Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful [as a Babel fish] could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this:
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.
-HHGttG, Douglas Adams
Slashdot Mirror
or you could become a cult figurehead, like James Delmore Shapely in the Bridge Trilogy
Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful [as a Babel fish] could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. -HHGttG, Douglas Adams
swoosh.... it was a joke, ppl.. Opera is faster [because] it was released today [instead of next Tuesday]
as noted elsewhere the article measured perceived disruptions, not productivity. Full text here (blackwell-synergy.com). It's from Oct of 2007.
of course, the translation reads like "all your base are belong to us"......