My Fellow Hitchhikers, I have an announcement.

[Appoggiatura]

The Name

I wasn't the one who came up with this, but I think it's the best guess to what it would be.

the ultimate question

Pick a random number.

Although I guess it isn't a question... neutral

Yep, that's the one I was referring to. It's just 'Pick a number' actually. Well, now it isn't, because we just blurted it out to the world. xp  

[Tinnumir]

Due to the fact that we're all still here and the universe hasn't been destroyed and replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable, I would be willing to bet that, while creative and perhaps even close, your question is not the correct one.
Props for your mathmatical talents in figuring that one out tho. Helluva lot more than I could ever do. mathmenolikey  

[dudebro711]

6 * 9 is what Arthur pulls out of the scrabble-ish pouch, true. But...he is not one of those who belong on Earth...he is one of...the others. The telephone operators, etc. Ya know. He's not actually supposed to deduce the question.

Also...maybe the world has started over. But they missed the computers.  

[evabh]

Appoggiatura

That's very clever, but that's not the right question. Neither is "What do you get if you multiply six times nine?" The real question...for the sake of the universe I won't say it, but I will tell you that it's on Wikipedia somewhere and it involves Marvin.

Here's what I found on Wikipedia about the number 42 relating to HGTTG:
42 Puzzle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The 42 Puzzle, as it appeared on pages 80 and 81 of The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The 42 Puzzle is a game devised by Douglas Adams in 1994 for his popular The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. In the books, 42 is known as The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything that Deep Thought, a sophisticated computer constructed by pandimensional beings, returns (after seven-and-a-half million years of calculating). Referencing this, he created a puzzle whose question was unknown, but whose answer is already known to be 42.

The puzzle is an illustration consisting of 42 multi-coloured balls, in 7 columns and 6 rows. According to Douglas Adams (in an interview reprinted at Douglas Adams Continuum), "Everybody was looking for hidden meanings and puzzles and significances in what I had written (like 'is it significant that 6 * 9 is 42 in base 13?'. As if.) So I thought that just for a change I would actually construct a puzzle and see how many people solved. Of course, nobody paid it any attention. I think that's terribly significant."

The puzzle first appeared in The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was later incorporated into the covers of all five reprinted "Hitchhiker's" novels.
[edit]

Solutions to the Puzzle are provided.

Couldn't find anything about Marvin, though!  

[Sindeira]

Sitting Boi

The Ultimate Question:

(7x80+7+12+4+365/1942-13-666+12+4+333+1865-360)/42=X
X=About 42.

The meaning of the numbers:
7: Days a week
80: Average life span
7: lucky number
12: months a year
4: seasons
365: days a year
1942: most important year of WWII
13: unlucky number
666: devil's number
12: years in school
4: years to get a degree
333: holy number
1865: end of America's Civil War
360: degrees in a circle
42: The ultimate answer.

So you see, My Fellow Hitchhikers, it is not as hard as it would seem. Whether you believe in my question is up to you. Mathematically, it ends with about 41.84, which rounds to 42. The math is right, but are they the right numbers or the right meaning?

Mathematics is notorious for being the root of all evil in the entire, Milky Way galaxy, and thus you've doomed each of us to start all over again, in this endless game known as life.

Darn you and your evil ways..!
gonk  

[phlipp]

In reference to 42 and quoting the supreme lead singer of Pugilism and the Third Autistic Cuckoo, "It means whatever you want it to mean."  

[Starlit Jewel]

Well, even though you've doomed the Universe... that's a bloody good piece of maths there.

...

Never thought I'd say that about any kind of maths. sweatdrop  

[Talana the Warrior]

And there goes the universe, again. Thanks a lot. Now we have to start all over. We aren't supposed to know that information ~smacks you with towel.~

Wait, the Question cannot be a math problem, That is why it is not 6*9. We are still safe.  

[Sir Leos]

We are safe because he is wrong
if he were correct well you read the other posts so we need not worry
and even though our plannet is the thing to give the question and explain the answer if you remember the programs became corrupt so we will never know unless we start the process over again  

[Morogo]

Why should the end of the American Civil War have ANYTHING to do with it? Douglas Adams was British!

Plus... Rounding up? I don't think so. The Ultimate Question must equal to exactly 42. And I suspect that what with trillian being a mathematician or whatever it was [is in desperate need to find her copy of Hitchhikers] she would have worked that out. And anyway I thought 999 was the holy number. Not 333.  

[gwyn_sully]

[.Adolescence.]

Oh, great. Now our planet is dispensable again. Thank you so much. Plus, you made millions of philosophers around the world go out of job. xd

Now seriously, congrats for your deduction. Never been so glad I was wrong!

My only doubts:
333: holy number
Why? I may seem terribly dumb here but I didn't get it.

1865: end of America's Civil War
How is this relevant to the Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything?

I shall now postulate some answers. This does not mean I agree with the whole thing. I'm still trying to decide if it's worth hurting my brain that much or if "how many roads must a man walk down" is sufficient for me. But here's some explaination anyways. As always, feel free to confirm my knowledge that I am bonkers.

333: this would be a holy number because in many religous practices the important things come in sets of 3. The holy trinity, maiden mother crone, etc. This is three 3s. Therefore, special.

1865: since the civil war happened on earth, its completion must have been an important step in deducing the question. So the date is important.

I think I'm still going with the mice's answer...  

[fourtysecondscarf]

oh, by the way....most of those only apply to the earth...NOT the universe....so...all those things about the war, and yes, devil, and the "holy" numbers and s**t...dont apply...  

[[.Chipped.Not.Broken.]]

That's a lot of questions... and why did you chose those ones When there are a million others that are just as relevent?  

[alsoknownasak]

Me, I think it's "How many roads must a man walk down."

It was in the book... and... it sounds... life-y. xp

Oh, btw, I'm new here. *wave*  

[Quria Blade Transfem]

Little Socrates

Until today, we have known the ultimate answer to be 42. I vowed to leave Gaia after the Gaming Discussion forum was overtaken by n00bs. However, I have returned to reveal a most important announcement. Our 5-book trilogy never gave us the ultimate question. However, I have discovered it while sitting in my Algebra class which is not totally unlike a coffeeshop.
The Ultimate Question sits below; but are you ready?
Take a deep breath, and relax.
Put yourself in a place filled with mist; clear your mind.
Think of your towel. Where is it?
What color is it?
Is it wet?
Have you had a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster today? Some may need one to believe what's coming up.
Are you in a good mood? That's just what I'm hoping for, because angry people won't believe it.
Are you ready now? If not, read the above again.
The Ultimate Question:

What is about the answer to the following equation:
(7x80+7+12+4+365/1942-13-666+12+4+333+1865-360)/42=X
X=About 42.

The meaning of the numbers:
7: Days a week
80: Average life span
7: lucky number
12: months a year
4: seasons
365: days a year
1942: most important year of WWII
13: unlucky number
666: devil's number
12: years in school
4: years to get a degree
333: holy number
1865: end of America's Civil War
360: degrees in a circle
42: The ultimate answer.

So you see, My Fellow Hitchhikers, it is not as hard as it would seem. Whether you believe in my question is up to you. Mathematically, it ends with about 41.84, which rounds to 42. The math is right, but are they the right numbers or the right meaning?

yer logics off
very off
realy realy realy off
so off.... its um off...
yeah
though nubers are cool they lack imagination
and ... stuff!
you lose