". . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, `This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for."
I think that is says something interesting both about creationist thinking (the world is so perfectly suited to us that it proves ___) and the complacency of the world in terms of environmental changes.
2006-09-06 10:52:14 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's the third mind blowing quote I read today. I guess there are still some good questions to be asked around here.
In case you're interested, here are the other quotes...
This is exactly how I feel .... "You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we're here... I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell. It doesn't frighten me."
[Richard P. Feynman, "Genius, the life and science"]
Here's another good one....
"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window."
[Stephen King]
Now about that house party of yours....
2006-09-06 11:00:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it could be applied to a lot of things. Life, and life after death, society etc...
First, coming into the world; the hole was there BEFORE the puddle. The puddle fit itself into the hole...not the other way around. (we have to fit into our world and get comfortable in it. We have to give and take to fit sometimes, but we eventually fit into our lives the best we can).
Secondly, the puddle came from essentially, individual drops of water that fell from the sky, which combined to create one puddle. Families are made up of individuals, but become one 'family unit'. A single cell splits and become's many to form a single living creature. If the puddle signifies human existance, then you could say that the single human life is created by many tiny particles (rain drops) and in death, it goes back to that (evaporation back into the atmosphere)...which could be an argument for reincarnation too.
2006-09-06 11:05:51 · answer #2 · answered by Lisa E 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Now imagine the puddle had the ability to irrigate its hole, but its belief that everything would be alright made it not act. Imagine that someone pointed out the accident that was the formation of the puddle, "you are a decendent of the rain" they said. But instead of building irrigation it spent its time fighting against the "accidentalists", saying "Can you not see how perfect my hole is? I have nothing in common with those primitive droplets. When I evaporate I will go to a promised hole in a road paved with gold."
2006-09-06 11:07:38 · answer #3 · answered by neil s 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is hardly one sentence in any of the Douglas Adams books that don't contain some tidbit of fascinating thought processes. It describes quite well how we fit into life, does it not? Staggeringly well even :-)
2006-09-06 11:26:16 · answer #4 · answered by CosmicKiss 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I love Douglas Adams just because of quotes like that. He was such a quirky, creative man. He thought of things very deeply, in ways I never could. That quote is classic Adams.
2006-09-06 10:54:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
That's thought provoking. The environment is constantly changing, somewhat naturally and somewhat because we affect it, (although you could argue that that's natural too, since we're animals and part of nature too, but that's a different question and I'm rambling) but I would assume that it will eventually change into something that will not support us.
2006-09-06 10:59:56 · answer #6 · answered by cb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Love Douglas Adams. Great quote. It certainly speaks about a mindset that cannot see beyond itself.
2006-09-06 11:02:56 · answer #7 · answered by pwernie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think he is saying that the world is perfect for him that everything is going great for him. Money, love ,life itself going ,great. He knows that all that fits him that life made him have everything that the world fits around him. And all human kind he knows he is here for a reason. He knows he fits in this world. It was meant for him.
2006-09-06 10:58:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Douglas Adams (R.I.P.) was certainly a very funny guy. Imagine the wit it took for someone to create the "Hitchhiker's" books! Outstanding!
2006-09-06 10:55:00 · answer #9 · answered by wheezer_april_4th_1966 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The meaning of similar expression is captured in the Dylan song "Like a Rollin' Stone."
2006-09-06 10:56:44 · answer #10 · answered by bereftcat 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋