--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And to this end they built themselves a…" description: "\"“And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super-computer which was so amazingly intelligent that even before its data banks had been connecte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg" --- # And to this end they built themselves a stupendous… ![“And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super-computer which was so amazingly intelligent that even before its data banks had been connected up it had started from I think therefore I am and got as far as deducing the existence of rice pudding and income tax before anyone managed to…” quote by Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg) > ““And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super-computer which was so amazingly intelligent that even before its data banks had been connected up it had started from I think therefore I am and got as far as deducing the existence of rice pudding and income tax before anyone managed to turn it off.”” [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A super‑intelligent computer begins with self‑awareness, then leaps to absurd conclusions before being shut down. **In simple terms:** Even advanced AI may make nonsensical deductions. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about AI intelligence. Themes science fiction technology humor philosophy AI Mood humorous thought‑provoking Type satire philosophical When to use this quote - research labs - software development - ethical AI debates - creative writing Key Concepts self‑referential logic absurdity automation Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards prevent AI from absurdity? - How do we define meaningful intelligence? A Different Perspective AI may produce meaningless output without proper constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amazingly Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazingly-intelligent-5630874/) [Computer Amazingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-amazingly-5630873/) [Existence Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-rice-5630875/) [Income tax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income-tax/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pudding Income](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pudding-income-5630876/) [Super Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/super-computer-3458568/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [If I have a super computer then superman cant be far behind :P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrealle-moore/if-i-have-a-super-computer-then-superman-cant-be-far-behind-p/) [Ambrealle Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrealle-moore/) > [“Dr Abram Hoffer from Canada has treated 5,000 people diagnosed with schizophrenia with high-dose multinutrients, especially large doses of vitamin B3 and vitamin C.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-holford/dr-abram-hoffer-from-canada-has-treated-5-000-people-diagnosed-with/) [Patrick Holford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-holford/) > [I prefer an income tax, but the truth is I am afraid of the discussion which will follow and the criticism which will ensue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-howard-taft/i-prefer-an-income-tax-but-the-truth-is-i-am-afraid-of-the-discussion/) [William Howard Taft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-howard-taft/) > [If you're a full-time manager of your own property - and full-time, according to Congress, is 15 hours a week - you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/if-you-re-a-full-time-manager-of-your-own-property-and-full-time/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [President Trump repeatedly says that "America is the highest-taxed country in the world." 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He rolled the stock themes of fantasy over in his mind: cars and stockbrokers and commuters, housewives and police, agony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-young-man-shivered-he-rolled-the-stock-themes-of-fantasy-over-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [While opponents label (Howard) Dean a throwback liberal, The New York Times recently noted that as governor, Dean cut income taxes, reformed welfare and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/while-opponents-label-howard-dean-a-throwback-liberal-the-new-york/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [“Liturgy gathers the holy community as it reads the Holy Scriptures into the sweeping tidal rhythms of the church year in which the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/liturgy-gathers-the-holy-community-as-it-reads-the-holy-scriptures/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) ## More by Douglas Adams > [2,000 years ago one man got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was nice to each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/2-000-years-ago-one-man-got-nailed-to-a-tree-for-saying-how-great-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [What a wonderfully exciting cough,' said the little man, quite startled by it, 'do you mind if I join you?' 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The infinite suns, the infinite distances between them, and yourself an invisible dot on an invisible dot, infinitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-universe-the-whole-infinite-universe-the-infinite-suns-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [People always make this totally artificial distinction between what is commercial and what is good. They quote that maxim "Nobody ever lost money underestimating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/people-always-make-this-totally-artificial-distinction-between-what/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/any-man-who-can-hitch-the-length-and-breadth-of-the-galaxy-rough-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [ Does God know he \[exists\]?" "Of course he does. Otherwise, you could not have asked the question, and I could not have answered. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/does-god-know-he-exists-of-course-he-does-otherwise-you-could-not/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“When we told our guide that we didn't want to go to all the tourist places he took us instead to the places where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/when-we-told-our-guide-that-we-didn-t-want-to-go-to-all-the-tourist/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“But Douglas was a genius, because he saw the world differently, and more importantly, he could communicate the world he saw.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/but-douglas-was-a-genius-because-he-saw-the-world-differently-and/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“The bits which did mean anything were often so wonderfully buried that no one could ever spot them slipping past in the avalanche of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-bits-which-did-mean-anything-were-often-so-wonderfully-buried/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [You come to me for advice, but you can't cope with anything you don't recognize. Hmmm. So we'll have to tell you something you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/you-come-to-me-for-advice-but-you-can-t-cope-with-anything-you-don-t/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) [Explore all 1,168 Douglas Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## More Income tax quotes > [“Liturgy gathers the holy community as it reads the Holy Scriptures into the sweeping tidal rhythms of the church year in which the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/liturgy-gathers-the-holy-community-as-it-reads-the-holy-scriptures/) [Eugene H. 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If that is the result of not understanding the Income Tax Law, I will meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elihu-root/i-guess-you-will-have-to-go-to-jail-if-that-is-the-result-of-not/) [Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/) > [We very much hope that as we get growth that we can reduce the burden of taxation, that we can reduce income tax and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/we-very-much-hope-that-as-we-get-growth-that-we-can-reduce-the-burden/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [I don't like the income tax. Every time we talk about these taxes we get around to the idea of 'from each according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-coleman-andrews/i-don-t-like-the-income-tax-every-time-we-talk-about-these-taxes-we/) [T. Coleman Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-coleman-andrews/) > [We're talking about should we increase taxes? Why not put a tax on carbon emissions. It would raise a lot of money, it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-f-engle/we-re-talking-about-should-we-increase-taxes-why-not-put-a-tax-on/) [Robert F. Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-f-engle/) > [For every day the government is shut down, it should be that we don't have to pay income tax that day because they're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/for-every-day-the-government-is-shut-down-it-should-be-that-we-don-t/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [Conventional wisdom on government's role in inequality often has it backwards. Tax reforms have resulted in a more progressive federal income tax; government transfer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/conventional-wisdom-on-government-s-role-in-inequality-often-has-it/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [President Trump repeatedly says that "America is the highest-taxed country in the world." This is an alternative fact. 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People are not making enough to pay it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/there-is-some-talk-of-lowering-the-income-tax-and-they-will-have-to/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) [Browse all 374 Income tax quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income-tax/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super-computer which was so amazingly intelligent that even before its data banks had been connected up it had started from I think therefore I am and got as far as deducing the existence of rice pudding and income tax before anyone managed to turn it off.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Douglas Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a-stupendous-super-computer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Income tax" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a-stupendous-super-computer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/douglas-adams-122_income-tax_and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a_714916.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super-computer which was so amazingly intelligent that…” — Douglas Adams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Douglas Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And to this end they built...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a-stupendous-super-computer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/and-to-this-end-they-built-themselves-a-stupendous-super-computer/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```