So, 42 eh?

Zaph · 02-07-2008 11:26pm #1

Well as we all know it is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. But suppose Deep Thought made a mistake and 42 wasn't the answer, what would it be?

Steve · 02-07-2008 11:32pm

3.1415926535897932384626433832795 ?

Its good to eat as well.

Queen-Mise · 02-07-2008 11:35pm

Isn't this a bit of a dumb thread.

The answer is obvious, the answer to the meaning of life would be 48

Steve · 02-07-2008 11:37pm

queen-mise wrote: »

The answer is obvious, the answer to the meaning of life would be 48

Sorry, what was the question again.....

Queen-Mise · 02-07-2008 11:43pm

Ask Deep Thought or Marvin, they will inform you

Zaph · 02-07-2008 11:56pm

I'd rather not ask Marvin, it's not a big enough question to occupy his massive brain and it would only depress him.

trout · 03-07-2008 12:04am

I would posit that Deep Thought could only make a mistake, if it was given bad data in the first place.
In this vast and ponderous Universe, not only is this possible, if you wait long enough ... it is probable.

That 42 is the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything is of course beyond dispute.

The problem is, as always, what is The Question ?

We know, from the mice, that gems such as "How many roads must a man walk down" are simply filler.

What is required here ... is a really, really, REALLY powerful computer, even bigger than a planet, with more gravity, and much more complex organisms than hairy apes walking the surface. With really nice fjords. And mice.

Steve · 03-07-2008 12:05am

Well he does claim to have a brain the size of a planet, bit of a coincedence as that's exactly the size of computer the mice ordered from margaretha to find the question...

uh - oh, have we just unearthed a previously unknown subliminal theme ???

pwd · 05-07-2008 2:34pm

54 of course
What do you get if you multiply 6 by 9?

The Werewolf · 05-07-2008 3:23pm

It's all very well trying to express the answer to 'Life, The Universe, and Everything' in a simple 2 digit format. I believe that if we did know what the question was then the universe couldn't exist. Or at least the question and the answer can't exist in the same universe.

'There is a theory that states that if ever anyone discovers what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarrely inexplicable.'

My answer is this. It may not be a number at all. It might be,

'Go out there and have a good time whatever you're doing'

Zaph · 05-07-2008 3:33pm

Personally I have a sneaking suspicion that the answer is actually blancmange.

trout · 05-07-2008 3:54pm

I say pavlova ... it has connotations with palaver ... and that's always good.

johnnyskeleton · 06-07-2008 12:12am

If Deep Thought was asked what the meaning of life, the universe and everything was and he came back with "Syntax error" would we all dissappear?

trout · 06-07-2008 7:30am

perhaps we would implode and disappear in a puff of logic ... doesn't bear thinking about.

Queen-Mise · 06-07-2008 11:45pm

it would be so much more fun for Deep Thought to have decided we were an 'oxymoron' rather than a 'syntax error'.

KnifeWRENCH · 08-07-2008 5:08am

What if Deep Thought divided by zero?
Then we'd all be truly ****ed! :eek:

trout · 08-07-2008 7:16am

stevenmu · 10-07-2008 4:34pm

Actually, for the meaning of life to have any meaning, there has to be some life to mean something in the first place.

If we want to work out how much life is actually in the universe we need to either count every last person in the whole universe, which would take a really long time that could be better spent getting drunk, or we can work out the average amount of people per planet and multiply that by the number of planets to get a rough total. If we take it that the universe is infinitely big, then it must have an infinite number of planets within it, but not every planet has life on it which means there is only a finite number of people. To work out the average number of people of people per planet we divide the number of people by number of planets, and since any finite number divided by an infinite number gives 0, the average population of any planet is in fact 0.

Therefore there is actually no life in the universe, all of the people you have ever known, and even this forum, are simply figments of your imagination. If you follow this logically one step further you will see that you too do not exist, and are in fact a figment of your own imagination.

JJ · 24-09-2008 1:56pm

The answer would be the New York Giants as they won Super Bowl XLII.

evil-monkey · 08-11-2008 11:51pm

JJ wrote: »

The answer would be the New York Giants as they won Super Bowl XLII.

:rolleyes:

star gazer · 12-10-2010 3:38pm

stevenmu wrote: »

Actually, for the meaning of life to have any meaning, there has to be some life to mean something in the first place.

If we want to work out how much life is actually in the universe we need to either count every last person in the whole universe, which would take a really long time that could be better spent getting drunk, or we can work out the average amount of people per planet and multiply that by the number of planets to get a rough total. If we take it that the universe is infinitely big, then it must have an infinite number of planets within it, but not every planet has life on it which means there is only a finite number of people. To work out the average number of people of people per planet we divide the number of people by number of planets, and since any finite number divided by an infinite number gives 0, the average population of any planet is in fact 0.

Therefore there is actually no life in the universe, all of the people you have ever known, and even this forum, are simply figments of your imagination. If you follow this logically one step further you will see that you too do not exist, and are in fact a figment of your own imagination.

I dream, therefore I am. The infinite universe is only infinite because we haven't found it's boundaries yet. What if there is nothing (i.e 0) beyond the universe; does that mean infinity is replaced by a finite large number once we find the boundaries of the universe?

wil · 14-12-2010 2:55am

The meaning of life must ultimatelly be a question, mutually exclusive of the answer, but cannot exist without it, in much the opposite way that death could be considered the conclusion to life. Neither can prove the other yet ultimately death is proof of life.
However life in itself can not prove death without ceasing to exist or simply resorting to expletives, oblique references to the colour blue or authentic Persian rugs

/ Extremely deep bits failed to save/

Even as I type I find mysellf fading in and out of existence restored purely by the fact that at no point am I foolish enough to hit Return

New Home · 17-07-2018 5:37pm

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/solving-problems-computer-just-got-lot-faster

Definitely 42.

Steve · 17-07-2018 6:29pm

Interesting article, sounds like they solved the problem that Netflix offered a million bucks so solve when DVD rentals were at the peak. Sadly for them, the offer expired. Great to hear they made progress tho.

Not quite 42 but getting there

New Home · 01-08-2018 7:19pm

I still think the Babelfish would be better.

New Home · 17-01-2019 11:01pm

https://i.imgur.com/zCJxxUe.mp4

The "Dolphin" spotted on Jupiter by NASA's Juno spacecraft during a flyby conducted on 29th October 2018

So, that's where they all ended up! :pac:

Steve · 18-01-2019 1:43am

wow!

New Home · 10-09-2019 10:41am

They found it!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190906134011.htm

Steve · 12-09-2019 9:52pm

New Home wrote: »

They found it!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190906134011.htm

Destruction of our planet for the bypass is edging ever closer!!

New Home · 12-09-2019 9:56pm

Indeed. But who cares, I've my towel. :cool:

Say, remember when Homer Simpson said this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk8SToEQPGw

...does that mean he's a galaxy hitchhiker, and we never realised it?

Steve · 12-09-2019 10:02pm

There are so many things you can do with a towel other than wearing it...

He's on the right track tho by having one!

So, 42 eh?

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