People
Arthur lay in startled stillness on the acceleration couch. He wasn't certain whether he had just got space-sickness or religion.
— Douglas Adams ‧ Life, the Universe and Everything
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
Arthur lies startled and cannot decide whether his experience is space-sickness or religion. The joke puts a physical discomfort beside a spiritual explanation as competing possibilities for the same moment. That surprising pairing makes his uncertainty comic without resolving what he has actually experienced.
Context reviewed