People
“I was being perfectly serious,” said Arthur. “It’s just the Universe I’m never quite sure about.”
— Douglas Adams ‧ So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
Arthur insists he was completely serious; his doubt is about the Universe, not about his own sincerity. The joke is the absurd scale of his uncertainty, treating the entire cosmos as the one thing he can't take at face value.
Context reviewed