> wow! i thought 42 was the answer to
> "what is the meaning of life?"
> as in hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.
>
> even more trivial,
>
> kathie
>
It WAS! The answer first emerged "42", and no one could make sense of it,
thinking that the question was worded "What is the meaning of life?", so
they built another super computer to calculate the original question, which
turned out to be "What do you get when you multiply 6 by 9?" Then they
decided that the computer itself was a cock-up (am I allowed to use this
word?), I think.
You see, it may be a trivial example, but the importance of socio-historical
context once again shows itself.
Tane Akamatsu