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In the radio series and the first novel, a supercomputer was asked to answer the “ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.” And after 7+1/2 million years of giving it a think, the supercomputer answered “42.” Fans of the radio series and novel came up with a wild list of theories of why the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything was 42. When asked “Why 42?” Douglas Adams answered, “…It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one… I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out…” Who knew that fictional supercomputer answering 42 as the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything in a comic science fiction novel would spark such apophenia? That goes to show you that sometimes seemingly small parts of our stories or art can become much bigger than intended.
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