Posted by melody_A
on Mon 4 Jul 05, 1:42 PM to melody_A's blog.
Unexpected Maths Lesson
I was never any good at maths, last night just reinforced the view.
'A' and i chatting in bed last night. Playful slap on the bottom led to another and another suddenly the whip came out. 'A' asked me what the magic number was....
erm.... 3, I answered.
Wrong.
ok, how about 5
Wrong again.
How was I supposed to know the answer was 42?
Master then gave me 7 strokes followed by 6 and asked for the question. Thoroughly confused and wondering if the old duffer had lost his marbles I answered 42.
Wrong again. Was beginning to hate this game.
Then Master gave me 6 strokes followed by 7 and said that this possibly could be the question.
42 I yelled at the top of my voice.
Lots and lots (millions and trillions) of strokes later I worked out he wanted me to say 7 x 6, or 6 x 7.
Ended the evening with a red hot bottom, a red hot shag but none the wiser.
Should I start looking for suitable Domly retirement homes now, or can anyone shed any light?
melody
Edited Mon 4 Jul 05, 5:18 PM by melody_A
| 4 Jul 05, 2:30 PM Paul99 UK(RG), 7 yrs |
Once you know what the question is, you'll know what the answer means....
Should have been 6 x 9 anyway..... Edited 4 Jul 05, 2:31 PM by Paul99 | ||
| 4 Jul 05, 3:57 PM x_zero_x UK(DD), 10 yrs  |
member of the I.C weather watching club | ||
| 4 Jul 05, 4:48 PM melody_A UK, 8 yrs |
Well I have to say, I'm more confused than ever.
"I'm a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto princess" | ||
| 4 Jul 05, 5:34 PM bensub59 UK, 6 yrs |
(trying to restrain myself, in the absence of anyone to do it for me) I can't resist any Adams-related discussion but will do my best to be concise. The question was: what is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything ? Deep Thought (supercomputer) spent millions of years calculating the answer and when asked for it came up with 42 (apparently, in spite of lots of wild theories, Adams thought this was simply the funniest 2-digit number. Interestingly enough, the writer Joseph Heller gave great thought to his war novel "Catch 22" before deciding that 22 was the right number for the catch - so obviously a 2 at the end has humorous qualities). Later, In The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Arthur and Ford find themselves trapped on prehistoric Earth with the Golgafrinchans. They hit on the idea that, since the Earth was the computer Deep Thought designed to finally solve the great question of life, the universe and everything, and that Arthur was a part of Earth (being the last earthman) then the answer could exist somewhere in Arthur's brain. To test the theory they get Arthur to pull scrabble letters out of a bag - the letters spell out : What do you get if you multiply six by nine ? There are several pages on the web which discuss this question (honestly, you see there are people sadder than me) - the one that really makes me chuckle is the person who points out 6 x 9 = 42 IF you calculate it in base 13 not in base 10. Adams' reply to this was something to the effect of "Blimey, no one write jokes in base 13 !" sheesh - I've already started to ramble. Apologies. One more thing (in passing) - in the last few moments of "Mostly Harmless" just before the Earth is finally destroyed once and for all, Arthur and Ford are trying to get to a club called Beta to save Arthur's daughter, Random, and Tricia Macmillan and Trillian from the threat of the new version of the guide (the bird-like machine able to accomplish reverse temporal engineering) - as they pull up outside the club, Ford says, "That's it, over there. Number 42." Ok, I've said enough. I'll get me coat. I have nothing to declare but my genius... and my modesty. There is no third thing. Edited 4 Jul 05, 5:36 PM by bensub59 | ||
| 4 Jul 05, 8:54 PM Rhoobarb UK(FK), 12 yrs |
Numbers must be domly things, mine does weird things with numbers too. I might be wrong, it's happened before and will no doubt happen again. | ||
| 4 Jul 05, 11:04 PM melody_A UK, 8 yrs |
But I'm still none the wiser, even after bensub's reply. Maybe I'm off to do my 9 times table tonight - that will finish off any 42 funny business. mel "I'm a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto princess" | ||
| 5 Jul 05, 12:18 AM KinkLondon  UK(SW), 7 yrs |
any multiple of 3 with a 0 or a 1 added works for me. its actually the meaning of probability/life/etc. Energy=Mass+cX2 E=MC2 c=3or2 eg 0,1,2=3 0-9=ten steps=1-10 GCD=GOD=X=Y=Z=1+1+2=3 90% is fate 10% is free will that 10% can alter the 90% to any way it wishes, if you understand it. euclidian geometry+quantum physics=laws of probability=everything think im messing? think base3 maths instead of base 10 maths. and remember 0-2=1-3 ,EG 3 steps from nothing=2 or 3 steps from 1=3 0.1.2 1,2,3 3 step. 0-2=3step 1-3=3step 0-3=4step 0-2+1-3=7step 3+3=6 step 6&7 for most people its a subliminal reaction. 90% control over your world or 90% submission. probability http://www.benbest.com/science/theodds.html
(3X3)=0=1 XYZ=GCD=ABC=013=0-3=1-4|ABXY Edited 5 Jul 05, 12:40 AM by KinkLondon | ||
| 5 Jul 05, 2:09 PM xany1111 UK, 7 yrs |
Mel.... Don't worry 42 is a great number and Bensub's reply was out of this world... Now where at the end of the universe was that resturant? Xany...xxxxxxxxx | ||
| 5 Jul 05, 2:16 PM KinkLondon UK(SW), 7 yrs |
Edge of the universe and hang a left, or was that right.
Its all the same really. (3X3)=0=1 XYZ=GCD=ABC=013=0-3=1-4|ABXY | ||
| 5 Jul 05, 5:24 PM melody_A UK, 8 yrs |
.. and more importantly, do they have 'early doors'?
"I'm a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto princess" |
