The Answer to the Ultimate Question, Maybe

Here's an interesting post by Natasha Lennard on the NY Times' blog The Opinionator:

In his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the science fiction writer Douglas Adams introduces Deep Thought — a computer the size of a small city, designed millions of years ago by a race of hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings searching for the meaning of life. The super computer is described as a “so amazingly intelligent that even before the data banks had been connected up it had started from ‘I think therefore I am’ and got as far as the existence of rice pudding and income tax before anyone managed to turn it off …”

We’re a little way off from a handheld Deep Thought, but since life and meaning continue to perplex, a new philosophy application for smart phones might be the next best thing. AskPhilosophers.org — a popular online resource for questions philosophical — has launched an app — AskPhil —for iPhones, iPods and Android phones.

Alexander George, a professor of philosophy at Amherst College, launched AskPhilosophers.org in 2005 (he discusses the site in his post for The Stone, “The Difficulty of Philosophy”). He describes the AskPhil app in an Amherst press release: “When philosophical questions occur to people away from their desks or computer screens they’ll now have the opportunity through their mobile devices to see quickly whether other people have already asked that question and whether it’s received interesting responses.”

AskPhilosophers.org deploys a panel of over 30 professional philosophers to tackle the questions which have vexed mankind for generations, including problems of logic, love and ethics.

Unlike Deep Thought, AskPhil does not deliver, or purport to deliver, definitive answers. Rather the panelists respond with thoughtful clarifications; they introduce concepts and sometimes suggest useful further reading. They address the questions posed as opposed to answering them.

And they do so relatively quickly. Adams’ hyperintelligent beings asked Deep Thought for the Ultimate Answer to Life the Universe and Everything. Deep Thought took but a brief seven and a half million years to respond. Its definitive answer: 42.

As the super computer kindly pointed out, the Ultimate Answer is baffling, because no one actually knew the Ultimate Question of Life the Universe and Everything that it was a response to. And at least there’s now an iPhone app to help with that.

But is this a good thing? Does this sort of merging of handy technology with deep thought (the lowercase, human kind, that is) enrich philosophical activity or does it fragment and devalue it?

I can already predict that 99% of the people who try to use the above "philosophy app" are going to be disappointed, just like the Athenians were disappointed with their walking/talking philosophy app: Socrates. They condemned him to death! Sadly, philosophy doesn't solve puzzles. But it does help you appreciate them better. But that isn't the "help" most people want!