This post sucks

Ok, I'm really not happy with this paper, so I'm thinking it's not going to make it to my other site. However, since someone out there did request to read it, here it is. I haven't bothered correcting what now seem like glaringly obvious errors, but which for some reason I missed before turning it in for a grade. Maybe that had something to do with finishing writing it 15 minutes after I was already supposed to be at school. Rough, rough draft this is, and a shame too, because Mr. Adams deserved better. Oh well, I think I've put off posting this for as long as possible, normally at this point I would encourage you to enjoy the paper, but I'm afraid that's just not possible this time. Struggle through it if you dare!

Drunk, and lying in a field in Islington, Douglas Noel Adams, a relatively unknown writer/performer from Cambridge, England, was struck with an idea for a radio show that would eventually become a cult classic and the source of material for multiple books, a television series, and a soon to be released motion picture. This is not the story of that idea. In my paper I will instead humbly attempt to analyze the personality traits of Douglas Adams, outlining the events and biological influences which helped to shape him, and applying both the humanistic and trait theories to my conclusions. Finally I will offer my opinion as to which of these theories best helps to understand his personality.

Douglas Adams is described by those who knew him as an exceptionally gifted thinker with a broad array of interests which he always seemed to throw himself at with an equal degree of extreme passion, despite their seeming unconnectedness. As far as his being a writer is concerned, Neil Gaiman, long-time friend of Adams, and author of the book, Don’t Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, once remarked that “writing novels was a profession he had backed into, or stumbled over, or sat down on very suddenly and broken.” (Simpson, 2003, p.xxv) He was referring both to Douglas’ serendipitous career in writing, and his tendency towards clumsiness. Gaiman goes on to say that Adams wasn’t so much a writer, as something else that we might not necessarily have a word for yet. “A Futurologist, or an Explainer, or Something… the most important job out there is for someone who can explain the world to itself in ways that the world won’t forget.” (Simpson, 2003, p.xxv)

But Douglas was not always lavished with such praise. When Douglas was young his parents were convinced that there was something wrong with him. Douglas did not learn to speak until the age of four. Concerned by this, they had him tested for hearing problems, or a learning disability. (Simpson, 2003, p.6) Personality traits are generally divided into two groups of influence, biological and environmental. (text, p.320) Biologically speaking, there is not a great amount recorded on Douglas Adams. His mother was a nurse, and his father reached the postgraduate level of study in theology. Since both of these accomplishments speak to a somewhat elevated intellectual capacity, and tendency toward kindness to others, it seems that Douglas did inherent much from his parents. Douglas is quoted as saying, ““My mother’s a great lady, she is somebody who is always at her best dealing with anybody else’s problems – and can never deal with any of her own.” (Simpson, 2003, p.7) This trait was passed to Douglas in the form of wanting to share his enjoyments with other people, (Webb, 2003, p.8) and his propensity for missing his writing deadlines. (Webb, 2003, p.6) From his father, Douglas may have borrowed the trait of career-hopping. When Douglas was young, his father suddenly quit his pursuit of a postgraduate theology degree and pursued employment sporadically as a teacher, a probation officer, a lecturer, a management consultant and even a computer salesman. While Douglas was quick to point out the inconsistency in his father’s employment history, at one point stating ironically that, “I’m sure there is some rationale behind my father’s life,” (Simpson, 2003, p.7) Douglas himself worked a multitude of unrelated jobs prior to his emergence as a successful author. (Gaiman, 2003, p.9)

Douglas’ experiences seem to have played at least as significant a role as biological factors in his development. According to Douglas, his desire to become an entertainer stemmed back to one night while watching The Frost Report, a British Satire which featured John Cleese. Douglas was struck by the tall comedian and later remarked that while watching he thought to himself. “I can do that! I’m as tall as he is!” (Gaiman, 2003, p.7) Douglas was well-known as a perfectionist. This trait could perhaps be partially explained by an anecdote that Douglas was fond of telling. According to him, whenever he would get writer’s block, which he admitted was anytime that he was writing, he would think back to a paper that he wrote for school at the age of ten, for which he received a ten out of ten, the only time that the instructor of the course ever gave a perfect mark. “In a way it gives me more of a boost than having sold a million copies of this or a million of that.” (Gaiman, 2003, p.7)

The humanistic theory of psychology addresses personality in terms of innate motivations to achieve the most that you can achieve, and a view of self, learned by interactions with others. (text, p.480) Douglas Adams began his career as a writer amidst much rejection and unhappiness. While he would write the most amazing works for submission to radio programs, he was continuously being told that they just weren’t right for the particular formats. Due to this rejection from peers, Douglas soon became depressed and convinced that he was a failure. Although his inner drive told him that he could “change the face of comedy” (Gaiman, 2003, p.13), by the age of 25 he was convinced that he would never earn any money by writing. (Gaiman, 2003, p.23)

The trait theory of psychology states that our personality can be explained by enduring patterns of behavior, or traits. (text, p. 476) When Douglas Adams is described, the description is invariably consistent with what others have said about him. In the forward to M.J. Simpson’s Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman sums up the majority of these traits. He states that Douglas was: gawky and coltish, kind funny and talkative, keen on computers and clumsy. Plugging this description into the big five personality traits, we can surmise that Douglas was high in the traits of neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness. His missed deadlines, which Webb described as “not quite an industry record, but impressive,” (Webb, 2003, p.6) would lead us to the conclusion that his conscientiousness was relatively low. Gaiman, in his own book, described Douglas as Solitary, which would leave us to assign the final personality trait in the big five as low also.

While both the humanistic and trait theories do much in illuminating the motivations and personality of Douglas Adams, I believe that it is easier to use trait theory to describe his personality. Although it is difficult to do so with absolute perfection, due to lack of complete information, and Adams’ wont to stretch the truth in tales about himself, through the use of trait theory we can at least begin to understand the man who while drunk on his back in a field somewhere, came up with a story to make us all feel a little less alone.