If the answer is 42, what is the question?

[Mader Hatter]

I think it's how many tough roads a man/woman must cross to reach heaven. Anyone else?  

[Charlie Dodo]

*Grabs a bag of scrabble tiles*
whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplysixbynine  

[Tyrannotaur]

I'm going to have to agree with the Charles Dodo. Also, if you read the books you will know that anyone that knows both the question and answer to life, the universe and everything will become a god-like figure.  

[Mader Hatter]

I'm smexy enough gonk  

[Master Azrael Reaper]

why did the chicken cross the road?  

[Treehugger15]

the meaning of life! 3nodding  

[Verderbnis]

As long as you have questions you will proceed with searching for answers. The definite "answer to life, the universe and so on" may be very disturbing, maybe that's why Adams put out 42.

Another example is; Why did scientists not find a way to produce a working AI?

Because we have not found an answer to our intelligence. It is still described but no definition is an absolute fact.  

[0Jason Voorhees0]

Charles Dodo

*Grabs a bag of scrabble tiles*
whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplysixbynine

6x9=54
6x7=42  

[Tyrannotaur]

Jacthnithd

Charles Dodo

*Grabs a bag of scrabble tiles*
whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplysixbynine

6x9=54
6x7=42

But its 42 we're talking about. This isn't math class, we're trying to find the source of the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.  

[Deppfan]

Jordanicas

Jacthnithd

Charles Dodo

*Grabs a bag of scrabble tiles*
whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplysixbynine

6x9=54
6x7=42

But its 42 we're talking about. This isn't math class, we're trying to find the source of the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.

But Charles Dodo gave a question that did not fit the answer.  

[azailia the reaper]

how many times did the chicken cross the road?  

[Barakiel9909]

Okay, I read all 5 books in his trilogy, so here's the deal. Douglas Adams wrote in his book that 42 was the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. Later it was discovered that the Earth was actually a supercomputer made to compute the question that 42 answered. Later in the series, the main character grabs a bag of scrabble letters, and, as Charles Dodo wrote, 'whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplysixbynine' came out as an approximation of the question. Key word being approximation. So it isn't exactly 6x9, but it's close. Not saying 6x7 is the answer question, but it certainly is plausible. Yay 4 nerdy rant!  

[Color me goblin]

Humm if you want some semi random insight into it.. you could try thinking about the fact that it is a specific answer to a very unspecific question.. like what has 4 sides.. Most people would pop off a square. Which is a very very specific type of 4 sided figure. If you wanted you could take it back a step to rectangle.. more vague but still fairly specific. You would have to push it back to the point of simply a quadrilateral. Which simply put is all 4 sided figures.

Get what i am saying? You asked for an answer and get 42 which is most accurately the answer to several math questions. So that if you think math is the functioning meaning to the universe that answer is a very specific form of very generalized question.

*cough* does that make sense enough? How general the question isn't for me to say lol.  

[Sullen Couch]

Fun Math Lesson--
With a number base of thirteen rather than ten, Six times Nine is forty-two.  

[Zphal]

Sullen Horror

Fun Math Lesson--
With a number base of thirteen rather than ten, Six times Nine is forty-two.

I love you. xd