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Anonymous
>> Anonymous
The Babel fish is small, yellow and leechlike, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy received not from its own carrier but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish.
>> Anonymous
Adams' description of the Babel fish also triggered a digression about the existence of God, since the Babel fish was put forth as a fideist example for the non-existence of a deity:

“ "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 white is black and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. While most leading theologians believe this argument to be a load of dingo's kidneys, that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid from using it as the central theme of his best-selling book, Well That About Wraps It Up For God.
>> Anonymous
In the continued description by Adams:

Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers between communications, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in existence.
>> Anonymous
The Babel fish is small, yellow and leechlike and supposed the ungeradeste thing in the universe. It draws in on the brainwave energy, which will not receive from its own hoisting engine however from those around it. It sucks all unconscious spirit frequencies of this brainwave energy up, in order to also nourish itself. It separates then into the understanding of its hoisting engine, which one telepathic matrix, by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals, waived of of the brain formed speech in the middle, which supplied it. The practical result of everything this is that, if you cling a Babel fish in your ear you can immediately understand everything, which is said to you in each possible form of the language. The speech patterns you really hear to decode the brainwave matrix which was drawn into your understanding by your Babel of fish.
>> Anonymous
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