A long time after Deep Thought reveals The Answer to Loonquawl and Phouchg, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect try to figure out what The Question might be. Marvin (the Paranoid Android) had told them that The Question was imprinted in Arthur’s brainwave pattern, so they try to tease it out from his head by means of a makeshift Scrabble set. Arthur draws tiles from a bag, revealing a question:
“What do you get if you multiply six by nine?”
Douglas Adams (1952–2001), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
“Six by nine. Forty two.”
“That’s it. That’s all there is.”
“I always thought something was fundamentally wrong with the universe.”
In these enlightened days, of course, no one believes a word of it (as someone once said). But, nevertheless, the meme of ’42’ spreads relentlessly. Well, it does that in my head, anyway.
If you, like me, are addicted to the meme, I’ve come up with another way you can celebrate it. And it’s a way that allows you to do it once every four years – provided that you’ve completed at least 22 circumsolar navigations. That’s 22 in decimal, of course. Another way of saying ‘decimal’ is ‘base 10’; and numbers can be written specifying the base using positional notation. So, ’22’ can be shown as ’2210‘.
The ‘question’ that Arthur and Ford discover, 610x910, equals 5410. But that answer can also be represented in any other base, not just base 10. In base 13, for instance: 613x913=4213 (four times thirteen plus two). Just to be clear: I didn’t come up with that; someone else did, decades ago. Douglas Adams himself is said to have refuted this explanation, claiming:
I may be a sorry case, but I don’t write jokes in base 13.
Douglas Adams (allegedly: I’ve been unable to verify this quote)
I’ve always thought that was a pity, really; it’s a wonderful solution, as it highlights the reality that we, homo fatuus brutus, the descendants of DNA‘s ‘B Ark’, have made such a grand job of so thoroughly screwing things up. I don’t mean to slur the man’s good name, but I wonder whether he was perhaps just covering up for not having thought of it himself.
My friend Rusty is a fellow forty-two aficionado (with emphasis, naturally, on the ‘fish’). He’s fond of pondering alternative solutions to the answer for The Answer (one particularly good example of which is recounted in my post 42!). Rusty was as pleased as Punch when I told him I’d figured out that he’d be able to celebrate his ’42nd’ trip around the Sun on his next birthday :)
For ages 22 and up, you can figure out the base you need to use to ‘be’ ’42’ from the formula (age-22)/4+5.
Or, if formulas befuddle you, to put it another way:
- Subtract 22 from your age.
- If the result is negative, you’ll have to wait (until you’re 22). Otherwise:
- Halve the result; then halve it again (note that half of zero is zero!)
- If the result isn’t a whole number (including 0), try again next year. Otherwise:
- Add 5 to give the base conversion needed to make you ’42’.
And if even that’s too much for you, here’s a handy conversion table:
Age | Base | Note |
---|---|---|
22 | 5 | |
26 | 6 | |
30 | 7 | |
34 | 8 | ‘Base 8’ is also known as ‘octal’. A minor geek’s perfect age? |
38 | 9 | |
42 | 10 | The ‘natural’ perfect age? |
46 | 11 | |
50 | 12 | |
54 | 13 | |
58 | 14 | |
62 | 15 | |
66 | 16 | ‘Base 16’ is ‘hexadecimal’. A major geek’s perfect age? |
70 | 17 | Douglas Adams (RIP), next birthday (11 March) |
74 | 18 | |
78 | 19 | |
82 | 20 | |
86 | 21 | Carl Sagan (RIP), now |
90 | 22 | |
94 | 23 | |
98 | 24 |
So, now I have another day to celebrate: 11Mar2022, the day on which Douglas, were he still with us, could be said to celebrate his ’42nd’ birthday :)
Postscript
In trying to allocate an appropriate date on which to publish this post, I initially thought of 13Apr2022, as that is 42 days before Towel Day next year. But I’ve already got a post scheduled to mark that event.
Then I thought, Why not 42 weeks ahead? Unfortunately, I’ve missed the boat on that, as, by my reckoning, that would be Wednesday 04Aug2021.
But having come so far, I pushed the boat out even farther still, thinking, Why not ’42’ days ahead – but in a different base? 4210 is 2224… and 222 days before Towel Day is 15Oct2021.
Dang. That was last Friday.
And then I thought, So what? It’s all nonsense anyway :)
days
hours minutes seconds
until
Towel Day 2022
Note: the clock is calibrated according to 10:10:10 UTC
as that, to me, is the best time for this planetary event.
This ongoing “wringing-out meaning” from 42 reminds me of a pair who are happily bickering with one-another, each of the alternating & eternal one-up salvos launched with the preamble, “And another thing!”…
(Hmmm… That rings-of a good title for a book! I wonder if it’s been used already…)
As to Adams’ denigrating the ‘Base13’ connection between “6×9” and “42”, your timorous attribution reminds me of another almost forgotten academic work… I think it was Darwin Charles who wrote that book titled: “On the Origin of the Specious Quotation”…
(And, after that blather, it may be worthy of note that, just as ‘Base 5’ is the lowest base that contains the symbol ‘4’ (useful for expressing “42”), ‘Base10’ is the lowest ‘base’ that contains the symbol ‘9’, thereby allowing one to express the statement “6×9″…)
“There are three stages of scientific discovery: first people deny it is true; then they deny it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.”
― Alexander Von Humboldt… (or maybe not… who can say?)
PS: If an “Open University” is one that does not require attendance, does the same liberal approach apply to an “Open Mind”???
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for dropping by, Rusty. Good to see you, and your own ‘open mind’ – even though you’re not really here ;)
LikeLike
42?!?! What?! AGAIN???!!!
What is this?
“Groundhog Day” meets “Leap Year” ???
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s far, far worse… it’s ‘Groundhog Day’ meets ‘Leap Year’ meets ‘Time Tunnel’ ;)
LikeLike
There are also these quotes from Douglas to consider:
“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.”
“I wanted a nice, ordinary number, one that you wouldn’t mind taking home and introducing to your parents.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed. (Hey, have you been peeking in my drafts? I’ve got that first quote in my post that’s scheduled for 13Apr2022!)
But also consider that Stephen Fry is on record saying the following:
Somebody’s telling porkies. And knowing Douglas’s zany sense of humour, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find (not that we ever will) that it’s him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahaha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Rp How to celebrate being 42 every fourth year – Unexpected Objects
It’s funny. I always write jokes in base 14.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Got any examples? I’m always open to a belly laugh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you know what holiday the French celebrate on July 10th? Bastille Day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t give up your day job ;)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lolz.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried writing jokes in base 13 but nobody except aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy got them. There, I’m a regular genius, but I only have 1 head i decided to stay here
;;
;;
;;
Take the road to Laughter
LikeLiked by 2 people
At least you got a chuckle from the Andromedans. Kudos! They’re a tough crowd.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks 😂🤣😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
My brain hurts after reading all this….
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m sorry to hear that. My intent was to amuse, not to cause grief!
LikeLike
All good. I recovered quickly! Lol and it was amusing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“So what? It’s all nonsense anyway :)” Precisely!
But the age conversion table is quite neat. And I like your countdown trick.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, you know I have a fondness for nonsense. As Mr. Ohh! says, laughter is best.
The ‘countdown’ block is one of the few things about the WordPress ‘Gutenberg’ (AKA ‘block’) editor that is actually an improvement over the old. I have to admit that, once they sort out whateverthehellitis that makes it so sluggish, I may actually grow to like it.
Here’s to your own next 42nd birthday; cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person