This archive page covers approximately the dates between 27 March 2003 and 16 April 2006.
1
The external link provides a truly conclusive & definitive answer to the question of Adam's intent. It's the kind of answer many undergraduates wish they had when their professor waxes long about the deep symbolic meaning demonstrated by the subtext inscribed in the whatchamacallit of the novel they had to read for today's class -- yet no one was able to finish. (And is usually something written by Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Joyce, or Derrida.) -- llywrch 04:37 Mar 28, 2003 (UTC), who has suffered thru too many instances of this.
An ultimate Answer
The entire world terminates at the street address #42, Club Beta, owned by Stavros Mueller. Everything, and I do mean everything, comes to a complete, utter, crushing, and total halt at #42. I've reinserted the idea of the Question being "so, where does it all end?" because the number 42 quite beautifully wraps up the entire series and all possible interpretations of the Question with that one.
The ultimate Question.
It turns out that Marvin the Paranoid Android knew the ultimate question all along. Unfortunately just as he's about to spill the beans, something blows up (it's been a while since I've read the books) and he doesn't get a chance to put Zaphod / Arthur and all the readers out of their misery.
Later, Marvin is talking to a mattress called Zem (They're all called Zem). In order to prove how much more intelligent he is than the mattress, he asks the following...
Marvin: "Think of a number"
Zem: "Er - five"
Marvin: "Wrong".
Which to me implies that the Ultimate Question is "Think of a number" and the Ultimate Answer is "42".
Regards,
Myles Kelvin
At the end of the third book, I believe, Arthur encounters a man who can only tell truth. He asks him if he knows the answer to life, the universe and everything. The man says he does. He continues to say that if the question is ever discovered that the universe would be instantly destroyed and replaced with something even more illogical. (Maybe it already has.) At any rate, is is completely impossible for a valid question to the answer to exist in this plane of existence. (I'm paraphrasing here, I don't have the book, I've only heard this from the new BBC radio 4 show.) --James 16:46, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC)
Metasyntactic variable
I know what the article's trying to say, I think, but 42 can't be the name of a variable in any language I'm aware of. Not sure how to reword it, though. Marnanel 21:07, Apr 2, 2004 (UTC)
It's used as a metasynctactic constant, of course. Shreevatsa 15:56, 4 May 2005 (UTC)
Letters
Note the CAPITAL letters
Answer to LIFE, the UNIVERSE, and EVERYTHING
LIFE=4 letters
UNIVERSE=8 letters
EVERYTHING=10 letters
LIFE*UNIVERSE+EVERYTHING=42=4*8+10
4 times 8 is 32
32 plus 10 is 42 right??
- And your point is? If this is an actual theory about the meaning behind 42, let me point out that you could have made just about any number you wanted that way. r speer 18:17, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
Spoiler Mistake
I just thought it would be a good idea to point out that the "Spoilers End Here" thing is wrong because the number "42" is mentioned after it as the Ultimate Answer. I can't come up with a way to fix it, because it would mean getting rid of the quote that's better left there.
Other interpretations
Tautology
Isn't this just a tautology? The ultimate question is (by definition) the last question, and when the last question is answered then there aren't any more questions or answers. Right?
For tea, two
Wasn't there something about a pun on fourty - two (for tea two) - tea for two? Adams was a tea fan, tea for two was a suitable attitude to take to the universe? Not sure about this.2toise 10:41, 23 Oct 2003 (UTC)
it's worth noting, however, that in his dedication for the original H2G2 book he thanks two people 'for tea, sympathy, and a sofa'. Note how he thanks them 'for tea' and then for two other things.
Base 13
This is kind of interesting. 6 x 9 IS 42, in base 13. User:droth6
Base 13 and deck of cards
In Adams' conscious thought it was just a number plucked out of the air. But who knows the way of the subconscious? He knew he had to come up with an answer to the question so may have subconsciously thought about it for quite a while. The connection between 42 and a deck of 54 cards (which I've posted in the Wikipedia) is just too strong to dismiss.
Many a person has had a profound conscious thought that has seemed to spring from no-where. Every creative person has been asked where their ideas come from - and all say many ideas just pop into their head. Many people looking for a solution for a problem have "slept on it". Many scientists see an answer but then have to figure out how.
I believe it's quite acceptable that even Adams thought it was just a number but in reality his sub-conscious was providing him the "desk of cards" answer to the meaning of life. (As a sometime writer myself, I do find that I get story ideas "out of no where", that clearly have come from some subconscious thought process. It's quite freaky and exhilarating when it happens)
So, for example, put yourself in Adams' shoes...
I am writing a story, and it will reveal the meaning of life. Should I use some old cliches like "Life is what you make it" or "Life is like a deck of cards" etc etc?
(Now the idea of the deck of cards has been planted in his subconscious)
No, no, too bland. Want something quirky. How about a number? Hmmm...
(Subconscious thinks cards... 54... 4 suits plus 2 jokers... 4.. 2... 42)
I know... 42!
(Subconscious then throws in the 6x9 reference just for good measure)
So, in the greatest of ironies, Adams, who thinks he's outsmarting us, is outsmarted by his subconscious.
--ChrisOz 01:53, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
(By the way, my information comes from the BBC documentary about DNA and the Hitchhiker's story that was produced shortly after he died.) Hig Hertenfleurst 17:58, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Number of letters
If you count the letters of "The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything." including the punctuation you'll come to the number "42".
Cricket
There are 42 laws of Cricket. Given the relation of that sport to later matter in the book, and the way that it arises, this seems an awful coincidence. Given his apparent distaste for the game, this may have been an injoke, but there is also the distinct possibility that Douglas Adams was unaware of this also.
"But that's not cricket!" *cough* Sorry. There DOES exist a radio interview, available on CD, where Adams FINALLY admitted that his influence was John Cleese, who'd tried to work out a 'funny number' for one of his Video Arts training films in the 1970s. Adams admits he didn't remember if 42 WAS the number Cleese arrived at, but thought that was it, and included it. What most people miss by fixating ON 42 is the more subtle joke that the ENTIRE Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, can, according to Deep Thought at least, be boiled down to ONE two-digit positive even number. --JohnDBuell 02:43, 14 December 2005 (UTC) (Funny how I'm echoing myself, a couple of sections down, almost exactly four months later).
C++ code?
I removed the C++ version of the programmer's joke, because it essentially doesn't add anything to the joke, and wasn't explained as being a C++ version of the joke; it was simply pasted in after the C code. Someone unfamiliar with C/C++ might not be able to tell that the two aren't actually just one big program, thus further confusing them when they attempt to decipher the code.
Furthermore, while I'm not too fond of C++, there's nothing very C++-ish about the version added here. Sure, it uses iostream for output, but I/O is not the joke here: SIX * NINE is. In order to have the same effect, the C++ code essentially is using its C underpinings -- in other words, minus the cout bit, this code is really just C. A C++ programmer would have prefered a const declaration.
Also, C++ was never mentioned. Like I said before, there is no way for a non-programmer to know that this was C++. We could add a little heading, but given the above, is it really worth it?
As a disclaimer, I added the C code bit back in Feb '02, under a different IP.
RalphB 2005-04-08 09:50 CET:
The C code is a good joke, but could someone please add a page number & edition to the "C Programming Language" reference, because I can't find this code in either my 1st or 2nd editions. Thanks.
Hebrew Numerology
According to Hebrew Numerology, 6 is the number of man and 7 is the number of God. Realizing that the word 'of' often refers to multiplication, one could argue that "men of God" is an alias for 6 X 7, or 42. Therefore, if you want to be spiritual about it, the answer to life, the universe, and everything is for every man and woman to find a relationship with God.
As I'm sure the Jugalator will be quick to point out, though, this g
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