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It seems a year out to me. The original radio series was broadcast in 1978, so 42 is now 43. --Spoiler alert-- And the answer 42 turned out to be "What do you get if you multiply six by nine" in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
wouldn't six by nine be 54? Is this one just soaring over my head?
After hitting my 42nd birthday this year, I thought for a while that Douglas Adams had layered the joke with a bit of truth: at 42, a man is more or less confident in his skin, having lived through enough to feel somewhat unflappable; he's probably raised kids, bought a home, got a decent job, and can pretty much choose what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Hence "the answer" - the answer is to be 42. ... Ala…
You sought for meaning where there was none, and you found it. Then you lost it when you realized it was never there to begin with. I'm sure there is a lesson to be had here.
I think that 42 rang for him due it’s association with WW2. The type of (particularly British) humour he deploys in his writing is the sort that makes fun of unspoken awkward thoughts and experiences. I reckon it might have been a subtly taboo number due its association with the horrors of WW2 and Adams being of the first adult generation to not experienced the horrors the time might have been right to “make light of” this number.
TL;DR The number 42 maybe did have a significance beyond what he was himself consciously aware of; he describes the process of such exigesis in his books, perhaps also subconsciously!
(phi = golden ratio)
It seems a year out to me. The original radio series was broadcast in 1978, so 42 is now 43. --Spoiler alert-- And the answer 42 turned out to be "What do you get if you multiply six by nine" in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Some comment I read ages ago convinced me that the real Ultimate Question is “pick a number, any number.” The two bits of evidence for this are paraphrased below. Marvin talking to the mattress: “I’m roughly a billion times smarter than you. For example, pick a number. Any number.” Mattress: “Ummmm…seven?” Marvin: “Wrong. You see?” Arthur, while aboard the Heart of Gold, says, “I’m disappointed we never figured out t…
Adams alluded elsewhere to how the march of technology had brought about galactic scale advances in miniaturisation and exponential growth in the capability of technology.
When deep mind designed the earth she probably used the state of the art for that time however many billions of years ago, but Marvin being a more modern device is far more powerful and can do the same calculations trivially.
Furthermore he always claims to be depressed because despite his eminence nobody will listen to what he says, which is indeed ”pick a number any number” which is probably what DNA said to himself when he selected it.
Why 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.
Numerology has been heavily used by the Torah and the Bible.
According to the Talmud, there are meanings behind numbers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significance_of_numbers_in_Jud...
So, 6 (days of creation) * 7 (completion) = 42 (one of the letter in one of the name of God)
Or any other combinations you want, because numerology has no true meaning. It's just playing with numbers.
Why 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…
Humans rank 3rd on even their own planet, behind mice and dolphins. So long and thanks for all the fish!
It seems a year out to me. The original radio series was broadcast in 1978, so 42 is now 43. --Spoiler alert-- And the answer 42 turned out to be "What do you get if you multiply six by nine" in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Some comment I read ages ago convinced me that the real Ultimate Question is “pick a number, any number.” The two bits of evidence for this are paraphrased below. Marvin talking to the mattress: “I’m roughly a billion times smarter than you. For example, pick a number. Any number.” Mattress: “Ummmm…seven?” Marvin: “Wrong. You see?” Arthur, while aboard the Heart of Gold, says, “I’m disappointed we never figured out t…
Seen a few Ask HNs where people asked that question: `What is the meaning of life?`. Well one thing I believe is: `The meaning of life is to find meaning in life ` Another quote I live by is, by Bukowski: “Find what you love and let it kill you” – Charles Bukowski I mean it makes sense right? Many people just haven't found their passion and go round like headless chickens!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But which ones and in which order? And in whose shoes?
Some guy who told me to try walking a mile in his shoes. So I beat him up and took his shoes.