Fake facts: “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

Fake facts: my theory about the origin of “42” in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” was nonsense. The puzzle of its true origin persists.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: the best joke?

What’s the best joke in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the 1979 novel by Douglas Adams? Many candidates present themselves. But one of the most famous is surely the idea of humankind building a vast computer to ponder the meaning of “Life, the universe and everything”. The computer ponders the question for 7.5 million years and eventually announces that the answer is “Forty two”.

My copy of “HHGD” looks like this

Fake facts: where did “42” come from?

The mystery of why Douglas Adams chose “42” as the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything never used to bother me as I had my own theory (see below). So I was intrigued in 2017 to read a 2011 Guardian article entitled Douglas Adams and the cult of 42. I recommend it.

At the time, I was British ambassador to Austria. One of my brilliant colleagues spotted the article and brought it to my attention. According to the piece, Adams had the inspiration for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy while lying, depressed, in a field in Innsbruck. Innsbruck is in Austria. Douglas Adams was British. My colleague had identified a neat Austro-British collection. Result: I wrote an official blog about it, as British ambassador to Austria.

Trusted sources: do they exist?

I’ve written a lot about the pernicious impact of the internet on our ability to understand the world. Malicious actors can use it literally to control your mind (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site) – and it’s getting worse. As long ago as 2015 I wrote that The Internet… risks tearing civilisation apart. My 2023 piece on the Welsh Secret Service highlighted the perils of conspiracy theories. I’ve even written a (so far unpublished) thriller on the subject – let me know if you’d like to read it.

By contrast, one of the first – and best – journalists I ever met, Diane Foulds, worked for UPI – United Press International. She said that for most articles she wrote, it was essential to have a minimum of two sources. Any less would increase the risk of printing fake facts. The Guardian is famous for corrections and typos. But if you read the piece at the link, you’ll see the author, Peter Gill, is cautious about answering his own question – about the origin of the Number 42 – because he simply doesn’t know. He claims that Stephen Fry knows. He cites various theories. But he doesn’t make up any fake facts.

Incidentally, Peter Gill’s 2011 article also follows the template set out in my post Nut-grafs & Cosmic Kickers: the perfect article or blog.

My own fake facts

For decades, I had my own theory about the origin of “42”. I believed it was linked to the Band “Level 42”.  Not the new wave English band, who took their name from the Hitchhiker’s Guide, but the fictional band “Level 42” featured at the MELODIA disk-bootick in the cult 1962 Anthony Burgess dystopian sci-fi novel, “A Clockwork Orange”.  When I wrote the 2017 blog above, I wanted to double-check. So I looked at my copy of the novel.  To my horror, I found no mention of “Level 42”, but only of  “Heaven 17” – a fictional band mentioned at MELODIA from which a different ’80s new wave band took their name.  For years, I’d been explaining my own fake fact to anyone who’d listen. No-one ever picked me up on it.

But it’s an excellent example of how anyone can create fake facts – quite inadvertently. It also shows how, sometimes, the best thing you can do is go back to original sources.

Fake facts: what to do next

Readers of this blog will not need any guidance on the dangers of conspiracy theories or the importance of checking facts. But if you haven’t read A Clockwork Orange, do have a look. Warning: it’s pretty unremittingly bleak and, in the words of its protagonist Alex, ultra-violent.

For a gentler experience of dystopia, you may like to explore my novel Eternal Life. It features far more jokes and much less ultra-violence than A Clockwork Orange. As longevity and life extension become increasingly popular, Eternal Life seems more relevant than ever. A summary of all my books is here. Happy reading!