The meaning of life, the universe, and everything is famously given as the number 42 in Douglas Adams' science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the story, a supercomputer named Deep Thought spends 7.5 million years calculating the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, and the answer it provides is simply "42"—though the actual question itself remains unknown, making the answer seemingly meaningless without context
. This has become a cultural reference and a humorous way to acknowledge the complexity and mystery of existence. The number 42 is deliberately arbitrary, chosen by Adams as a joke, and has no intrinsic meaning beyond its role in the story. Some interpretations and fan theories try to find hidden significance in the number, but Adams himself stated it was meant to be absurd and nonsensical
. In summary:
- "42" is the fictional answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- The actual question is never revealed, making the answer enigmatic.
- The choice of 42 is a humorous and arbitrary literary device, not a literal explanation.
- It symbolizes the idea that the meaning of life may be unknowable or that searching for a simple answer might be futile.
Thus, the phrase "the meaning of life, the universe, and everything" is best understood as a playful philosophical joke rather than a definitive answer
