Explain how 42 is the meaning of Life?

Question

Seriously. I don't buy this "How many roads must a man walk down" nonsense.
A man is a man regardless, and the meaning of it all is a separate issue.

Answer 1

It's not the meaning of life. It's the answer to the ultimate question.

Answer 2

G'day Dinochirus,

Thank you for your question.

The number 42 is The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, according to Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Numerous others have parodied this supposed mysticism of 42.

* If one types "the answer to life, the universe, and everything" into Google (without the quote marks), one will receive the answer 42 by Google calculator.
* Geoff Fortytwo (formerly Busker) is a computer scientist who legally changed his surname in 1997 to reflect the Answer.
* Using a word processor known as an AlphaSmart, when one types in an equation whose solution is 42, the sentence "The answer to life, the universe and everything" appears before displaying 42.
* In one of the subsequent books in the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, it is implied that the question to which 42 is the answer is "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?". It has been noted that six times nine equals 42 in base 13. Whilst some have been tempted to infer significance in this (for example, that God has thirteen fingers), Douglas Adams denied that he was aware of this alternate solution when he wrote the book. He stated, "I may be a pretty sad person, but I don't make jokes in base 13."
o It was postulated, by mice, that the Question was, "How many roads must a man walk down?" Whether or not this is the case is unclear.

I suspect Adams wanted to make a joke about the most powerful computer in the Universe working for millions of years to come up with a nonsensical answer. On alt.fan.douglasadams, Adams made this post in 1993:

"The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story."

While it is certainly true that the answer was intended to be just a number with no hidden meaning, the fact that he arrived at 42 was explained in more detail in an interview with Ian Johnstone of BBC Radio 4 recorded in 1998 (though never broadcast) to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first radio broadcast of The Hitchhiker's Guide.

In the interview Adams said that, having decided it should be a number, he tried to think what an "ordinary number" should be. Adams ruled out non-integers, then he remembered having worked as a "prop-borrower" for John Cleese on his Video Arts training videos. Cleese needed a funny number that would serve as the punchline to a long sketch involving himself (as a bank teller) and Tim Brooke-Taylor (as a customer). Adams believed that number that Cleese came up with was 42 and he decided to use it.

Several attempts by fans to find this particular video have been unsuccessful and it is possible it may never have been published or has since been deleted from use.

This interview is contained on Douglas Adams's Guide to the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (BBC Cassette ISBN 0-563-55236-0) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - The Collectors Edition (BBC CD ISBN 0-563-47702-4).

I have attached sources for your reference.

Regards

Answer 3

Remember, 42 is the answer but the question is what is 7 multiplied by 8. The answer is actually true, in a Base 13 system. What does it mean? It means whatever you think it means. Like poetry, it can mean anything so long as you can find a small way to justify it.

Answer 4

The meaning of life can't be quantified by a number. It is infinite. And I think 42 was from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or some lame cult thing like that.

Answer 5

because of the fact the question is "What do you get in case you multiply six by potential of 9" And Douglas Adams is on checklist as asserting that he would not make jokes in base 13. playstation . My 40 two isn't that 40 two.

Answer 6

42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the univers, and everything in the Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy.

Answer 7

Well, since the machine was destroyed five minutes before they were to find the answer, they had to make something up. I think it was better than waiting so many more million years.

Answer 8

its actually 47 if u take inflation in the consideration and i agree with Lisa

Answer 9

It is the perfect answer to the perfect question

Answer 10

everything happens when you're 42.