Easy money Quote by Douglas Adams
““Modern elevators are strange and complex entities. The ancient electric winch and “maximum-capacity-eight-persons" jobs bear as much relation to a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical People Transporter as a packet of mixed nuts does to the entire west wing of the Sirian State Mental Hospital. This is because they operate on the curious principle of “defocused temporal perception.” In other words they have the capacity to see dimly into the immediate future, which enables the elevator to be on the right floor to pick you up even before you knew you wanted it, thus eliminating all the tedious chatting, relaxing and making friends that people were previously forced to do while waiting for elevators. Not unnaturally, many elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition became terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down, experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanded participation in the decision-making process and finally took to squatting in basements sulking. An impoverished hitchhiker visiting any planets in the Sirius star system these days can pick up easy money working as a counselor for neurotic elevators.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 1979
The quote humorously critiques elevators as sentient beings with precognitive abilities, reflecting on absurd bureaucracy and existential protest.
In simple terms: Elevators are absurdly portrayed as aware, protesting their routine.
Question the absurdity of everyday systems.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- office life
- urban commuting
- science fiction satire
- AI ethics
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the elevator’s rebellion symbolize?
- How does humor reveal hidden frustrations?
The satire may overlook real ergonomic concerns of elevator design.