A question for Moonhunter

[Ylorea]

Hello Moonhunter,

I had sort of decided to never ask you a question, but there is one problem I would like your ideas on.

(You might have needed to read "the guide" also known as "the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" by douglas adams for this though)

There is this one question that has been bugging just about everyone in the universe for such a long time. So one day a computer was build, called deep-thought. This computer solved the question to life, the universe and everything.
The answer is incredibly simple, it is "42" or "forty-two".

As deep-thought (and the people around him) correctly mentioned, the answer is not very usefull without the actual question. So I do wonder, could you help me/us discover what the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is?

Yours gratefully,

Ylorea

p.s. It is also said that the question and the answer can not be known in the same universe and that if the quenstion and answer are known in the same universe, the universe as we know it will instantly disappear and be replaced by a new universe with a new ultimate question and therefore with a new answer that is even more inexplicable.
This might mean you will be responsible for the biggest disaster in human history, but there will be no people to hold that against you.

[MoonHunter]

So I do wonder, could you help me/us discover what the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is?

The Universe is. Nothing more. Nothing less.

This is the secret that people have issues with.  It does not have a value, we put that upon it. It does not have an innate meaning, we assign it one. It has a begining and an end. Perhaps it does, but since we can not experience anything except that in the universe, the topic becomes an exercise in semantics.  Most of the issues that people have with the way the universe is, is the people's issue... not the universe's.  

People cause their own issues by projecting their own needs and desires upon it.  The universe is independent of the people and the people's perception of the universe.  It is. It does not need anything more than that.  Because people project their own needs and desires, people come into conflict about what is.  That is not the universe's fault. It is the peoples fault.

For example, a person is only unhappy because they choose to be unhappy... to take the universe as it is and assign values and conditions that are not met by the universe.  The person may want the universe to be a certain way. They may not take the steps to make it that way, or be unable to achieve that way.  It is not the universe's fault, the universe just is. If the person changes their requirements for happiness to meet the condition of the universe, then they will be happy.  

In the book, the computer was supposed to investigate the ultimate question. The computer determine the correct answer... there isn't one. So it figured it had a junk input, because all questions should have an answer.  So it gave an answer that is the equivalent of the last digit of PI being 7.  No way to prove it. No need for it to be.  It just is.

Douglas Adams says "It is also said that the question and the answer can not be known in the same universe and that if the quenstion and answer are known in the same universe, the universe as we know it will instantly disappear and be replaced by a new universe with a new ultimate question and therefore with a new answer that is even more inexplicable. " To him I say. "if that is what you believe."  To me, the answer is, It just is.

[Ylorea]

*ponder*

In the end this seems a very philosphical question/discussion.
I must say that I am very happy with your answer, because it is devised along a path I never have followed before.

There is a couple of arbitrary assumptions, but that is what philosophie is all about.

Thank you for your time and I hope that in due time, I will be allowed the pleasure of asking such questions again.

Yours,

Ylorea

[CaptainPenguin]

Man. The Great Wiseness of Moon! Dude! Your wisdom extends beyond role-playing! You're like an ancient sage who guards the Font of Knowledge!

[Siren365]

That was a bit deep for the partially conscious me...

[Ria Hawk]

In one of the later books, the fifth one I believe, another character who had been given an overdose of truth serum told Arthur that the Question and the Answer are mutually exclusive.  You can't have one and the other.  That was the way Adams solved the problem.  
Of course, I did not like the fifth book very much.

[MoonHunter]

MoonHunter assumes lotus position, rests hands upon knees, begins rhythmic breathing and goes honnnnnnnaaaaaaaayyyyyoooooooooh over and over agin.  

The levitation begins.

Opens one eye, "Oh. I don't guard the font. Nobody does. They just put it in an inconvient spot so everyone does not fall into it."


Resumes meditation.

[CaptainPenguin]

Yeah, the fifth book was a serious downturn in quality from the others.

[Ylorea]

I did like the fifth book but the captain is right..... quality is an isue there... some things just had to be brought together and it seems like Douglas was pretty finished with the entire story himself.

I never got to reading what is now available as part six.... Did anyone?

In general I do like his books very much. Just the titles bring a smile to my face (most of the time).

[Ria Hawk]

The sixth book was just bits and peices that were culled from his five computers.  There are Hitchhiker's bits and Dirk Gently bits (which is an excellent series as well).  And if we're going to keep talking about Douglas Adams, I suggest we move to the Tavern.

[Ylorea]

Hmmm, maybe it is just me, but if I compare the kind of discusion I see there and here, It seems all the same to me...

Then again, you might consider I am still quite new here;+))

You are right though, the Dirk Gently series is great as well.

Did you ever read his Titanic book?

(oh oh, if I ask this, I probably need to go to the tavern right?)