Question

far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety - two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape - descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
this planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasnt the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
and so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.
from douglas adams, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
look at the text in bold. how does this text impact the overall theme of the passage?
by exploring the various problems that people face, it explores the idea that everyone is unhappy sometimes.
by encouraging a choice that some people might find odd, it supports the view that success looks different for everyone.
by highlighting humans strong problem - solving skills, it conveys the point that humans can overcome any problem.
by describing the civilizations priorities in an unusual way, it expresses the message that society can prioritize the wrong things.

Explanation:

The bold - text shows people focus on small green paper (money) instead of real happiness, indicating wrong priorities.

Answer:

By describing the civilization's priorities in an unusual way, it expresses the message that society can prioritize the wrong things.