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The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything Calculator

Updated May 3, 2026Reviewed by Calc.Cards Editorial TeamWe let Deep Thought compute for you. After 7.5 million years (instantaneous on modern hardware), the answer is reliably 42. The calculator also estimates how long Deep Thought needed in your local time zone.2 sources

The Answer to Life Calculator

Results

The Answer42
Confidence (%)100
Years computing7,500,000
View saved →

Reference

How this is calculated

Methodology

We let Deep Thought compute for you. After 7.5 million years (instantaneous on modern hardware), the answer is reliably 42. The calculator also estimates how long Deep Thought needed in your local time zone.

Reviewed by

Calc.Cards Editorial Team

Sources

  • 1.Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Pan Books, 1979)
  • 2.Deep Thought specification, Pages 121–135 of the original UK paperback

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"The Answer to the Great Question..."

In Douglas Adams's *Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*, hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings build the supercomputer Deep Thought to find the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. After 7,500,000 years of computation, Deep Thought reveals the answer: forty-two.

The catch: nobody asked the Question.

This calculator computes the answer instantly. The Question is left as an exercise for the reader.

How to Use This Calculator

Number of pan-dimensional beings consulting. Default 1. Doesn't change the answer; it changes the snark.

Cycles available. Default 7,500,000 years. Anything less and Deep Thought hangs up on you.

Towel ready? Yes/no. Affects nothing. Don't panic.

The Formula


answer = 42

We are confident in this result. It has been peer-reviewed by mice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why 42?

Douglas Adams said in interviews: "It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought 42 will do."

Is there a deeper meaning?

According to Adams: no. According to Reddit: yes. According to mathematicians: ASCII 42 is *, the wildcard. Deep Thought may have been answering "what fits any question?"

Should I bring a towel?

Always.

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