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Star Trek often refers to 47 and Star Trek made a sport out of finding real or imagined references to 47. Why did Douglas Adams pick 42 as the ultimate answer in the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy?

Dori
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Hendrik Brummermann
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    What is the point of citing Star Trek when question don't refer to ? – Riduidel Jan 12 '11 at 14:04
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    @Riduidel, Adams makes a number of references to Star Track in the hitchhiker series (e. g. "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before"). So picking another magic number is noteworthy. – Hendrik Brummermann Mar 20 '11 at 00:00
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    The producers of the Star Trek series with 47 say it's a reference to 42, but it accounts for inflation. – dkuntz2 May 18 '11 at 21:56
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    He choose 42 because it's 6 X 7 – ripper234 Feb 15 '12 at 16:12
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    @ripper234 I think you meant 6 * 9. – Mateen Ulhaq Feb 19 '12 at 21:11
  • @muntoo, why do you say that? – Jonathan. Apr 05 '12 at 21:15
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    @Jonathan. Because that's what the ultimate question is. – Mateen Ulhaq Apr 06 '12 at 01:42
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    @muntoo shhhh! quiet or the universe will crumble into something much more complexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhseeeewhatyouvedoneyouvedividedusallbyzeroooooooooooooooooo.... – Eregrith Sep 07 '12 at 15:40
  • @Eregrith No, we're fine. Earth-that-was wasn't done calculating, so the question is still incomplete! – Izkata Sep 07 '12 at 23:44
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    Rule 42 of the Code in the preface to The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carrol: "No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm". – Solemnity Feb 28 '13 at 03:24
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    I find it incredibly coincidental that 42 is the sum of the letters of the alphabet that spell "math" (13 + 1 + 20 +8) –  Apr 17 '13 at 03:05
  • @TomJ.Yankou - It's also about the time it takes to get from one side of the earth to the other, through the center, using gravity as the driving force. (A source) – Shauna Jul 08 '13 at 19:56
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    @user13872 As Adams was British, I'd like to believe he'd have written 'Maths' as we, correctly, do, over here :P – Big Rich Jul 24 '14 at 09:26
  • Yeah well, we would have known the answer to this if it weren't for the goddam Vogons. – Misha R Aug 16 '14 at 14:38
  • How many roads must a man walk down? 42 – RossC Nov 14 '14 at 11:01
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    What is the reason for upvoting this question so many times and making it one of the most upvoted in this site, if answer to this question is right there, in the Wikipedia article. When I first time thought about this question (few years ago), I needed about thirty seconds to find the answer. So, what am I missing? What makes this question so "good", that everyone really thinks he/she need to upvote it? – trejder Jan 10 '15 at 22:26
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    @trejder: You jealous? – Timwi Jun 18 '16 at 21:50
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    "Narrator: There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." -- according to The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts, 1985. I prefer not to test the other theory, therefore I refuse to answer your question. – Samuel Herzog Jan 12 '11 at 14:10
  • Why hasn't anyone mentioned wildcard?! 42 is * is wildcard in ASCII, the answer to everything is anything – katya Mar 11 '21 at 18:27
  • @MateenUlhaq 6 * 9 = 42, if you do it in base 13. – Cristobol Polychronopolis May 25 '23 at 16:08

3 Answers3

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According to Douglas Adams himself:

The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do'. I typed it out. End of story.

Source: Wikipedia article

Goran Jovic
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    I've also read interviews where Douglas said he had it down to one of several numbers, but that he found 42 the funniest. – Nellius Jan 12 '11 at 14:03
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    @Nellius - what were the runners up?! =P – JustJeff Jan 17 '11 at 01:02
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    I heard at one point that the answer was, "Count the dots on a pair of dice." Honestly, I find that rather believable. – Tango May 19 '11 at 04:04
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    120? And you wanted this to stay at 42? LOL - that is why humanity can't have nice things. – flq Mar 14 '13 at 19:16
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    Many artists prefer not to explain away the "hiddden meanings" within their work. Asking them about their reasons behind specific elements very often gets answers like that, especially if they don't think the subject deserves a lot of thought. – Misha R Aug 16 '14 at 14:51
  • You might also find the following usenet thread of interest: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.fan.douglas-adams/595nPukE-Jo/koaAJ3tPBtEJ

    Some very funny and clever things in it...

     – Pryftan Oct 27 '17 at 22:12
  • I have a vague recollection of Adams being interviewed possibly for the South Bank Show and mentioning that during the writing of the radio series the BBC set up meeting with members of Monty Python to discuss if any other numbers would be funnier but they all agreed 42 worked fine. If I manage to find it on youtube I'll post a link. – skyjack Jun 21 '21 at 08:44
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On a day when he was less tired of the question than when he gave the quote in @GoranJovic’s answer, Douglas Adams went into more detail about how he chose 42:

I wanted a nice, ordinary number, one that you wouldn’t mind taking home and introducing to your parents.

Yes, the answer to the universe really is 42, The Independent

The joke, like much of Adams’ humour, aims for bathos (“an abrupt, unintended transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace”), so the number has to feel utterly ordinary, to contrast with the grandiose idea of a meaning to existence.

Here’s an extract from M. J. Simpson’s Douglas Adams biography (on a Procul Harum fan site, of all places) that discusses his thought process in more detail:

What is the most ordinary, workaday number you can find? I don’t want fractions on the end of it. I don’t even want it to be a prime number. And I guess it mustn’t even be an odd number. There is something slightly more reassuring about even numbers. So I just wanted an ordinary, workaday number, and chose 42.

Procol-oriented extracts from MJ Simpson's authoritative book
Procol Harum - Beyond the Pale

Personally, I think the rhythm of the syllables, and the soporific “or” sound in ”forty”, help to create this “workaday” quality. Forty-two, dum-de-dum. It sounds frumpy.

Also, the second digit (2) is half of the first digit (4) and has half the syllables, which I think adds to the sense of quiet anticlimax.

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Paul D. Waite
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    +1 for bathos, which I've not heard before but must now use. One more vote to go until it's this answer’s turn to be in the Goldilocks position while it lasts. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 13 '15 at 22:14
  • @JanusBahsJacquet: it’s a bit like pathos, and if you add in Aramis you’ve got all three Muskateers. Ah, so close. (Plus I would also like to note that this is the right answer.) – Paul D. Waite Aug 13 '15 at 22:18
  • @PaulD.Waite - Oops I didnt mean to communtiy wiki it, feel free to roll it back, maybe that will revert it? – Mark Rogers Aug 13 '15 at 23:12
  • @MarkRogers: oh no don’t worry about that, I accidentally made it community wiki years ago by repeatedly editing it in an attempt to grab attention. Your linking is definitely an improvement. – Paul D. Waite Aug 14 '15 at 07:54
  • @PaulD.Waite - ah, cool, thanks! – Mark Rogers Aug 14 '15 at 13:48
  • If bathos is by definition unintended, can Adams have aimed for it? – Ryan Veeder Aug 15 '15 at 03:49
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    @RyanVeeder: well, I guess unintended by the characters delivering the lines, as opposed to unintended by the author. – Paul D. Waite Aug 15 '15 at 11:22
  • See also https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.fan.douglas-adams/595nPukE-Jo/koaAJ3tPBtEJ – Pryftan Oct 27 '17 at 22:14
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As some people remarked, it's possible that Adams had deeper reasons for choosing 42, but was disinclined to share them. Personally, I don't believe this is the case, and I believe Paul D. Waite's answer is the correct one. However, there is a quote by Stephen Fry that I think is worth mentioning in this thread:

"Of course, it would be unfair for me to comment," he confides. "Douglas told me in the strictest confidence exactly why 42. The answer is fascinating, extraordinary and, when you think hard about it, completely obvious. Nonetheless amazing for that.

"Remarkable really. But sadly I cannot share it with anyone and the secret must go with me to the grave. Pity, because it explains so much beyond the books. It really does explain the secret of life, the universe, and everything."

(From here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7283155.stm)

Personally, I'm certain that Fry was pulling our leg. But like I said, I still think it's worth mentioning here, and that it's a relevant answer to this question, so there you have it.

Wade
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  • It'd be nice if whoever downvoted me explained why... – Wade Jan 05 '21 at 21:26
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    Doesn't deserve a downvote, but I think in that quote Stephen Fry is being as wryly British as Douglas Adams was when he chose the number. The last two sentences especially of Fry's quote make that clearer. Or in other words, both Adams and Fry were doing what we today would call trolling, in the typically subtle British style. – Prometheus Jun 19 '21 at 00:43
  • @Prometheus 100% agree with you, I'm certain this is the case. I just felt it's important to mention this, somehow, in case anyone thinks differently, and just for "completeness". – Wade Jun 19 '21 at 07:53
  • Then that's contrary to the first line of your answer and you should edit it - rather than very likely, it's actually very unlikely there were any deeper reasons. That was probably the reason for any downvote. – Prometheus Jun 19 '21 at 16:46
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    @Prometheus That's weird, I don't remember writing this! I wonder if it's a typo. Since I've always been sure that Adams simply chose the "funniest" number he could think of, and that his real explanation was that he "just wanted an ordinary, workaday number, and chose 42". Thanks! – Wade Jun 20 '21 at 11:25
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    Two things Arthur Dent had in his brain: tea, and 42. What do you get when you put them together? "Tea for two"! So what's the Answer? Life is best shared with others! – CJ Dennis Jan 21 '22 at 00:35