There are probably a non-zero amount of people who are older than 20 who have not read the hitchhikers guide, or don't recall some parts of it. For example, me

Same here! Last time I read the books is about 17 years ago, and definitely didn’t remember that.

For me it’s been about 25, but since this is the opening premise, and a throwback to the opening scene I think it’s probably one of the most memorable.

Ha, you might have better memory than me. From the opening of the books - I remember more vividly Arthur meeting Ford Prefect and his house being demolished. And vaguely something about a pub?

So I think I remember the gist of the first chapter, but not the actual quotes :)

Oh, lucky you! You can read it again and discover all the fun twists for the second time. I envy you.

Plus, there's no reason to assume no one here is under 20. We should be _encouraging_ young people who are interested in tech and privacy, not discouraging people from posting explanations about tangential pop culture references because we think they aren't relevant for people who are older.

Somebody is bound to be one of today’s lucky 10,000 https://xkcd.com/1053/

Or watch the movie

Which came out in 2005, 20 years ago.

This makes me feel old.

Non-zero?

Ah, yes, everything I know is a basic common knowledge and if someone do not know anything from my list should be checked for some problems.

Be it a minor SciFi flick in a written form or some SciFi flick in a live-action form[0]

FYI HHTG is big[1] in anglosphere and known mostly to SciFi enthusiasts in other parts of the world.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44287254

[1] as big as you want, of course

I’ve read this book exactly once, in my second language (English), 20 something years ago. Guess that makes me worrisome.

Lots of non native to English speakers around here too, lowers the odds.

It aired on BBC World Service a long time ago. Apparently some guy wrote in from India to complain that robots (ie Marvin) shouldn't be employed in place of human actors. I wonder if he is still around to see how _that_ turned out.

Hitch hikers is by no means a universal cultural reference, and by the way it is 2025. The movie adaptation came out in 2005, 20 years ago. It's entirely possible for lots of people older than 20 to not get that reference.

That simply makes them one of today's lucky 10,000

https://xkcd.com/1053/

Lots of people are outside of the US

The spirit of the drawing applies everywhere. This 10000 figure looks made up anyway.

(hi from outside US :-))

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is British.

Also, I know it, it has been translated in my language (French), the movie made out to the theaters, and we even have a well known school named after it (42). So it is known even to non-English speakers.

It is, the question is it known or just there is a vague knowledge about it.

Is the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy still part of the geek culture for people in their twenties?

I still think 42 is pretty well known, but it doesn't mean people have actually read the books and recognize that part.