This article is classified "Fictional"
The Question to the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe,
and Everything...
1) The Answer to the Question is 42.
[ Ed. note -- unfortunately for the premise of this entire article,
the factuality of the above statement is currently under debate;
once enough persuasion from one side or the other finally resolves
the issue, this article, and perhaps many of the others, shall
definitely be updated (maybe). ]
2) Marvin, amongst numerous other complaints, claimed to have a brain the
size of a planet.
3) Marvin, like other robots, has a computer-based brain.
4) The Earth is a planet.
5) The Earth was built by the mice as a computer, the only such planet or
computer ever built.
6) By (2), (3), (4), and (5), the Earth must therefore be Marvin's brain.
7) The sole purpose of the Earth's program was to discover the Ultimate
Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
8) Marvin once announced that he had, in a moment of boredom, found the
square root of -1, something never before done in the history of the
universe, and previously believed by all sensible hyper-intelligent
beings to be possibly the most difficult task to undertake, as it was
dependent on the very structure of the Universe. (Most normally-
intelligent beings gave up, dismissing it as impossible.)
9) Marvin announced that he felt a brief, but deep, sense of satisfaction
after having accomplished the achievement in (8).
10) The Earth was apparently destroyed just as the purpose of its program
was fulfilled, and a Question had been found.
11) By (7), the Earth computer would have felt a deep sense of
satisfaction at having achieved the task it was designed to fulfil.
12) By (10), the sensation in (11) would have been brief.
13) By (6), and by the fact that emotional feelings are based in the
brain, the feelings in (9), (11) and (12) are the same single feeling.
14) Finding the Ultimate Question was deemed to be the single most
difficult task undertaken by hyper-intelligent beings in the history
of the universe, as it was dependant on the very structure of the
Universe -- as well as Life and Everything.
15) By (6), (8), (13), and (14), Marvin (the Earth) had clearly solved the
Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
16) By (8) and (15), the Question is "What is the square root of -1?".
17) By (1) and (16), the square root of -1 is 42.