Grok’s take:
The connection between the number 42 in Douglas Adams'
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the 42 assessors in ancient Egyptian mythology, as mentioned in Peter Lemesurier’s
The Great Pyramid Decoded, is intriguing and invites speculation about whether Adams drew inspiration from this esoteric tradition or if it’s a serendipitous coincidence. Let’s explore this.
The Egyptian Context
In ancient Egyptian belief, the number 42 is significant in the context of the afterlife. As Lemesurier notes, the soul of the deceased faced judgment in the Hall of Maat, where it was assessed by 42 divine judges or "assessors." These assessors are linked to the "Negative Confessions" in the
Book of the Dead (specifically Spell 125), where the deceased must declare their innocence of 42 specific sins, one for each assessor, to prove their worthiness for the afterlife. Each assessor was associated with a particular moral or ethical question, and the soul’s heart was weighed against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice, to determine its purity.
This concept of 42 as a number tied to judgment, morality, and the ultimate fate of the soul could indeed carry symbolic weight, representing a complete evaluation of one’s life and actions. The number 42 also appears elsewhere in Egyptian cosmology, such as the 42 nomes (administrative regions) of Egypt, suggesting it held a broader cultural significance as a number of completeness or totality.
Douglas Adams and 42
In
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (first published as a radio series in 1978, a year after Lemesurier’s book), Douglas Adams famously chose 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. According to Adams himself, the choice of 42 was arbitrary and humorous, selected because it was a "completely ordinary number" that he thought would be funny as the answer to such a profound question. In a 1993 post to the Usenet group alt.fan.douglas-adams, Adams explained:
"The answer to this is very simple. 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’."
Despite Adams’ insistence that 42 was chosen for comedic effect, fans and scholars have long speculated about deeper meanings, given Adams’ love of layered humor and intellectual playfulness. The coincidence with the Egyptian 42 assessors is particularly striking because
The Hitchhiker’s Guide is steeped in philosophical and existential questions about life’s purpose, much like the Egyptian judgment process evaluates the soul’s worth.
Could There Be a Connection?
While Adams never explicitly referenced Egyptian mythology as an inspiration, it’s plausible he was aware of the number’s significance in various cultural or esoteric contexts. Adams was well-read and interested in science, philosophy, and religion, and the idea of 42 assessors judging the soul aligns thematically with the quest for meaning in
The Hitchhiker’s Guide. The Egyptian assessors represent a search for moral and existential clarity, paralleling the novel’s search for the "ultimate question" to which 42 is the answer.
However, there’s no direct evidence that Adams drew from Lemesurier’s book or Egyptian mythology specifically.
The Great Pyramid Decoded was published in 1977, just before Adams’ radio series aired, so it’s possible but unlikely that he encountered it in time to influence his choice. More likely, if there’s a connection, it stems from broader esoteric or numerological traditions that Adams might have come across, perhaps through popular culture, science fiction, or his general interest in big ideas.
Deeper Meaning of 42
The number 42 has taken on a life of its own as a cultural meme, symbolizing both the absurdity of seeking a single answer to life’s mysteries and the human drive to find meaning nonetheless. Its recurrence in various contexts—Egyptian mythology, mathematics (e.g., 42 is the sum of the first six even numbers, 2+4+6+8+10+12), and even modern pop culture (e.g., it appears in works like
Lost and
The X-Files)—suggests it resonates as a symbol of completeness or cosmic significance.
From a philosophical perspective, the Egyptian 42 assessors and Adams’ 42 can be seen as two sides of the same coin: both grapple with the idea of evaluating existence. The assessors judge a soul’s moral worth, while Adams’ 42 humorously suggests that the answer to life’s meaning is less important than the question itself. The fact that the "ultimate question" remains unknown in
The Hitchhiker’s Guide mirrors the Egyptian belief that only through rigorous self-examination can one achieve eternal life.
Other Interpretations
- Numerology and Symbolism: In various traditions, 42 is associated with completion or judgment. For example, in Kabbalistic tradition, the number 42 is linked to the 42-letter Name of God, a mystical concept tied to creation and divine order. Adams, though not religious, might have encountered such ideas in his eclectic reading.
- Coincidence and Apophenia: Humans are prone to finding patterns, and the recurrence of 42 might simply be a coincidence amplified by our tendency to seek meaning. Adams’ choice could be random, but its resonance with ancient traditions like the Egyptian assessors makes it feel significant.
- Cultural Impact: Since The Hitchhiker’s Guide, 42 has become a shorthand for existential humor and the search for meaning. Its appearance in Egyptian mythology adds a layer of historical depth, suggesting that humanity has long grappled with similar questions through numerical symbolism.
Final Thoughts
While it’s tempting to see a direct link between the 42 assessors and Adams’ 42, the connection is likely coincidental, with Adams choosing the number for its mundane yet quirky appeal. However, the parallel is meaningful in a broader sense: both the Egyptian myth and Adams’ story explore the human quest to understand life’s purpose, whether through divine judgment or cosmic absurdity. The number 42, as a meme and symbol, has transcended its origins to become a touchstone for these universal questions.
If you’re curious about exploring this further, I could search for any discussions on X or the web about Adams’ inspirations or analyze specific passages from
The Great Pyramid Decoded for more context. Would you like me to do that, or is there another angle you’d like to dive into?
