Heheh. I love this and shared it on Facebook a couple days ago... unfortunately, it's probably apocryphal.
"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."
-- Douglas Adams
Or your comment is a good example of confirmation bias. We like an answer, so we go with it and justify it, even if there is direct evidence against it (i.e. a quote from the author).
Yes, it's possible his subconscious came up with 42 because he had recently been thinking about ASCII tables and then forgot how much he liked the * symbol's meaning... but it's also possible that didn't happen.
To say something IS should require evidence beyond our own assumptions if we want to have an accurate grasp of reality (IMO).
Heheh. I love this and shared it on Facebook a couple days ago... unfortunately, it's probably apocryphal.
via Wikipedia
And we don't know how powerful our subconsciousnesses are.
That there is a good example.
Or your comment is a good example of confirmation bias. We like an answer, so we go with it and justify it, even if there is direct evidence against it (i.e. a quote from the author).
Yes, it's possible his subconscious came up with 42 because he had recently been thinking about ASCII tables and then forgot how much he liked the * symbol's meaning... but it's also possible that didn't happen.
To say something IS should require evidence beyond our own assumptions if we want to have an accurate grasp of reality (IMO).
Yep yep, and 1 in a million chances happen 1 time in 10.
huh? How does that make sense?
It is a Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote
Ah, sorry. It's been too long since I've seen the movie. I should watch it again sometime. I've yet to read the book which I hear is fantastic. :)
I wonder if he owned a cat?
That's the last time I ask the meaning of life in a shell terminal. Definitely going with a GUI next time :P
Very interesting fun fact though!
Better than asking it in a "shell suit" though!
There is a real answer. I found it. You can too. Who are we, where are we from, why are we here, and what is this place. All answerable questions.
*There is a podcast called 42 minutes for all the Sync lovers out there.
http://thesyncbook.com/42minutes