azuldouglas adams's story about the civilization that built a giant computer that gave the ultimate answer but nobody knew what the question was so they put all their resources into building an even bigger computer just to figure out the question ... it feels more plausible every day.
Nazo@typeswitch And they were the filthy rich people who did it too...
Pianosaurus 🕴@nazokiyoubinbou @typeswitch Maybe we should adopt the leaf as legal tender.
@pianosaurus @typeswitch I don't seem to recall that specific reference, but, regardless, it would just result in those of means stripping the forests bare and then salting the earth so no one could plant behind them...
@nazokiyoubinbou @typeswitch It's from Douglas Adams's "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe", and stripping them bare is basically what happens:
"Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt the leaf as legal tender, we have, of course, all become immensely rich."
Followed closely by:
"So in order to obviate this problem," he continued, "and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on a massive defoliation campaign, and...er, burn down all the forests. I think you'll all agree that's a sensible move under the circumstances."
@pianosaurus @typeswitch Ah, a lot of the details from that one stuck with me less for whatever reason. Mostly I remember the food that enjoys being eaten, lol. Sounds like he got ahead of that one too though.