[REBOL] Re: 42 (Was Rebol Unity ??)
From: jason:cunliffe:verizon at: 22-Mar-2002 1:04
> BTW, what is this "42 indicator" all about? I'm aware of 42 being the
> answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, but... (funny note: my cell
phone
> number happens to be 4284. Totally randomly assigned.)
Its a Douglas Adams joke.. somehow I never got into his work, so I've been
wondering also for the past couple of days. Anyway I just did a check via google
and found this:
http://www.zootle.net/afda/mfaq.shtml#sect10
<quote>
What do you get if you multiply six by nine? (and other notes on 42)
Well, 54, of course. It can be argued that in base 13 you get 42. Those of us
who have followed this group for some time have seen the revelations of those
who have newly discovered this. (Some of us have even been there ourselves.)
It's an extremely tired discussion, though. The joke, when Douglas wrote it, was
simply that it was the wrong question for the answer (or the wrong answer for
the question, if you prefer.) He has said himself "Nobody writes jokes in base
13."
42 is just a number. It has no significance in relation to any other previous
uses of the number 42, as least as far as DNA always insisted.
</quote>
Perhaps Hitchhiker rebolutionaries can enlighten us further..
thanks
./Jason
