> Schopenhauer used an equation with the answer of 42 to make a metaphysical point in “The World as Will and Idea.” I suspect this is the meaning Adams had in m

> Schopenhauer used an equation with the answer of 42 to make a metaphysical point in “The World as Will and Idea.” I suspect this is the meaning Adams had in mind: I think that DNA was satirising the idea of one number, or phrase, or any singular thing being "the" meaning of life—the meaning of life, I like to think he'd think, is life itself, not any minuscule segment of it. The many interpretations that people can hang on even the most transparently ridiculous of answers is, I believe, part of his point. ("How many roads must a man walk down?" and "what do you get when you multiply six by nine?" as questions I think indicate how seriously he took the answer.)