42. The meaning of Life, the Universe, Everything

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This is Twitteretter’s post 42. Not a milestone in biblical symbolism (40 would have been), one of the frames of reference of Western culture, but a milestone in another, more irreverent, frame of reference. 42, in Douglas Adams’ ‘The Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy’ is the answer to the question, asked of the World’s most powerful supercomputer, ‘What is the meaning of life, the Universe, everything?’ This is an iconoclastic and, in fact, quite profound answer, in the same way as Monty Python’s humour was always iconoclastic and sometimes profound. Adams died prematurely, yet another star that shone brightly and burnt out early, and I cannot help but thinking that it is a pity he is not around today. His commentary on the pandemic would have been quirky and off kilter, providing variety which is well needed in the midst of the monotone information hammering we are being submitted to. Post 42 makes me realise that we are missing a light, iconoclastic and profound take on today’s troubles  

Length: 1,001 characters
Location: Hereford, UK

Comments

Douglas Hampson said…
Phone the White House (no.8) so you can leave planet Earth and live on, say, Mars for a few years to contemplate the Meaning of life etc.
It will give you a new perspective, and be free of any viral infections. It couldn't be more restrictive than the current lockdown could it?
May 8, 2020 at 2:55 AM
SantiDominguezV said…
Hahahaha, interesting idea, Doug, although not entirely practical right now. Considering the logistical difficulties still entailed in this process, and my luck, I would probably finally get to Mars the day after the lockdown is completely over, thus suffering a double whammy. I do agree, however, that the perspective from Mars would be interesting and that Earch does make contemplation difficult, having developed a knack of feeling our days with all sorts of occupations detrimental to contemplation bandwidth.

The biggest difficulty, however, is that I cannot phone the White House, as I would be exposing myself to the possibility of Donald Trump picking up and me having to talk to him, which is beyond my current appetite for risk...
May 10, 2020 at 2:51 AM
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