going to be dominated by technology.
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00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,000
Have a look at this.
What is it?
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00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,840
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy, an electronic book.
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00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,000
Tell you everything
you want to know.
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00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,320
Let's imagine a device like this
for a moment.
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00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,160
In the real world,
if you want to know
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00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,960
what the view from the top of
the Eiffel Tower looks like,
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you have to go there.
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00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,120
In the soft world,
you could ask a guide device
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to show you what it looks like.
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00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,840
How many of the cars you can see
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have Bach
playing on their in-car stereos?
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00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:44,480
There's one playing your favourite
recording of the Schubert Preludes.
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00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,440
Yes, she'll talk to you.
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00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,680
What about having dinner together?
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00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,160
A couple of restaurants
light up in the view.
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00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,720
Then you remember,
damn, you're not in Paris,
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00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,200
you're in New Delhi.
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00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,240
"That's all right,"
says your new friend.
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00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,720
"I'm actually in Albuquerque."
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00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,920
GRIFF RHYS JONES:
My relationship with Douglas
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00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:46,080
dated from the days
when we were in school together.
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It was a very hot-shot school,
Brentwood, in those days.
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00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,840
It was like a sort of factory.
And you arrived at a young age
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00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,960
and were turned into a sort of...
Frightening, really,
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00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,080
with this sort of pressure on people
to do well.
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00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:06,720
There were some of us
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00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,680
who saw ourselves
as sort of would-be actors.
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00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,800
And we volunteered our services
for the only drama
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00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,400
that this school
ever allowed us to do.
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00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:18,920
Called the Winter Theatrical.
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00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,760
He played Julius Caesar, which was
a part that he was born to play,
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because of his conk
and his general sort of demeanour.
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I remember everybody running around
shouting "Ave, ave, ave."
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00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,280
Douglas was always
not only huge, tall,
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and slightly full of himself,
but, also, older.
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He and his generation above that
were the clever, the clever set,
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and they saw themselves
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as being people
who would move from this school
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into the sort of varsity world
and on to conquer the world.
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00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,520
Here at Cambridge
a student's room is his castle.
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He can barricade himself
against all comers.
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He can hold dinner parties
for five without permission.
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Decorate it as he wants to.
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And it's all kept clean for him
by a lady known as a bedder.
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00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,560
The only trouble is, these bedders
have to be both old and unbeautiful.
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00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,920
It's all in the college statues.
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00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,720
DOUGLAS:
I was determined to get to Cambridge
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because I wanted to be
a writer performer.
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00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:42,440
At the end of my first year,
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I'd been cast in a production
of The Rivals
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00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,720
and we discovered that the guy
who was down to play Fag the butler
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was now languishing in a Cretan jail
as a result of smoking dope.
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00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,920
I said, "There was this guy
I knew at school.
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He was a pretty good actor.
I don't know if he could do comedy."
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I arrived in Cambridge.
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00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,680
In those days we had a pigeonhole,
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and in amongst them
was a little note from Douglas.
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00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,720
I hadn't been there in Cambridge
for more than about three days
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00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:17,520
and I was sort of being put through
my paces playing Fag in The Rivals.
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00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,560
Douglas was playing
Sir Lucius O'Trigger.
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00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,120
I did that drawing of him
sitting in a dressing room.
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I sort of launched myself
and followed, really, Douglas
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into this extraordinary
amateur theatre.
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00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,600
The Footlights
was a club at Cambridge.
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It was all about doing sketches,
it was all about comedy.
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We'd do a show
and people would write sketches,
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and wannabe actors or actors
would perform those sketches
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and certainly Douglas was writing
from very, very early
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in his time at Cambridge,
and we were performing his stuff.
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Douglas' material
was always slightly surreal.
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It was distinctively different.
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Some of the strongest influences
on me growing up
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were The Beatles and Monty Python.
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Python was the idea that being funny
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was actually a way of
being intelligent,
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and that it was a different way
of looking at the world.
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Halt!Douglas referred to
John Cleese as the Master,
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and John Cleese and Graham Chapman
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had been
in the Cambridge Footlights Revue.
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00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:51,720
Douglas amused the rest of us
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by going down to London to interview
John Cleese for a student newspaper.
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Ambition was frowned upon.
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00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,000
We all wanted to be kind of cool
and sit in rooms smoking dope
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00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:04,480
and listening to Pink Floyd.
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00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:10,240
So we were dismissive of him.
We thought, how absurd.
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00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,120
I had been completely fascinated
and hypnotised by Python.
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I wanted to be John Cleese.
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And of course,
I realised the job is taken.
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I got to know Douglas
after he came down from Cambridge.
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It was a very intense friendship.
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He had a go at all sorts of things
as a writer, as a performer.
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00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,440
He got a little bit part
in Monty Python.
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00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,320
He became very close
to Graham Chapman.
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They wrote a pilot together
called Out Of The Trees.
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It was something that seemed to me
as a young kid out of university,
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00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,440
like, the heavenly clouds opening,
you know?
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00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,480
Wow. Go and work
with one the Pythons.
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00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,480
It wasn't
quite as straightforward as that.
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00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:14,320
When Douglas and I used to go out
and have lunch with Graham Chapman,
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00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,120
it would be
four pints and eight crosswords.
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00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,400
Then Graham would get his willy out,
put it on the bar
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and pay the bill.
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00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,320
And then we'd go back to his house
and have a bucket of gin and tonic.
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00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,800
That was Graham Chapman's idea
of working.
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00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,040
There was a sense for Douglas
of extreme frustration.
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00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,640
About what,
what was he supposed to do?
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00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,400
If you have two very, very,
clever writers,
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00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:53,120
then there's too much ego
in the way of a partnership.
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00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,880
One time I came home
and he was sitting on the bed
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00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,680
with his head in his hands
and he said, "Johnny, I can't...
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00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,800
I can't cope any more.
I'm not getting anywhere.
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00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:05,920
I'm kind of desperate."
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00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:10,400
I began to feel that there was
actually not a lot of future
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00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,720
for me being somebody else's
sidekick as a writer.
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00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,400
I thought, right, I'm going to go
off and be a writer all by myself.
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00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,840
This I palpably failed to do.
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00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,680
I had to go and do
various strange jobs,
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00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,040
like working as a bodyguard
for an Arab royal family.
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00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:32,640
They put an advertisement.
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00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:36,360
It was saying, do you want to earn
£4 an hour, I think it was,
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00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,000
being a... being a bodyguard.
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00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,520
Douglas also being Douglas
immediately needed to tell everybody
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00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:53,040
and so a pretty large number of
weeny, puny people like me
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followed in his footsteps,
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00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,920
one after another of sort of arty,
recent graduates from Cambridge
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00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,840
coming in
and offering their services.
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00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,280
I just, I just remember it
as a nightmare.
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00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:14,680
A nightmare. I'd never known
time pass so slowly.
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00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:20,720
Like anything
that happens to you in life,
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00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,280
it turns out useful
in some way or other.
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00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,560
I think a lot of
the sort of weirder ideas
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00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,680
came from long nights sitting
opposite the elevator shaft
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00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:34,680
in the Hilton Hotel, just watching
the elevators coming up and down.
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00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,120
(BELL DINGS)
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As far as we were all concerned,
it was all rosy.
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00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,760
It was all going marvellously.
It was brilliant,
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00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:49,960
which we believed until my mother
went to London one day,
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00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,280
and just saw the...
that things weren't,
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00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,560
weren't good, weren't all right,
and she said, "Right, that's it."
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00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,080
And she packed him up
and brought him back down to Dorset,
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00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,160
back to his old bedroom
at the end of the corridor.
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00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:09,160
There would be this fanatical noise
of a typewriter going.
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00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:14,480
Then it would be the bang
of the carriage going across.
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00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,560
And then the noise of
a piece of paper
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being torn out of a carriage,
thrown up...
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00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,240
and thrown across the room
with his grunt. When he grunted,
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00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,040
he used to make this noise
that would echo the house.
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00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,640
And then there would be silence.
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00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,400
There was an old glove factory
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00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:39,440
in the field behind the house
that was finally being demolished.
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00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,200
And unbeknown to us, that
was then the start of the whole
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Hitchhiker's
and Arthur Dent's house
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00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,520
and then leading on basically
to the destruction of the Earth.
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00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,600
That's kind of where
the future started.
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00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:06,360
The actual title came to me
while I was lying in a field
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00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,760
drunk in Innsbruck at night
and just looking up at the stars.
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00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,720
And there was a book around called
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe.
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00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:15,680
It occurred to me,
somebody should write
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00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,800
a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
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00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,640
And then promptly forgot about the
idea until about six years later.
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00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,000
RADIO: The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy.
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00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,360
By Douglas Adams.
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00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:42,880
THE GUICE:
To tell the story of the book,
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00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,880
it's best to tell the story
of some the minds behind it.
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00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,160
A human from the planet Earth
was one of them,
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00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,880
though as our story opens,
he no more knows his destiny
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00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:58,000
than a tea leaf knows the history
of the East India Company.
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00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,920
The first episode
of the first series
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00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:02,400
of Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy went out.
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00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,480
Douglas said,
"Any reviews in the papers?"
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00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,280
And we all just laughed at him
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00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,600
because in those days, nobody...
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00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,440
Still to this day,
nobody reviewed radio programmes,
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00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,880
but we opened all the papers
and bloody hell,
196
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,440
there he was, reviewed all over
the nationals. The nationals!
197
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,160
This completely obscure, weirdly
titled comedy radio programme
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00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,280
and it was
just unstoppable from that point.
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00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,120
BFBS UK, on a Tuesday,
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00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,000
people of Earth,
your attention, please.
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00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,240
Plans for the development of the
outlying regions of your galaxy
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00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,920
require the building of
a hyperspatial express route
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00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:37,200
through your star system,
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00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,080
and regrettably, your planet
is scheduled for demolition.
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00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,840
Bizarre? Certainly is.
Now, Douglas Adams is its author,
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00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,680
and it looks like being
the comedy cult of the future.
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00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,400
An extremely tall man
got an extremely bright idea.
208
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,920
Shortly afterwards, this rotten idea
turned into four books,
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00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,680
two records, a computer game,
two radio series, a TV series,
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00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,320
and a constellation of money.
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00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,600
It was quite something when somebody
you've been at college with
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00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,240
suddenly goes to
another stratosphere.
213
00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,480
And when you're sharing
a flat with him, it's extraordinary.
214
00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,000
One day you get
a call from somebody who says,
215
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,560
"This is Mr Adams' shoemaker. Please
tell him his shoes are ready."
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00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,160
Another time I pick up the phone
217
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,680
and that's a Hollywood film producer
saying, "Is Douglas Adams there?"
218
00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,480
I said no, and the guy
refused to give me a message.
219
00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,000
He pitched the film to me.
220
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,040
Douglas had this phenomenal,
huge success
221
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,320
and unlike everybody else's
success, it was worldwide success.
222
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:54,080
It was global. He was a global
phenomenon.
223
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,160
He bought a new Porsche
when he first became rich,
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00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,600
and drove it down Park Lane
at a ridiculous speed,
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00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,360
just loving life
and then forgot, as he said,
226
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,160
there was a roundabout at the end
227
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,040
and went smack
into Hyde Park corner.
228
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,200
Amazing to be still alive.
229
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,280
Positronic robots.
Telekinesis and clones.
230
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,080
The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy,
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00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:21,120
which adds a dimension
to science fiction
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00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,440
that is both comic
and domestic.
233
00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,000
You're gonna have to accept it,
you know,
234
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,400
this bypass has got to be built
and it's gonna be built.
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00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,480
I could imagine comedy
might destroy the seriousness
236
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,280
with which the genre
should be taken.
237
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,880
I don't think so.
I mean, I see science fiction
238
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,240
as a very good vehicle for comedy
239
00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:44,600
simply because it enables you
as it were to turn the telescope
240
00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,160
the wrong way round
on everyday experience.
241
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,120
How would you react if I told you
242
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:50,920
that I'm not
from Guilford after all
243
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,440
but from a small planet somewhere
in the vicinity of Betelgeuse?
244
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,240
I don't know. Think it's the sort
of thing you're likely to say?
245
00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,760
Drink up. The world's about to end.
246
00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:08,000
Douglas was taking a Pythonesque
view of the world,
247
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:12,480
a sort of world where crazy,
silly things are happening,
248
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,560
and applying it to science fiction.
249
00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,760
Nobody had done this before.
250
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:22,000
When Douglas went there,
251
00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,520
he was entirely, I think,
the first word in that genre,
252
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,960
and it's hardly surprising
that it managed to be both
253
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,000
philosophically profound
and hilariously funny.
254
00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,320
This is your captain speaking.
All planet leave is cancelled.
255
00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,040
I've just had
an unhappy love affair,
256
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,360
so I don't see why anybody else
should have a good time.
257
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,920
Douglas understood that humour
was an integral part of humanity
258
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,560
and so most of the comedy
of Hitchhiker's
259
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,200
is about how not just humans
but all the aliens too
260
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,320
represent ineluctable and eternal
human qualities,
261
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,000
or rather vices, usually,
262
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,800
of stupidity, lack of imagination,
dumbness,
263
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,480
like, you know,
confusion, vagueness,
264
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,280
and that's why Douglas
is so unique a figure,
265
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:17,320
in that he, straddling both camps
of humour, novel writing and art
266
00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,800
and science and gazing into
the future through technology...
267
00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,600
Fish?
Very, very useful.
268
00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,520
What do you expect me to do
with that?Stick it in your ear.
269
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,120
What?
It's only a little one.
270
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,920
Douglas grew up watching Star Trek
271
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,840
and I know wondering, why is it
everybody seems to speak English?
272
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:44,760
Once more from the top, please.
273
00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,880
So when he came to write
Hitchhikers,
274
00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,160
he needed something
which will allow people
275
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,200
to be able to communicate
in the multiplicity of languages
276
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,800
in the universe.
Most people might have then thought,
277
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,800
OK, I'll just put some kind
of universal translator machine
278
00:18:57,840 --> 00:18:59,280
in the ear.
279
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,000
(ROAR OVERHEAD)
Listen.
280
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,480
What on earth's that?
It's important.
281
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,160
It's the Vogon captain.
I can't speak Vogon.
282
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,680
Douglas' genius was not
just to then create a little tech,
283
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,560
you know, a little sort of earpiece.
284
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:16,720
It was to imagine a fish
which fed off brainwaves.
285
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,640
What exactly am I doing
with this fish in my ear?
286
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,520
It's translating for you.
Look in the book under Babel fish.
287
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,640
So Douglas chooses the name Babel
for Babel fish,
288
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:31,520
an allusion to the Tower of Babel.
289
00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,920
But he also uses it as an
opportunity to take a pop at God
290
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,920
because he's famously an atheist.
291
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,760
Not only is the Babel fish,
of course, a wonderful idea
292
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,200
and makes science fiction writing
so much easier.
293
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,520
But also, the typical Douglas idea
294
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,560
that this is a proof of
the non-existence of God.
295
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,320
It's so remarkable,
such a giveaway
296
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,680
for the existence of a God
that there can't be one,
297
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,320
because God says,
"I never have to prove myself.
298
00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:03,520
I must be only found by faith."
299
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,800
GUIDE: "But," said man, "the Babel
fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it?
300
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,400
It proves your existence,
so therefore you don't. QED."
301
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,600
"Oh, dear," says God.
"I hadn't thought of that,"
302
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,000
and promptly vanishes
in a puff of logic.
303
00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:20,240
That paradox of faith and belief
in God
304
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,040
is a... is again a just typical...
305
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,960
a typical entry into a unique mind.
306
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,640
I suppose there are mostly jokes
not about God as such,
307
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:33,840
but about
the way people think about God.
308
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,800
For instance, the thing right
at the beginning of the series.
309
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:38,560
It starts off saying
Where God Went Wrong,
310
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,200
Some More Of God's
Greatest Mistakes
311
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,040
and Who Is This God Person, Anyway?
312
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,840
Just deliberately being
controversial about religion
313
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:51,080
in order to get people's backs up
and make them buy the books.
314
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:54,160
Like me, I believe
he was not interested
315
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,560
in offending religious people
or mocking their piety and devotion.
316
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,440
It's the mystery of the human,
the enchantment of the world,
317
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,080
is so much better expressed
without there being a God.
318
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:04,400
You don't know the answer
319
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,280
to all kinds of mysteries
and questions.
320
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,840
Life, the universe
and everything is the question.
321
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,960
But all these questions
are now awake and alive.
322
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,040
They are not solved
and closed down by God.
323
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:22,840
Science fiction like The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
324
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:29,200
is incredibly important in terms
of trying to wear down people's fear
325
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,960
of approaching scientific ideas
326
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000
and it was funny in a way...
327
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:37,200
with ideas that we'd not seen
be made funny before.
328
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,400
(BLEATS AND SNORTS)
329
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,560
Good evening, madam and gentlemen.
330
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,960
I am the main dish of the day.
331
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,760
May I interest you
in parts of my body?Huh?
332
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,200
In The Restaurant At The End
Of The Universe
333
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,000
where the cow comes up to your table
and shows off its flank
334
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,160
and says,
"This bit you might find quite..."
335
00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,280
And Arthur Dent, of course,
is disgusted.
336
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,920
And again, he's flipped it for us.
(LAUGHS)
337
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,600
We think, eugh, eugh,
this cow wants to be eaten.
338
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,680
That's against
all tenets of nature.
339
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,720
He said,
"Well, no, it's evolved to say,
340
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,520
I am your cow, please eat me.
341
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:15,040
And you think that's worse
than being an animal
342
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,280
that is terrified of violence
343
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,400
and is programmed to run away
344
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,600
at the sight of teeth and claws?"
345
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,360
May I urge you,
sir, to consider my liver?
346
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,840
It must be very rich
and tender by now.
347
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,200
I have been force-feeding myself
for months.
348
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,440
Once you're having a conversation
with what you're about to eat,
349
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,400
it makes us think about levels
of consciousness in animals.
350
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,480
The more perspectives we have,
351
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,200
the more ways
we can question the world,
352
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,040
the more ways we can empathise.
353
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:49,600
He was such a curious person.
And again, you know,
354
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,280
the best artist and the best
are constantly asking questions.
355
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,200
I'll just nip off and shoot myself.
356
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,360
Oh, God.
Don't worry, sir.
357
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,440
I'll be very humane.
358
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,160
DOUGLAS: At Christmas, we went...
my family, we went to Fiji.
359
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,400
One day we rented a speedboat
and we sped across the ocean
360
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,360
to the island where
they filmed the movie Castaway.
361
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,440
And it's the perfect desert island.
362
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,480
Sun, white sand, blue ocean,
363
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,120
a single rocky hill,
clump of palm trees.
364
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,320
And perfect cellphone reception.
365
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,560
Why was there perfect
cellphone reception?
366
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:54,200
Apparently, it was in Tom Hanks'
contract that there had to be.
367
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,240
I remember when Douglas got one
of the first mobile phones,
368
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,560
which was obviously
the size of a house brick,
369
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,600
and you think,
"Well, what's the point of that?"
370
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,360
"You can use your phone anywhere."
371
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,440
"There are phones everywhere,
Douglas. I've got two in my house.
372
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,520
There's a phone box on every corner.
Why would you want one?"
373
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,680
"But you'll see. Don't you see?"
374
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,600
"Not really."
375
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,920
But, you know,
he was always decades ahead.
376
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,080
(PHONE RINGS)
377
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:22,080
Hello?
378
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,640
I'm sorry, he's out to lunch.
Can you call back later?
379
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,400
Cellnet's portable
is a true pocket phone,
380
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,680
but is at present
intended for mainly urban use.
381
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,680
(PHONE RINGS)
Hello?
382
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,240
Douglas,
being a great conceptual thinker,
383
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,120
thought,
if I'm on the phone to somebody,
384
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,600
how am I going to prove
that I'm using a cordless phone?
385
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,000
Yeah. Yes, hello.
Yes, it's for you.Thank you.
386
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,440
During the call, he would wander off
387
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,560
and suddenly
you'd hear this tinkling.
388
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,800
And that was Douglas
in the bathroom urinating.
389
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,120
He'd say to the person
on the other end of the line,
390
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,440
"Oh, sorry about this. It's just
that I've got a cordless phone."
391
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,640
When you're a child
you accept you turn a switch
392
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,200
and a light goes on
393
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,440
and you don't actually really
sort of think about it
394
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,120
because it's just
part of what happens.
395
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,680
Then you get a bit older
and you find out about electricity
396
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,320
and where it's come from,
397
00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:19,920
everything that's
gone into making it.
398
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,240
Then you begin to get excited
and think, this is amazing.
399
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,280
And you walk into a room, press
this button and a light goes on.
400
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,280
So in a way, I mean, I find I get
401
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,560
more childlike wonder
out of something
402
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,040
if you actually
know something about it.Yeah.
403
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,800
When Peter was small, he played
with these. They were a toy.
404
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,360
And then he discovered they were
helping him to learn to read.
405
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,360
So it is with microcomputers
406
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,600
and the revolution in information
technology, it's begun with play.
407
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,640
The hobbyists are the forerunners
of the microprocessor revolution,
408
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,080
the nutcase micro geniuses
who have to do their thing,
409
00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,920
never mind the dinner getting cold.
410
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,920
One of the things that connected us
was computing.
411
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,880
I had become insanely excited
about the possibilities
412
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,520
of what were known as microcomputers
back then,
413
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,160
so I could walk
or bicycle to his place
414
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,920
and we would play
with our computers.
415
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,800
We have much to be grateful to the
hobbyists who can't get a girl
416
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,480
because he's got a mind
full of differential calculus.
417
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,440
No country could possibly pay
418
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,720
for the accumulation
of research experience
419
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,840
and criticism
that these nutcases provide.
420
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,680
He had a DEC Rainbow computer,
421
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,720
which was quite a sort of grand
office-style computer,
422
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,640
because as far as I was concerned,
423
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,920
he was insanely rich
and I was just starting.
424
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:49,040
So I was in awe of his purchasing
power, and his enthusiasm.
425
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,920
It reached its height
in January 1984
426
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,120
when he bought a Macintosh computer.
427
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,760
We were the first two in Europe
to own such a device.
428
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,800
It's more sophisticated,
yet less complicated.
429
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,200
It can store vast amounts
of yesterday
430
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,800
or tell you what's in store
for tomorrow.
431
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,520
It was a new way of computing.
432
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,920
It had things that existing
computers just didn't have.
433
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:24,040
A mouse, pull-down menus,
434
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,160
a sort of graphic interface.
435
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,800
With a little waste paper bin
in the corner.
436
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:34,400
And folders and these images
that are all so familiar to us now
437
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,080
but were brand-new then
438
00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,320
and a thrillingly exciting way
439
00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,520
of manipulating information
and so on.
440
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,280
And both Douglas and I thought
this was absolutely the future.
441
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,360
There was no Internet to join
until the very end of the '80s,
442
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,240
but there were modems and you could
connect with another computer
443
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,320
by means of what was known
as a handshake.
444
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:04,680
(DIAL TONE, NUMBER TONES
AND TRILL OF CONNECTING)
445
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,040
We had a microphone and
we had a speaker and we had a modem.
446
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:18,240
And eventually, after weeks of
tweaking the scripts and swearing,
447
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,920
we actually managed,
he in Islington,
448
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:22,840
to speak into his microphone
449
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,280
and it came out of my computer
in Dalston. (LAUGHS)
450
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,800
At one point the line dropped...
(TRILLING, WHITE NOISE)
451
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,680
..and so we called each other up.
452
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,200
Douglas said,
"I've just had an instant thought."
453
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,080
I said, "What's that?" He said,
"We already have a technology
454
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:46,280
that allows us to speak to each
other remotely. It's the telephone.
455
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,280
Why are we making the telephone
go through a whole other system?"
456
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,200
It was a complete waste of time.
457
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:58,680
But the pleasure of doing it, I
cannot tell you. It was so exciting.
458
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,040
He rang me from the South of France
because he'd forgotten a book
459
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,760
he was halfway through, and he
wanted me to take it down with me.
460
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,520
And I know what it's like
when you're reading a book
461
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,160
and it's gripping
and you've left it.
462
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,680
So I was searching the house,
and I needed some more information.
463
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,720
I said, "I can't find it."
And it was a computer manual.
464
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,360
(LAUGHS) I was like...
465
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,840
Hi, this is Eddie,
your shipboard computer
466
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,200
and I'm feeling just great, guys."
467
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,560
Douglas saw very early on that the
computer wasn't just a typewriter.
468
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:42,000
His overwhelming sense was
excitement about the possibilities
469
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,560
that it was all going to bring.
470
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,280
Much bigger than that
was what he saw
471
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,680
the impact likely to be on society.
472
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,000
Life is the most powerful phenomenon
on this planet,
473
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,360
and artificial life
is going to be
474
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,800
the most powerful phenomenon
that we have created.
475
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,920
If you look at huge science fiction
monoliths in our culture
476
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,160
AI to Star Trek
was merely, "Computer,
477
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,920
where is that star system?"
(FLAT) "It is in the place..."
478
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,080
You know, it was basically
just relaying information.
479
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:20,640
Well, that's not intelligence.
480
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,960
And Douglas' immediate leap
from that form of science fiction,
481
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,960
a rather dull form of what
an intelligent computer might be,
482
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:31,760
was to understand that intelligence
483
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,280
is also to do
with social intelligence,
484
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,280
to do with personality
and if an AI had infinite
485
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,720
or at least close to infinite
knowledge,
486
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:45,240
then its guesses would be
surprising and interesting.
487
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,040
GUIDE: One day, a race of hyper-
intelligent pan-dimensional beings
488
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,440
built themselves a gigantic
supercomputer called Deep Thought
489
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,120
to calculate once and for all the
answer to the ultimate question
490
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,600
of life, the universe
and everything.
491
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,920
One of the things that I think
is captured by Douglas Adams
492
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,960
is the importance of imagination
in the scientific endeavour.
493
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,760
It is an imaginative process. It is
a moment where Albert Einstein
494
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,400
is thinking about going down in the
lift,
495
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,640
or looking at the buildings as he's
on a tram and he goes, but what if?
496
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:22,840
Now, of course, science fiction
and fiction generally
497
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,160
is very often saying, what if?
498
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,000
But the "What if?" question
is very, very important.
499
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,840
Oh, great computer...
500
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,280
We want you to tell us the answer.
501
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,320
The answer to what?
502
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,160
Life.
The universe.Everything.
503
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,840
Tricky.
504
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,800
After eons of time,
505
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,960
it eventually was ready
to come up with the answer,
506
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,240
which astonished everybody
because it was 42.
507
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,240
BOTH: Forty-two?
508
00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:58,640
When you take a concept,
509
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,400
what is the answer to
life, the universe and everything?
510
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,680
It's got to be philosophical.
It's got to be complicated.
511
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,760
It's got to be huge in concept.
512
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,240
And Douglas said, 42.
513
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:16,160
It's got a sort of cosy feel
about it, 42.
514
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:18,960
Sort of a plump,
sort of likeable number,
515
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,440
nothing offensive or spiky about it.
516
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,080
There's whole Wikipedia pages
on 42,
517
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,240
and the significance of it
in the actual world of physics
518
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,400
and, you know, history and
archaeology and everything else.
519
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,480
He kept his cards close to his chest
because he absolutely relished
520
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,480
how perplexed, almost to the point
of enragement, people were by this
521
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:47,920
and wanted to know more.
522
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,160
And where he got the idea from,
and could he explain it further?
523
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,400
And he loved just going...
524
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,840
When he came up with the number 42,
would he ever imagine
525
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,840
that for the rest of his life
526
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,560
and then for decades afterwards,
people would be asking the question,
527
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,280
what is the significance
about the number 42?
528
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,480
The Kumars at No. 42, Level 42.
529
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,480
So many things out there
and you think it's a coincidence
530
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,840
and then you delve into it
and it's not.
531
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,560
The idea that life, the universe
and everything is a single number,
532
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,400
that's a work of genius because they
haven't asked the right question.
533
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:30,720
They've got the number right.
534
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,720
But now we have to work out
what is the question
535
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,520
that results in 42 of anything?
536
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,440
And if we find that, we will
actually know the meaning of life.
537
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,920
But it was the great question,
538
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:46,880
the ultimate question of life,
the universe and everything.
539
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,880
And so, not satisfied, they decide
540
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,520
that they just simply have to build
an even bigger computer,
541
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:59,560
which turns out to be the planet
Earth. That's what Earth is.
542
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:02,960
It's a computer experiment
run by white mice.
543
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:04,640
Now, Earth creature, we have
544
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,200
been running your planet
for the last 10 million years
545
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,480
in order to find this wretched
thing called the ultimate question.
546
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:14,080
We always thought we were using
white mice in our experiments.
547
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,880
It turns out they were using us.
548
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,920
No, it was a joke.
I mean, what can I tell you?
549
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,520
Once I'd decided, OK,
the answer is going to be a number
550
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:27,680
and that's the joke.
OK, what's the number?
551
00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:31,080
Well, I think it should be
a very small, ordinary number.
552
00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:33,680
Why not? I don't know, 42.
553
00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:38,240
There was a moment years ago
when the Hubble constant,
554
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:43,520
which is the measure of how fast
the universe is expanding, was 42
555
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,800
and Douglas was absolutely
jumping with joy.
556
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,000
He's actually found
the answer to literally everything.
557
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:54,280
Anyway, it's now not 42.
It's some other number.
558
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,000
The robot, weighing 17 stone
and costing about £3,000,
559
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,560
is a robot who can be programmed,
says his maker,
560
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,480
to do ordinary household chores.
561
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,080
Judging by his performance
in trying to cross the road,
562
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:14,040
he may need a bit more fine tuning.
563
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,120
I commanded Clay II to bring me
a glass of wine.
564
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,120
He couldn't open the bottle,
but he brought the tray.
565
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,560
If you see the robot as
all the dreams of our future
566
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:24,560
and in the 1970s,
there'd always be something,
567
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:29,280
before long, you won't have to wash
your kitchen floor because this...
568
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,400
And you'd see all these things.
569
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,560
All in all,
as a butler, or domestic help,
570
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,280
seems to need still a watchful eye
and a helping hand.
571
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,840
But he's clearly coming along fast.
572
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,000
Most of the robots, they were
just normal human characters
573
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,280
that also happened to be computers.
"They'd always talk like this."
574
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,640
ROBOT: I am capable of speaking
any language... except Greek.
575
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:54,600
Douglas had that wonder
before the world,
576
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,720
because he could take
a scientific concept
577
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,440
and make it funny,
make it absurd,
578
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,920
root it in a story or a parable
or an idea
579
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,960
and because of his love
of technology
580
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:06,960
and because of the speed
at which technology
581
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,040
was growing and emerging around him,
582
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:14,560
it gave him that space to play
and to think and to imagine.
583
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,840
It says
"Genuine people personalities".
584
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:23,720
Er, it sounds ghastly.
It is, absolutely ghastly.
585
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,600
Douglas saw that robots,
if there were to be such things,
586
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,160
wouldn't just be...
(FLAT) "I will obey."
587
00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:34,160
But that if you can make something
that appears sentient
588
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,000
and can listen
and obey an instruction,
589
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,400
you would also throw in
a personality.
590
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,120
In the case of Marvin,
of course, paranoid misery.
591
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:44,880
But in the case of other ones,
592
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,760
outrageous California helpfulness
and cheerfulness.
593
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,520
In both cases, you'd want to
run screaming from them.
594
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:57,960
Life, don't talk to me about life.
595
00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,840
What Marvin is
a wonderful example of
596
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:03,880
is that if you become truly sentient
and you're aware of yourself,
597
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,760
all of the problems
come to you as well.
598
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:09,920
All of the "Why am I here?
Why am I doing this?"
599
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,280
Here is something
with a brain the size of a planet,
600
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,960
but with depression. They'll just
keep opening and closing the door
601
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,680
and bringing you drinks.
602
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,960
What are you supposed to do
with a manically depressed robot?
603
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,680
Douglas was interested, endlessly,
in what science really had to,
604
00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:29,280
to offer in terms
of the exploration of the world.
605
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,880
I think science fiction
gave him that playground.
606
00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:34,480
I see from our instruments
607
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,080
we have a couple of hitchhikers
on board our ship.
608
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,800
I've sent out a search party
and as soon as they find you,
609
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,520
I shall turn you off the ship.
610
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,480
He saw the world, the galaxy,
611
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:48,960
the universe,
as fundamentally relational,
612
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,320
fundamentally
a web of surprising connection.
613
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:57,440
That was a big theme in terms of
how Douglas liked to think.
614
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:58,840
We've been picked up by a ship
615
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,000
with the new
Infinite Improbability Drive.
616
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,240
I mean,
this is incredible, Arthur.
617
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:04,800
As you jump into space,
618
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,920
the likelihood of you
surviving is very, very low.
619
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:08,960
And so he has a plot device,
620
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,520
which actually is
an extremely interesting
621
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,760
exploration of physics
and quantum possibility.
622
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,320
As the ship's drive reaches
infinite improbability,
623
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,720
it passes simultaneously through
every point in the universe.
624
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,840
The ideas really possessed him,
and he did understand them.
625
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,760
He understood
the nature of quantum mechanics.
626
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,040
And he saw that, therefore,
627
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,400
that there must be a use
for this mad idea.
628
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,440
And in his case, it was travel.
629
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,600
You could just be there and there,
630
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,280
because a particle can be
and has now been proved empirically.
631
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,240
GUIDE: The Infinite Improbability
Drive is a wonderful new method
632
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,240
of crossing interstellar distances
in a few seconds
633
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:55,000
without all that tedious
mucking about in hyperspace.
634
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:57,640
We now are obsessed with it
driving AI
635
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,640
as it sees what has
happened in the past
636
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:03,200
and works out the probability
of this being the right answer,
637
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:05,880
or that being the right answer.
It's a question of probabilities.
638
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:07,200
That's what allows ChatGPT
639
00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:10,480
to work the large language models
that we use today.
640
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:24,960
GRIFF: He knew that Hitchhiker's
had been very brilliant.
641
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:31,120
But Douglas had a thing
about writing and writer's block
642
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,400
and an inability
to get pen to paper.
643
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,160
He didn't find it easy.
That was never...
644
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,320
He didn't set out to be an author.
645
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:47,160
He set out, his initial thing,
was to be a writer performer.
646
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,840
Go and write sketches.
That was what he wanted to do.
647
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,880
He was an accidental novelist.
648
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:58,120
He used to find anything that he
could do rather than write.
649
00:39:58,160 --> 00:39:59,760
He used to try and think of ways
650
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,320
that he could pretend
that he was going to work.
651
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,000
And when he was at work,
he was going to write.
652
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:06,840
That was him going to...
653
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,120
So what he used to do
is he used to go into a room
654
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,160
where he had an exercise bicycle,
655
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,640
and he would cycle
for so many miles
656
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,960
and that was him going to work.
657
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,520
When he got off the bike,
658
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,320
in his mind, he said,
"That's it, I'm at work."
659
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:26,680
But the trouble is to get to his
office where he would sit and work,
660
00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:29,120
he'd have to go past the kitchen.
661
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:34,360
He would find everything to do
rather than go upstairs and write.
662
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:38,400
When I started out, I did
something on radio, on television.
663
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,680
And then because the book
was such a hit,
664
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:42,000
it meant the next thing I did
was a book,
665
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,480
and the next thing after that
was a book, and...
666
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:49,160
You know, that wasn't the kind of
life that I really wanted,
667
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,720
but there was huge pressure on me
to keep on doing that.
668
00:40:55,920 --> 00:41:01,960
I found myself sitting in a room by
myself, really not enjoying myself.
669
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:07,120
He had a classic writer's
melancholia and remoteness.
670
00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:11,720
That guy,
man, could he could use a bath.
671
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,800
He'd be in there for hours.
672
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:17,400
I mean, you'd expect him to come out
and be a six-inch prune of a man.
673
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,800
He was so... just in there,
you might say, depressed.
674
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:24,440
But at the time we just thought,
well, that's Douglas.
675
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,160
He's just thinking hard.
676
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:32,440
The one thing that was unbearable
when he sat down
677
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,040
was to face the blinking cursor.
678
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,680
And every blink
is a stagger to the heart.
679
00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,400
He could start off a sentence
so beautifully
680
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:45,320
and then get really worried
681
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:49,760
because the next sentence
wouldn't be as beautiful.
682
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,240
He would have an idea
and he would write,
683
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,160
and he could do,
say, six pages,
684
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,000
and then he'd go back
and rewrite it,
685
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:02,160
and then he'd go back
and rewrite it,
686
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:04,080
and then he'd go back
and rewrite it.
687
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:09,560
And he was so particular
that at the end of this rewriting,
688
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:14,200
instead of having six pages,
he could have six words.
689
00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:18,400
Douglas would spend classically
three months on the first paragraph,
690
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,360
then realise
he'd got to do something,
691
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,160
and then get stuck
because there's something about...
692
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:26,160
His personality got in the way
of him actually doing anything
693
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:29,600
because he was so...
"(GROANS IN FRUSTRATION)
694
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,200
It's all about me. I can't
do this. I'm not good enough."
695
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:39,000
He was quite
vulnerable to depression.
696
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,560
He did get very low
when things weren't going well.
697
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,600
It was as if he had all the ideas
boiling around inside him,
698
00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:49,360
and they were a bit inchoate
and a bit sort of undisciplined
699
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:53,320
and it was that process of actually
finding a way to give it structure,
700
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,360
form, cohesion, articulacy,
701
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:59,840
get the idea out
that he found incredibly hard.
702
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:02,000
It's been a bit of a muddle
of a year, really,
703
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:06,520
because at the beginning of it when
I was doing the second radio series
704
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,040
and, you know, the scripts
705
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:12,640
are being written within minutes
of transmission sort of thing.
706
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,480
That's not quite true, though
it's not a million miles from true.
707
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:19,600
I had the second book hanging
over me, which had to be written.
708
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:21,840
I was putting that off
and putting it off.
709
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,080
Because I couldn't
get the thing started.
710
00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:26,880
If you imagine that feeling,
you've got a piece of work to do
711
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:28,520
you've got to hand in
in the morning
712
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,600
and you attach millions of pounds
to that,
713
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:37,720
that's a big pressure. Like anybody
watching your brother suffer,
714
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,120
I remember being really angry
715
00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:43,440
with the publishers, with
the agents, with the, you know...
716
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,480
I was like,
this isn't worth it.
717
00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:51,200
But looking back now,
I can see he needed the adrenaline,
718
00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:52,960
the fight or flight.
719
00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:58,240
He needed to get to the point where
everybody was like, "Oh, my God."
720
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,160
Eventually, when Pan sort of
read me the riot act
721
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,680
sometime in the beginning of August
722
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:07,320
about the continual none appearance
of this book,
723
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,280
saying, "How much have you done?"
And I had to...
724
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:13,960
I didn't admit
I hadn't done any, just worried,
725
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:18,280
and I basically had a month left
to write it, and that was it.
726
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,160
Otherwise it was
concrete overcoat time.
727
00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,080
When he'd got
the million-pound advance,
728
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:29,800
or won a Golden Pan
or something,
729
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,120
he wanted to hang out
with Paul Allen.
730
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,120
You know, the guy who started
Microsoft with Bill Gates,
731
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:36,680
who had a massive yacht,
732
00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:38,760
and Douglas would be on the yacht
with Paul
733
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:41,840
and a few other nobs
going around Antarctica
734
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:43,960
and partying
like there was no tomorrow.
735
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,400
And then as the year wore on
736
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,880
and he'd written just the first
half of the first paragraph,
737
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:53,720
and he's starting to get panicky,
and then he'd get really desperate,
738
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,800
and then he'd want to see his old
friends. He felt safe with them.
739
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:58,560
And so he'd get worse and worse.
740
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,920
And the publisher would then
hold the gun to his head
741
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,040
and make him write the book, which
was agony, but he had to do it
742
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:07,400
and he did it in three weeks,
743
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,160
because it's
all done by the subconscious anyway
744
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:12,920
and then the book would come out
and it would sell millions
745
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:15,240
and then Douglas would be off again.
746
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,840
He only wanted to hang out
with millionaires and Steve Jobs.
747
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:27,160
The phone rang and the voice said,
748
00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:30,320
"We want you to go to Madagascar.
749
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,560
We want you to look for the aye-aye,
750
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,320
a very rare form of lemur."
751
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:39,040
I, assuming
they'd got the wrong number,
752
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,920
said yes before they could
discover their mistake.
753
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:44,360
But in fact,
it turned out that they'd decided,
754
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,000
here's somebody who doesn't
know anything about lemurs,
755
00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:49,840
anything about the aye-aye,
anything about Madagascar.
756
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:52,320
Let's send him.
757
00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:57,560
Every science fiction writer
758
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,560
tries his own version
of an alternate world,
759
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:04,280
a place where time
has broken its banks.
760
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,680
Madagascar is just such a place,
only it's real.
761
00:46:07,720 --> 00:46:12,040
Something like 100 million years
ago, it broke loose from Africa,
762
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:17,640
and its plants and animals
have evolved in isolation.
763
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,280
I first met Douglas in Madagascar,
of all places.
764
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:23,840
And he'd been sent there
by the Observer colour supplement.
765
00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,560
We had to go straight
from the airport into the jungle.
766
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,800
And that first night, we slept
on a concrete floor in a hut.
767
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:34,040
Spider-infested hut.
Snakes everywhere, rats everywhere.
768
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,760
And he was really
thrown in at the deep end.
769
00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:42,480
At the time we went,
the aye-aye was considered
770
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:44,640
one of the most
endangered animals on the planet.
771
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:48,800
They were believed only to live on
this one island called Nosy Mangabe,
772
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:53,440
and the population was
thought to be as low as just 12.
773
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:56,120
We got there
with all our camping kit,
774
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:58,960
thinking there's going to be
nobody else there.
775
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,640
And then we got to this
little hut in the forest.
776
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,000
There was an American
photographer there
777
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:06,600
and he'd been there for three months
on his own,
778
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:11,040
trying to photograph an aye-aye.
He'd never seen one.
779
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:14,280
The first night,
rainforest pouring with rain,
780
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:16,760
we went off, didn't see anything.
781
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,840
The next night we thought,
we'll go again.
782
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:22,280
And, you know,
we're going to keep trying.
783
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:25,960
50 yards from the hut, we sensed
something, looked up with a torch.
784
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,840
And there on a branch was
a real-life aye-aye.
785
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:37,680
We went rushing back to the hut
and told this guy.
786
00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:43,920
Of course, he almost collapsed
in tears because he hadn't come out.
787
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,120
After we left,
pleased with ourselves...
788
00:47:46,160 --> 00:47:47,720
We left a couple of days later.
789
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:53,120
He spent six more months
on the island. Never saw one.
790
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:56,440
I was absolutely transfixed
by that moment.
791
00:47:56,480 --> 00:48:00,960
You suddenly think, there is a huge
amount of history to this moment.
792
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,320
Our roots in this planet
go back an awfully long way.
793
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,200
And it takes a confrontation
like this
794
00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:11,440
to realise how broad and deep
your family goes.
795
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:14,680
"Imagine the lemurs' surprise.
796
00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:17,800
For millions of years, they'd
been all on their own as primates.
797
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:22,320
And they'd never seen an ape since
they last shaved off from Africa.
798
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:24,200
And then suddenly apes returned."
799
00:48:24,240 --> 00:48:28,840
And I said, "Oh. So,
when humans arrived in Madagascar,
800
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,800
did they bring monkeys
and apes with them?
801
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:34,840
Douglas said,
"No, the humans were the apes.
802
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,160
We are apes, don't forget."
"Oh, yes. I'd forgotten that."
803
00:48:38,200 --> 00:48:40,160
He was constantly reminding me.
804
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:46,400
Of course, while these poor lemurs
had been living in Madagascar,
805
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:48,560
apes and turned rather surprising.
806
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:51,720
They had turned into things
that could build ships.
807
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:58,200
A lot happened in those few weeks.
He definitely did change
808
00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:01,760
and he basically said,
"I'd like to do more,"
809
00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:05,680
and so we hatched this plan
to spend a year travelling
810
00:49:05,720 --> 00:49:09,640
around the world together, looking
for other endangered species.
811
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:12,480
And as soon as we got back
to London,
812
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:14,520
he invited me
up to his house in Islington,
813
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:18,840
and he'd already put a map of the
world on the wall and said, "Right,
814
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:22,240
where are we going to go?"
815
00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,400
The idea was to set off
straight away.
816
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:29,080
But Douglas being Douglas
was running late on a book.
817
00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:32,040
Douglas Adams, you're on
the Grand Tour, as I call it,
818
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:35,640
to publicise this book Dirk Gently's
Holistic Detective Agency.
819
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,040
Having read the book
and having enjoyed the book,
820
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,280
but not having understood
the book very much,
821
00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:43,280
how would you describe it?
A ghost horror detective whodunit
822
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:45,680
time-travel romantic musical
comedy epic,
823
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:50,360
which is a genre
it has peculiarly to itself.
824
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,320
Instead of leaving like within
the next month or two,
825
00:49:53,360 --> 00:49:56,440
three years later, he had finally
finished his book,
826
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:57,800
done his author tour,
827
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:01,000
and then we could go off and do a
year travelling around the world.
828
00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:28,560
I don't think I'd seen him
so excited for a very long time.
829
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:30,760
It's not that he got bored by books.
830
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:36,120
He got excited when he started Dirk
Gently as a new stream of fiction.
831
00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:40,840
But it was still agony writing them
but this woke up something in him.
832
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:44,440
He saw it as immensely important.
833
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,840
All I knew was that he was
going round the world with animals.
834
00:50:55,880 --> 00:50:59,280
He'd taken a shop's worth of
cameras, with huge lenses.
835
00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:03,640
How he travelled through the jungle
carrying all this stuff,
836
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:05,640
I've no idea.
837
00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:11,440
He literally
turned up with a pile of books,
838
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:14,680
which he reckoned was
The Complete Works Of Shakespeare.
839
00:51:14,720 --> 00:51:17,200
Another time he turned up
with a cricket bat.
840
00:51:17,240 --> 00:51:19,560
What are you
going to do with a cricket bat?
841
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:24,360
Of all the animals we went to see,
842
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:27,040
my favourite was an animal
called the kakapo.
843
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:29,720
And the kakapo is a kind of parrot.
844
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:32,080
It lives in New Zealand.
845
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:35,080
It's a flightless parrot.
846
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:37,640
It's forgotten how to fly.
847
00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:43,320
Sadly, it has also forgotten
that it's forgotten how to fly.
848
00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:47,240
A seriously worried kakapo
849
00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:51,520
has been known to run up a tree
850
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:54,080
and jump out of it.
851
00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,280
Kakapoo were one of the birds
in New Zealand as many others
852
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:02,640
which evolved to be flightless.
They had nothing to be scared of.
853
00:52:02,680 --> 00:52:04,680
There were no predators
in New Zealand.
854
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:07,160
So they had no reason to fly away.
855
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:14,480
These poor creatures
would walk to a cooking pot,
856
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,080
go, "Hello, everybody."
857
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:19,680
You could just...
You didn't have to run after it,
858
00:52:19,720 --> 00:52:22,480
just picked it up
and put it in the pot.
859
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:26,080
It's appallingly tragic.
860
00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:29,600
This is where evolution goes wrong.
It's sensible for millions of years
861
00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:32,440
but it doesn't foresee
that predators
862
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:34,800
might move
from continent to continent
863
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:37,920
or from island to island
and then suddenly you're done for.
864
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,680
We got back and Douglas
was staying in a villa
865
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:54,760
in the South of France.
866
00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:57,680
We were doing a book
of our travels.
867
00:52:57,720 --> 00:53:00,680
So the first morning
we went to walk along the seafront,
868
00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:03,200
and talked about anything
but the book.
869
00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:04,600
We sat and had a coffee.
870
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:06,120
Still not happening. So...
871
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:09,920
OK, well, we'll have lunch.
We'll have lunch. That'll help.
872
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:11,240
We'll have some wine.
873
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:14,280
We'll have some wine. That'll help
the creative juices to flow.
874
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:16,520
Had a bottle of wine,
wasn't really happening.
875
00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:20,280
So we had another bottle of wine and
we're getting a bit drunk, so, OK,
876
00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:22,680
we're too drunk to do this now.
We'll go back to the villa.
877
00:53:22,720 --> 00:53:25,880
It's very hot. We'll have a nap
and it'll be cooler this evening.
878
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:27,880
We'll start this evening.
879
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,000
That went on for four months.
880
00:53:30,040 --> 00:53:34,120
And, we, I think after four months
we had one page written
881
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,160
which never made it
into the final book.
882
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:38,880
And in the end,
the publisher got so fed up with us,
883
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:40,880
they made us come back to London.
884
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:43,640
They locked us in his house
in Islington, and they said,
885
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:47,120
"You're not allowed out
until the book's finished."
886
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:49,400
They didn't realise
you could get out of his office
887
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:52,360
down the drainpipe,
onto the roof at the back,
888
00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:54,280
and then down
and out through the back to the pub,
889
00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:56,240
which we did quite a lot.
890
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:06,040
This really, to him,
combines so much of what he loved
891
00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:08,040
because it combined the science,
892
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:12,280
the science of conservation
and environmentalism and zoology.
893
00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:14,160
He put in
an enormous amount of energy
894
00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:16,840
into the charities
he was involved with,
895
00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:19,640
Save the Rhino in particular.
896
00:54:21,160 --> 00:54:23,320
Douglas Adams,
patron of Save the Rhino,
897
00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:27,000
joined the walk one week before
the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro.
898
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:29,840
From the first day,
Douglas assumed his rhino role,
899
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:31,560
giving the rest of the team a break
900
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:36,560
from the overwhelming
sweet smell of the costume.
901
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:40,480
I walked with him
and that was incredible.
902
00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:43,040
For him it was...
903
00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,040
"Look at this. Marvel at this.
904
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:48,240
We need to do something
around keeping this."
905
00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:53,280
The breadth of biodiversity we have
on this planet is just astonishing.
906
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:55,600
And he was astonished by that.
907
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:03,240
The story goes that Douglas climbed
Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit,
908
00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:06,480
which he did not
because he had to leave
909
00:55:06,520 --> 00:55:10,360
to get back because he'd
missed a deadline. (LAUGHS)
910
00:55:10,400 --> 00:55:14,760
So we left them at the foothills
and quickly flew home.
911
00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:18,120
That's better
than any exercise bike.
912
00:55:21,880 --> 00:55:24,320
In those days many people
thought conservationists
913
00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:27,400
were weird,
weird people with pony tails
914
00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:29,040
and white socks in sandals.
915
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:31,360
And, you know,
it was an extreme activity.
916
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:34,360
Celebrities weren't being used for,
you know,
917
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:40,560
promoting conservation or human
rights. It was quite a novel idea.
918
00:55:40,600 --> 00:55:45,280
Lemurs used to be the dominant
primate in all the world,
919
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:49,120
and then Gondwanaland split up.
920
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:52,680
It almost sounds like
some sort of '70s rock group
921
00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:57,960
going their own way for reasons of
musical differences. (LAUGHTER)
922
00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:00,280
If I was doing a lecture
there'd be 50 people.
923
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:01,960
But he'd attracted thousands,
924
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:04,920
and he talked about it
in such a way
925
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:07,880
that people were laughing
and they were crying.
926
00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:11,000
And, you know,
he made conservation entertaining.
927
00:56:11,040 --> 00:56:12,520
There was nobody else like it
928
00:56:12,560 --> 00:56:15,800
that I can think of
on the planet at the time,
929
00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:19,600
who was fronting conservation
in a way that made people listen.
930
00:56:26,960 --> 00:56:28,680
GUIDE:
One of the major selling points
931
00:56:28,720 --> 00:56:32,720
of that wholly remarkable book The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
932
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:35,000
apart from its relative cheapness
933
00:56:35,040 --> 00:56:37,960
and the fact it has "Don't Panic!"
934
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,440
in large letters on the cover,
935
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:44,360
is its compendious
and occasionally accurate glossary.
936
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,480
the Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy,
937
00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:50,240
the object rather than the series
of books or the radio shows,
938
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:55,240
the actual thing itself with "Don't
Panic!" in large, friendly letters,
939
00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:58,560
if that isn't an iPad or a tablet,
I don't know what is.
940
00:56:58,600 --> 00:57:00,760
It's just astonishing
how right he was
941
00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:03,520
that you could have an object
942
00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:05,920
that contained
all the knowledge in the world,
943
00:57:05,960 --> 00:57:10,160
or in his case, all the knowledge
in the galaxy, in a handheld device.
944
00:57:10,200 --> 00:57:12,560
GUIDE: Its simplistic style
is partly explained
945
00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:16,040
by the fact that its editor, having
to meet the publishing deadline,
946
00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:20,120
copied the information off the back
of a packet of breakfast cereal.
947
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:24,720
The idea, in 1977, '78,
when he was writing that,
948
00:57:24,760 --> 00:57:28,280
that he could have seen it,
is phenomenal.
949
00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:31,600
We want to be up for your high shot.
950
00:57:32,720 --> 00:57:34,520
Ford, who are you?
951
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:37,440
I told you. I'm a field researcher
for the Guide.
952
00:57:37,480 --> 00:57:39,200
I got stuck on the Earth
longer than I meant.
953
00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:42,520
Went for a week,
got stuck for 15 years.
954
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:46,320
Can you lift the book higher now,
Simon?
955
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,240
Douglas saw very early
that now people were talking about
956
00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:54,480
this thing called
user-generated content.
957
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:59,320
He wanted to see whether we could
create the Earth edition,
958
00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:04,320
the real edition of The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy.
959
00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:07,520
I went though a real sort of
midlife crisis.
960
00:58:07,560 --> 00:58:09,480
You know, "What am I doing?"
961
00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:13,440
A little while ago, I thought,
I've got to do something different.
962
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:18,240
And so I've set up a company with a
bunch of very, very bright people,
963
00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:22,240
and suddenly all
the creative juices are flowing.
964
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:25,600
The original concept
was that we would have a website
965
00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:31,200
and that people would start to
upload their Guide entries
966
00:58:31,240 --> 00:58:34,080
and of course it was
life, the universe and everything.
967
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:38,600
So, that idea of tens of thousands
of field researchers for the Guide
968
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:44,800
absolutely was now a possibility.
969
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:50,400
It was an idea so radical. He said,
"It's kind of an online community."
970
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:52,240
I said, "What does that even mean?"
971
00:58:52,280 --> 00:58:55,160
He said, "Well, it's like the world
is a village,
972
00:58:55,200 --> 00:58:56,880
and we can all get in touch online,
973
00:58:56,920 --> 00:58:59,640
and then we can have
interesting articles
974
00:58:59,680 --> 00:59:01,760
and we can talk to each other.
975
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:04,920
I said, "I've no idea
what that even means."
976
00:59:09,080 --> 00:59:11,280
We were a little bit
before Wikipedia
977
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:14,720
and we had The Hitchhiker's Guide
running on mobile phones very early.
978
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:17,720
This was pre-smartphones
that we were doing this.
979
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:21,000
So the idea of having the Guide you
could carry around in your pocket,
980
00:59:21,040 --> 00:59:22,440
we were making it real.
981
00:59:22,480 --> 00:59:25,920
We had home pages which people were
able to decorate for themselves.
982
00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:28,680
We had chat functions
so people could talk to each other.
983
00:59:28,720 --> 00:59:33,720
So we had this very rapidly growing
community, creating the Guide.
984
00:59:33,760 --> 00:59:36,240
It was one of the big dot-com booms.
985
00:59:36,280 --> 00:59:40,040
And then
we had the dot-com crash of 2000.
986
00:59:41,560 --> 00:59:44,120
A year ago there were
hundreds of Internet companies
987
00:59:44,160 --> 00:59:46,920
being floated here on the Nasdaq,
but not now.
988
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:49,320
The rose-tinted spectacles
have come off.
989
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:52,000
The Emperor's new clothes
have been seen through.
990
00:59:52,040 --> 00:59:54,360
The lunatics have been
put back in the asylum
991
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:56,960
and the Internet bubble,
well, it's burst.
992
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:00,280
It was a sort of combination
of Google and Wikipedia
993
01:00:00,320 --> 01:00:04,080
and Facebook and Twitter,
everything, all in one.
994
01:00:04,120 --> 01:00:07,120
And they just didn't quite get there
995
01:00:07,160 --> 01:00:09,720
before everybody else
made billions out of it.
996
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:12,560
The guy could have been Elon Musk
and Bill Gates
997
01:00:12,600 --> 01:00:18,680
and Mark Zuckerberg
all rolled into one. Easily.
998
01:00:21,600 --> 01:00:24,000
Now I'm here
to talk about the future.
999
01:00:24,040 --> 01:00:27,920
The only thing I can tell you about
the future with any confidence
1000
01:00:27,960 --> 01:00:30,240
is that I will be telling you
a lot of stuff
1001
01:00:30,280 --> 01:00:32,720
that'll turn out not to be true.
1002
01:00:32,760 --> 01:00:38,480
Like a lot of people, I've just lost
my own brilliant dot-com company.
1003
01:00:38,520 --> 01:00:41,640
Just like everybody else's
brilliant dot-com companies,
1004
01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:44,800
it was based on
the wonderful mathematical notion
1005
01:00:44,840 --> 01:00:47,680
that if you multiply zero
by a sufficiently large number,
1006
01:00:47,720 --> 01:00:50,920
it'll suddenly turn into something.
1007
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:53,880
It was a great shame,
because I think we had a shot
1008
01:00:53,920 --> 01:00:57,560
at being a truly global
social media company
1009
01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:00,200
coming out of this country,
coming out of the UK,
1010
01:01:00,240 --> 01:01:02,360
because of
the global nature of the brand.
1011
01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:05,600
But, yeah, it was, as the chief
executive founder of a company
1012
01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:07,760
in that moment of
the dot-com collapse,
1013
01:01:07,800 --> 01:01:10,480
it was a pretty tough experience
all round for everybody.
1014
01:01:19,960 --> 01:01:24,120
I was at home in Dorset.
1015
01:01:24,160 --> 01:01:27,800
I was on the phone in the bath.
1016
01:01:27,840 --> 01:01:31,240
He'd got into being healthy
and going to the gym.
1017
01:01:31,280 --> 01:01:33,800
He was in the gym.
1018
01:01:33,840 --> 01:01:37,680
He went to reach for his towel
and he collapsed
1019
01:01:37,720 --> 01:01:42,400
and his trainer saw him collapse
and he died immediately.
1020
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:05,680
He died just after
the first dot-com boom and bust
1021
01:02:05,720 --> 01:02:08,520
as things like Google
were coming into the world
1022
01:02:08,560 --> 01:02:11,720
but six years before the iPhone.
1023
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:14,320
He never saw an iPhone.
It's hard to believe.
1024
01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:18,200
And six years before
Facebook and Twitter.
1025
01:02:18,240 --> 01:02:22,280
And therefore,
he never experienced
1026
01:02:22,320 --> 01:02:28,920
the weird and distressing...
side of things.
1027
01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:33,840
Douglas would be disappointed, to
say the least, by what has happened.
1028
01:02:33,880 --> 01:02:37,760
By the souring of it all,
by the dream being tarnished.
1029
01:02:49,720 --> 01:02:51,720
Douglas imagined the future,
1030
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:53,720
and the only word we have for it
is a visionary.
1031
01:02:53,760 --> 01:02:57,400
He saw things
that other people didn't see,
1032
01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:00,840
especially things
that weren't yet visible to anybody
1033
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:02,320
because they were in the future.
1034
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:06,440
But he saw things in the present and
how they could be adapted as well.
1035
01:03:06,480 --> 01:03:08,920
But to put together
an idea of the future
1036
01:03:08,960 --> 01:03:13,440
is, is wonderful and a gift.
1037
01:03:18,760 --> 01:03:22,520
Douglas was brilliant
at imagining many different
1038
01:03:22,560 --> 01:03:27,720
kinds of perspectives and that's,
I think, his great imaginative feat.
1039
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:29,000
He did it with humour.
1040
01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:31,640
He did it with a great affection
for our absurdities
1041
01:03:31,680 --> 01:03:35,880
and the absurdities of mankind.
And we're racing into a world
1042
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:39,040
in which some of the things
he imagined are now very real.
1043
01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:46,760
Douglas definitely saw the gravity
of the situation
1044
01:03:46,800 --> 01:03:50,200
all those years ago, long before
the situation we're in now.
1045
01:03:50,240 --> 01:03:52,840
And he was one of the first people
to really bring to life
1046
01:03:52,880 --> 01:03:55,720
the fact that this is not just about
1047
01:03:55,760 --> 01:03:59,040
some extreme little interest
for a small group of people.
1048
01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:03,280
This is about protecting humans
and protecting life on Earth.
1049
01:04:03,320 --> 01:04:05,440
(APPLAUSE)
1050
01:04:13,720 --> 01:04:18,280
Now, imagine,
if you will, an early man.
1051
01:04:19,240 --> 01:04:22,840
He's standing surveying his world,
and he looks at it and thinks,
1052
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:25,080
this is a very wonderful world
I find myself in.
1053
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:26,720
Behind me is the mountains,
1054
01:04:26,760 --> 01:04:29,040
there are caves
where I can shelter.
1055
01:04:29,080 --> 01:04:30,760
In front of me there's the forest,
1056
01:04:30,800 --> 01:04:33,760
and the forest
is full of nuts and berries.
1057
01:04:33,800 --> 01:04:35,200
And here's a stream.
1058
01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:41,880
This world, he says, so who made it?
1059
01:04:42,760 --> 01:04:45,640
It must be something
a little bit like me.
1060
01:04:45,680 --> 01:04:49,800
Obviously much, much bigger...
(RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER)
1061
01:04:49,840 --> 01:04:53,760
..and necessarily invisible.
(LAUGHTER)
1062
01:04:55,440 --> 01:05:00,800
So what did this person
who made this world intend it for?
1063
01:05:00,840 --> 01:05:05,640
And this is the point where you
think, well, it fits me very well.
1064
01:05:05,680 --> 01:05:08,760
He must have made it for me.
1065
01:05:11,360 --> 01:05:16,600
And it's rather like
a puddle waking up
1066
01:05:16,640 --> 01:05:21,880
and thinks, this is a very
interesting world I find myself in.
1067
01:05:21,920 --> 01:05:25,120
It fits me very neatly.
1068
01:05:25,160 --> 01:05:28,800
It must have been made to have me
in it. (LAUGHTER)
1069
01:05:28,840 --> 01:05:33,160
And the sun rises and gradually the
puddle is shrinking and shrinking.
1070
01:05:33,200 --> 01:05:35,920
And by the time the puddle
ceases to exist... (COW LOWS)
1071
01:05:35,960 --> 01:05:41,000
..it's still trapped in this idea
that the hole was there for it.
1072
01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:45,160
And if we think the world
is here for us,
1073
01:05:45,200 --> 01:05:47,160
we will continue to destroy it
1074
01:05:47,200 --> 01:05:50,880
in the way that
we've been destroying it.
1075
01:05:50,920 --> 01:05:55,160
And we are behaving
as if this extraordinary,
1076
01:05:55,200 --> 01:05:58,560
utterly, utterly extraordinary
little ball of life
1077
01:05:58,600 --> 01:06:03,440
is something we can just
screw about with any way we like.
1078
01:06:05,400 --> 01:06:07,640
And maybe we can't.
1079
01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:15,440
(BEEPS OF CLOCK COUNTING DOWN)
1080
01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:18,800
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