# Why is 42 the answer to life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243 "2014-06-07T03:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/41 "2014-06-08T00:02:09Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Regardless of what Adams may have said, I don’t think it’s coincidental that Lewis Carroll used 42 a LOT in the Alice books (and in _Hunting of the Snark_ as well.) I like to think that may have been floating around in Adams’ head, unconsciously. Especially since Carroll’s writing, while full of jokes and humor, has a bleak metaphysical underbelly… hence, Life. Life? Don’t talk to me about life… Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and with a terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/42 "2014-06-08T00:23:05Z")
Yes, it was a joke, but some inner voice tells me that it has something to do with the Judeo-Christian idea that 6= imperfection (or man) and 7=perfection (or God). 6x7, you get the rest. This is of course utter bullshit and Douglas Adams would probably slap me for stating it. Or maybe give me a high-five. Hard to tell. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/43 "2014-06-08T01:28:02Z")
I think **Dex** has something there. Carroll does use 42 a lot and Carroll’s works once read (and often read again and again) have a tendency to stay with you and you’ll find odd scraps and lines floating up to your conscious mind for the rest of your life. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/44 "2014-06-08T01:48:30Z")
This thread had 42 replies listed on the main page when I first looked at it. I’m sure that means something. Something important. Something very important. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/45 "2014-06-08T02:42:21Z")
Gonna a build a mountain In your living room Gonna build a mountain And it’s gonna be keen! ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/46 "2014-06-08T03:33:37Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Gonna a build a mountain > > In your living room > > Gonna build a mountain > > And it’s gonna be keen! Saw you posted this at 10: **42** ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/47 "2014-06-08T07:32:47Z")
Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän means “Danube steamship company captain” and has 42 letters, Arthur Dent likes tea which is best served for two. Or maybe not, an idiom for confusion is to be ‘at 6s and 7s’. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/48 "2014-06-08T18:12:05Z")
42 is also how many dead hookers fit in the trunks of these fabulous used cars! ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/49 "2014-06-08T23:23:13Z")
[QUOTE=Critical] I saw one recently that was a twist on this, it said “Math is the meaning of life…” {snip} [/QUOTE] There’s a tiny problem with that theory/joke. Adams, being British, would have called it “maths”, not “math”. Which kinda throws the sum outta whack. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/50 "2014-06-09T07:50:42Z")
Part of the joke is the meaning of life is so complex and massive that if you don’t understand “42,” that just means you are too stupid to understand the answer. Therefore, people who think they are “smart” just say, “of course, 42! It’s obvious!” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/51 "2014-06-09T09:25:10Z")
Because 43 wouldn’t have been funny, c’mon. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/52 "2014-06-09T12:28:00Z")
It’s the sort of thing that took Deep Thought a few million years to calculate, you think you can explain it in a little message board post? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/53 "2014-06-09T13:50:42Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Because 42 / 3 = 14. > > And as any fule kno, there are 14 k of g in a f p d. Excellent. Did anyone ever come up with the answer to that one? I missed a couple of years of The Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/54 "2014-06-09T14:21:19Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Douglas Adams has remained funny even in death. 🙂 Funnier, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/55 "2014-06-09T15:06:21Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Excellent. Did anyone ever come up with the answer to that one? I missed a couple of years of The Dope. Most definitely not. [Closed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132), in frustration, by **SkipMagic**. If **mittu** is not a board pariah, he should be. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/56 "2014-06-09T15:07:04Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > Jokes in base 13, &c. Actually, that was just a coincidence. “What do you get when you multiply 6 by N” is 42 in some base for every odd N greater than 4. 6 x 5 = 42 in base 7 6 x 7 = 42 in base 10 6 x 9 = 42 in base 13 6 x 11 = 42 in base 16 and so on Proof: 6 x (2n+1) = 12n + 6 = 4 x (3n + 1) + 2 = 42 in base (3n + 1). Note that 6 x 3 does not equal 42 in base 4 as the digits 4 and 6 do not exist in base 4. Remember…The question is supposed to be wrong. The correct question is supposed to be based on humans being descended from cavemen, but instead humans descended from Golgafrinchams (and “useless” Golgafrinchams at that). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/57 "2014-06-09T21:00:06Z")
**Skip Magic** never did show up again, either. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/58 "2014-06-10T00:35:58Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Excellent. Did anyone ever come up with the answer to that one? I missed a couple of years of The Dope. > [@Crotalus](#): > > Most definitely not. [Closed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132), in frustration, by **SkipMagic**. If **mittu** is not a board pariah, he should be. Yes. [Chessic Sense did.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13540034&postcount=24) At least it makes sense to me, although there’s still some debate. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/59 "2014-06-10T05:57:06Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Regardless of what Adams may have said, I don’t think it’s coincidental that Lewis Carroll used 42 a LOT in the Alice books (and in _Hunting of the Snark_ as well.) I like to think that may have been floating around in Adams’ head, unconsciously. Especially since Carroll’s writing, while full of jokes and humor, has a bleak metaphysical underbelly… hence, Life. You’re falling for the same trap as those that thought they had found satanic messages in heavy metal played backwards. The trap is, you can find things that appear to be satanic messages in \*any \*songs played backwards, if you try hard enough. Find me any catchy, memorable number that you _can’t_ find heavily referenced in something. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243/60 "2014-06-10T12:40:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yes. [Chessic Sense did.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13540034&postcount=24) At least it makes sense to me, although there’s still some debate. I’m pretty sure Chessic Sense’s answer was a joke, like many others offered. Part of the setup for those games is that the result is a familiar phrase or saying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-42-the-answer-to-life/690243.md?page=4)