I would have hoped to see the tech take on "42". It's ascii for the widely used wildcard, the asterisk.
Yesterday I noticed 42 is shorthand for 420. Today I'm annoyed.
It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
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Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#12I think the point is that it's just a random number.
And here we are trying to associate meaning to a random number like we do to all the other random events/things that happen in life.
Like writing an article after 42 years as if it means something.
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#13But of course we now know it's actually 137 :)
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#14Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#15But of course we now know it's actually 137 :)
My dad, a nuclear physicist, always had his briefcase locked with the combination 137-731. As a kid I just knew it was "some important physics number".
(He never kept anything super secret in there as far as I know; the lock was just to stop it from opening by accident)
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#16Why is the answer to "the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" the number 42? An interesting Christian twist might be ... * GIVEN ... * the number of (hu)mankind, 3x for emphasis in some contexts where humans want to stand completely alone, is "666" * the atom for human is "6" * the number most often associated with divinity in the bible is "7" * THEN ... * the product of interaction of the divine…
How come there were seven horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Bible?
and 12 disciples of Jesus?
and ten commandments?
It's real confusing.
maybe what it means since there's seven horsemen of the Apocalypse and six is the number for the human...7*6=42.
Maybe it means the horseman of the apocalypse and the human beings are going to be friends and the humans can get a ride on the back of the cool apocalypse horses.
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought it's that you have to cross 42 bridges in your life.
Not trying to brag but I've crossed hundreds of bridges.
Ah, but how many metaphorical bridges?
(but btw. the parent comment was a reference to the book, where someone tried to come up with a fake question, matching the answer)
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#18Why is the answer to "the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" the number 42? An interesting Christian twist might be ... * GIVEN ... * the number of (hu)mankind, 3x for emphasis in some contexts where humans want to stand completely alone, is "666" * the atom for human is "6" * the number most often associated with divinity in the bible is "7" * THEN ... * the product of interaction of the divine…
I thought it's that you have to cross 42 bridges in your life.
You would have fallen to a scam then ...
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#19I think the point is that it's just a random number. And here we are trying to associate meaning to a random number like we do to all the other random events/things that happen in life. Like writing an article after 42 years as if it means something.
I only heard that he picked it because it was the "funniest" 2-digit number. No idea if that's true but it seems in line with most other things in the books.
Re: It's been 42 years since 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' answered the ultimate question
#20I think the point is that it's just a random number. And here we are trying to associate meaning to a random number like we do to all the other random events/things that happen in life. Like writing an article after 42 years as if it means something.
"Like writing an article after 42 years as if it means something."
It does mean something: it gives most of us, who read the book, a nice memory and a smile.