2007-12-22 01:54:23 · 10 answers · asked by maureen 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I heard it was the price of beer in pence at the university that the author of the book, Douglas Adams attended. His friends would ask each other if they wanted a 42 to mean going to the pub. Beer will always be the answer to life, the universe, and everything. At least it is in the UK where Adams was a student.
Cheers, mines a Leffe blond.
2007-12-22 02:17:22 · answer #1 · answered by Deattie 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
The deliberate triviality with which Mr Adams deals with his subject matter that is as grand as life itself, and the universe and everything, clearly suggests that one could not expect a serious answer out of it all. The use of 42 is quite in keeping the rest of light mood of the book is equally trivial and laughter provoking. There is no mathematical secret in the number and there is mysterious significance. The number, I my opinion, at its best act as a gimmick for the sake of light situational intrigue and publicity. Or perhaps it was at the age of forty-two when Adams himself almost realised what the life was all about.
The answer to life, the universe, and everything, in my opinion, is yet another question, or many questions about life that we, if fortunate, eventually learn to live with happily thereafter. The search goes on and the intrigue remains. This is what life is all about: questions, surprises and dreams that we all always seek within the realities of our own lives. If we just learn to wonder about things, and maintain our eagerness in earnest to know what life may unfold for us in the next moment, we might get very close to knowing our destiny.
2007-12-22 02:20:34 · answer #2 · answered by Shahid 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it is written in the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy :-)
Over to Wiki in the studio.....
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (published in 1979), the characters visit the legendary planet Magrathea, home to the now-collapsed planet building industry, and meet Slartibartfast, a planetary coastline designer who was responsible for the fjords of Norway. Through archival recordings, he relates the story of a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who built a computer named Deep Thought to calculate the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. When the answer was revealed as 42, they were told to build a more powerful computer to work out what the Ultimate Question actually was, but their plans never come to fruition. (Later on, referencing this, Adams would create a puzzle which could be approached in multiple ways, all yielding the answer 42.)
2007-12-22 01:56:25 · answer #3 · answered by Sherlock 6 · 4⤊ 2⤋
because that's just a line that the super computer of magrathia in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy said to add to the films comedy. the answer to life, the universe and everything isn't 42. the answer to life, the universe and everything is... *someone shoots me in the back of the head and i fall on the floor. dead.*
2007-12-23 04:05:10 · answer #4 · answered by AG Bellamy 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You need to read the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy to find out
Deep Thought worked out that that was the answer!!
:-)
It is on telly tonight ....but not the best version
2007-12-22 02:03:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is a smoke screen by a conspiracy of governments.
A little common sense and research will show you it is actually 45
2007-12-22 01:59:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Douglas Adams said it was a number which was completely unremarkable and "the kind of number which you could introduce to your parents."
2007-12-22 03:10:25 · answer #7 · answered by grayure 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy says so!
2007-12-22 02:15:27 · answer #8 · answered by the girl ♥ 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I thought it was 23???
2007-12-22 01:56:57 · answer #9 · answered by Jan 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Keep taking the tablets
2007-12-22 01:56:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋