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Nov 10, 2020 1:35 PM
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DefinitelyNotMadeOfBees
Pretty sure it was just an arbitrary number. Douglas was more absurdist than anything else.
ryan2one3
I need Reddit to verify this for me and provide a source.
ICollectReactionGifs
He's already said it's a nonsense answer and doesn't mean anything
iputnutinnutella
False.
semajretrac
Ahhh, ASCII. I remember it well...
NickRivieraMD
There's so much nonsense in this post.
LegendaryUpdootFairy
Meaning derived by the reader is the only meaning that matters.
rrlyrae
it's clearly explained in the book as the answer to what you get when you muliply six by nine.
MoonAmericanFloydHeywoodR
Sorry, but Adams has said he chose the number 42 because it is a nondescript number and it has no specific meaning.
Imalwaysready
But an asterisk's Hex code is 2A, which as we know is short for the Second Amendment, so REALLY, Adams was saying "the answer is more guns!"
phssthpok
*sigh. It was the answer to _the ultimate question of_ life, the universe and everything. Nobody ever specified what the question actualy is
Higure
"The answer to life, the universe and everything." What does that even mean?
TheRicM
So then the question could also be anything you want it to be. Both Q&A are 42
EchoSaysRelax
Douglas Adam’s himself, multiple times said that the choice was random with no deeper meaning. Though it’s funny that people keep trying...
EchoSaysRelax
To find something deeper in it. Maybe they’ll build a super computer to determine the great question so they can understand the answer.
EchoSaysRelax
(Damn you, apostrophe. How did you sneak in there?)
slightlyhotcontents
As others have mentioned, this is false. Here is a link, and the article contains a direct quote from Adams 1/2
slightlyhotcontents
Scroll down a bit to find the quote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
LegendaryUpdootFairy
Meaning derived by the reader is the only meaning that matters.
RichterCa
You can't claim authorial intent, then cry Death of the Author.
JhericFury
Doesn't one of the sequels give the actual question? I'm sure the question is "what is six times seven?"
ChloeRed
No, the earth's programme was corrupted, and the answer came out as "six times nine"
JhericFury
Ahh, it's been a very long time
42TmOl
I'm right here...
4sambucas
Oh!
InternationalNitWit
Kurt Vonnegut used the asterisk in his book Breakfast of Champions to represent an anus.
Agisek
How fitting, since they pulled this explanation out of their ass.
TheDudeOrHisDudeness
I lol'd. Love your reponse.
ScryForSciFi
Relevance
tiderfish
*
RaymondChoppard
Douglas Adams repeatedly replied to many explanations that "42" had no particular meaning.
donutposse11337
I also read one with Japanese words for the numbers making it mean something. Probably not intentional, but all part of the magic.
Adalias
https://imgur.com/1ND4KZp
TheDudeOrHisDudeness
False. He picked it randomly.
RatsLiveOnNoEvilStar
(1/2) When the question gets revealed as "What is 6 x 9?" Someone realized that 6x9=42 in base 13
RatsLiveOnNoEvilStar
(2/2) When they quetioned Adams about it, he responded "I may be a sorry case, but I don't write jokes in base 13."
hamberglar
I don't think this is "right", because if Douglas Adams wanted there to be some sort of secret meaning, he would have done something clever.
Ninalaroo
Correct. He has specifically said that it was just a random number with no other meaning.
hamberglar
Okay, but it also sounds very much like Adams to say something like that to throw us off the trail.
Ninalaroo
Do you, dude. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
grantplant
"In ASCII language, the most basic computer software..." this sentence gives me cancer
Imalwaysready
Thinking a sentence can give you cancer literally makes me believe the earth is flat.
ImSorryFriend
No, my friend, don't sell yourself short. The stupid was in you all along!
Myrani
"In BASIC language, the most ascii computer software"
SaveitforQueenDoppelpoppolus
cancer disease, the most basic biology pathology
Willmtl
Damn
mondeca
Give him medicine drug.
grantplant
For those curious, ASCII is a type of character encoding (e.g. A is 65, B is 66, etc), and is neither a language nor software
donutposse11337
Can you say that in letters, the most basic form of written language?
Evi1Gav
For those who really want to know, it's the American Standard Codes for Information Interchange
DoomBloodGoddess
I’ve recently started learning how to use my terminal with GitHub and I’m adding this to my notes.
grantplant
Awesome, good luck!
metalrulercid
You beat me to it. I felt attacked.
OdeToBouncer
Let me whip out some BASIC all up in here.
8BitFish
But what I really want to know is how many roads must a man walk down?
konelhft
I walk a lonely road, down the only road I've ever known.
tinyCabbage
the real question is, did you walk down the road, or mearly just walked up the road?
ShitpostsAndLotsOfThem
*
MeowWoof
500, and then 500 more
SanchoPliskin
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles To fall down at your door?
MeowWoof
Da da da da!
HarryFrumvrk
Depends if he went left or right and how close to the coast he was.
EternalSunshineofthePotlessMind
Sixty nine thousand, four hundred and twenty roads.
VaardArk
That’s gotta take at least five twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
sirbartonslady
Nice
circlelurker
42
ohmuhglob
*
RolandLovecraft
7. I find that usually is a good answer. Unless it’s not, then I go for 4. But sometimes it might just be 2. Still undecided about 3 and 6.
thegreatwhiteblackartblackestmaster
I'm usually about 3 or 4 on my regular days
thegreatwhiteblackartblackestmaster
Only because i don't count then twice or it would be really about 6-8. Or, guess somewhere in the middle, 7. Just like you! Man what a ride.
RolandLovecraft
The important part is we got there in the end.
pinatafarmer
Simon Whistler kinda had an answer on one of his channels but I can't find the video
CandidGamera
The question is clearly rhetoric. So, 8.
twocatsinatrenchcoat
No. It was just a stupid joke.
PianoMan2112
Douglas Adams has said he used 42 just because it’s a funny number. (Of course, now that I quickly need a source, I can’t find a quote.)
MilesNiveus
"I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story." 3 November, 1993
RolandLovecraft
You dare speak of Douglas Noel Adams in such flippant tones, boy?!?!! I’mma drop the hammer on you!
twocatsinatrenchcoat
I didn't say it was a bad joke. It's great. It's still stupid though.
RolandLovecraft
Sass back and double talk?!! You have woke the beast!
bolobass
Perhaps you have a different meaning of "stupid"?
twocatsinatrenchcoat
In what world is the question and answer to life, the universe and everything "what's 6 by 9? 42" NOT stupid? It's hilarious, but its stupid
jupitermonkey
so its both stupid and great? i have not seen any joke described simultaneously by those two adjectives.
twocatsinatrenchcoat
Literally the most I have ever laughed was the audio fart bit in Dirk Gently. That's monumentally stupid but undeniably great.
JensGespenst
Dude... Watch all the Monty Python works, Jim Carrey, the naked gun etc.. C'mon. Don't say that's not stupid and brilliant at the Same time
CrankyCook
What about your life
jupitermonkey
RolandLovecraft
Swing and a miss.
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