Monday, November 15, 2004

You just don't write jokes in base 13

For all of you Douglas Adams fans out there, you might appreciate DEEP THOUGHT, a site devoted to the concept that the answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?" is in fact 42. Apparently the earliest recorded sighting of the number comes from 2 Kings 2:23-24 (23):
"And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
If you've never read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, don't even bother going here--it's quite arcane.