Lostgallifreyan wrote:


Well, I wondered about non-euclidean geometry for a moment, then remembered
Greg House saying something about working smart, not hard, and no-one said I
couldn't plunder Wikipedia, so....

Actually, before I got there, I wasn't even sure if what Adams had denied was
that "six times nine equals thirteen is wrong", or that he denied the more
interesting case that it was its correctness in base 13 that explained the
'answer'. Apparently he did deny it. Which doesn't mean it isn't true. But
according to Wikipedia's stuff, he chose a small number that looked ordinary
and totally unprofound. Which means that he let whim, i.e. unconscious
conditioning hold sway, without attempt to mediate it. Given that the English
colloquilasm would never be entirely far from a writer wose native language
and culture was English, I stand by my 'theory'. Though I'd like to know
if he was ever directly questioned about the 'sixes and sevens' thing and
denied it. Even then, he would be telling the truth if it hadn't been
conscious. MUCH more like he was influence ny this that by base 13, no?

Maybe you should get me started on my idea for The Long Dark Teatime Of The
Soul, you might like it. The only thing I'll say about it now, unprompted,
is that in this case the allusion isn't English, it's French.

Someone I have had as a boss at 3 companies is totally convinced that
Adams meant it's all a throw of the dice since you get 42 when you add
up all sides of two dice.

tom
K0TAR