HN Explorer

21 comments

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jbhelms
I only saw the movie, in the book did they ever mention why 42 is the meaning of everything?
pohl
It's "the answer to life, the universe, and everything", a result arrived at after a mind-bogglingly powerful computer thought for millennia. After revealing this result, it was soon discovered that the answer only made sense if one knew the question - which no one did. (If I'm recalling correctly.)

But now we know the question is "what is pi perent of leet, rounded to the nearest integer?"

hitonagashi
In a later book, they also reveal the question...kinda.
norswap
Maybe it is "leet percent of pi", we will never know for sure :)
benwr
I believe the question decided on by the pan-dimensional mice was less correct.
calcnerd256
No, it's "the answer to the ultimate question of" life, the universe, and everything. Also, the question is "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?" (so the answer's wrong anyway)
greyfade
The book and the BBC TV show both gave the answer toward the end.
spicyj
Just about 42.0030938. Impressive.
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Rhapso
Does this indicate the meaning of life is a 1337 amount of pie?
MaysonL
Not quite as mind-boggling as Euler's identity, but good.
abmask
try this: (SQRT(200)/(4.5 + 158/99900)) + 5/(9x10^-9) = pi!

(SQRT means square root)

I came up with this approximation to pi on my own ;)