The answer to the ultimate question is " 42 "?

Question

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

They have never given us a proper answer ?

Have they ?

Why is the answer = 42 ?

Answer 1

Here's a direct quote from Douglas Adams:

"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."

Answer 2

1st Douglas Adams is amazing
he was just poking fun at how all religions focus on providing an "answer" to life, or promise an answer. If you really think about it and look into it, a lot of those answers don't make any sense. Because religion means having fate in something that may be just complete nonsense, like Christianity. So Adams was basically saying that all of those answers are just silly. So he decided to make up his own answer, and i think it a damn good one.
He also makes an interesting point of, maybe were not getting the right answer because we've been asking the wrong question. Remember, throughout the Hitchhikers books, they're looking for the ultimate Question. 42 is the answer, but no one has figured out the question yet.

Answer 3

Your question is indeed incorrect. We were given a proper answer i.e. 42, we just don't know what the question is because no one ever asked what it was before asking for the answer.

Had the Earth not been demolished by the Vorlon destruction fleet, the question was about to be revealed in a coffee shop in London. Arthur Dent did, in the time of the cave man, come up with 6*9, but by then the original cavemen were about to be replaced by the likes of sanitation engineers and hairdressers from a space ship which crashed on Earth.

I hope that answers your question, if not the question.

Answer 4

I think the whole point is that it makes no sense..
No science, or religion can work out where the universe came from, because there is no way of knowing how it got there. Big Bang theories, God, none of it makes sense. Where would God have been, where did 'stuff' come from to make the universe? What is it expanding into?
Neither science, nor religion, can come up with an explanation.
Therefore it's an abstract question, and deserved an abstract answer. It could just as feasibly have been 'mackarel'.
It's also only really a joke (but don't tell anyone)

Answer 5

Pay attention. The answer is 42.
The problemwas that they weren't sure what the question was.
Possibly "Whats 6 times 9".
But that would mean theres something wrong with the universe.

Answer 6

oh yes they have
7777 77
but not
7777 777
the first sequence should be clear even to stubborn scholars
it is a magickal formula in itself
it connects everything
there is even a minus. a Ricochet ,
a relativity theory, and Rock 'n Roll
why ? because God is not a patriarcal figure rather the Mirroring of two Mystyc Columns
from wich Everything derives and is created
and infacts the Gods made Love
if it was one it would be Master Betiomn !!!
hummm Ask Zaphod and Arthur
they'll agree anyway ..by now they must have understood it too ....and yes there was a question ....

Answer 7

Why is the answer is "42"? Because Deep Thought said so, that's why!! And if it is good enough for the Pan-Dimensional being (the mice) it's good enough for me!

ANd the question is..... is...... "what do you get if you multiply 6 by 9?"

Answer 8

6*7, which are the 2 greatest numbers.

Answer 9

Good Question

Answer 10

because its the anwser before the question!