42. Always the number 42. What is it actually about and what does it mean when someone answers “42”?
If people want to fool each other and speak to each other cryptically, then such claims are likely to arise in the end: Left-wing intellectual decline speaks of 42 possible genders. What happened? The state parliament member André Poggenburg (AfD) wanted to take a swipe at the Green Party member Striegel.
He asked him ironically during his speech, “What gender are you wearing today?” Striegel’s resulting interjection was also meant ironically and should, but can only be, understood if you know the meaning of the number 42: “I want to tell you that The answer to all your questions is 42.” This resulted in a misunderstanding, which led to a tweet in which the AfD MP assumed that the politician from the other party was talking about 42 possible genders:
Striegel #Greens spoke of 42 possible genders during an interjection in the plenary session today!
I ask myself, can the left-wing intellectual decline in our society somehow be stopped? #AfD works #NoGender
— André Poggenburg (@PoggenburgAndre) May 25, 2018
About the 42nd
The number 42 has taken on a special meaning through the novel “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, because the number 42 is the answer to the question “about life, the universe and everything else” (in the original “life, the universe and everything”). In short, it is popularly said that 42 is the answer to everything.
In the novel, the supercomputer called Deep Thought has 42 as the answer to the above question after 7.5 million years of computing time, but at the same time it also announces that the question is simply too vague to determine the question precisely and thus one more a better computer should be developed that can do that.
Anyone who uses the number 42 as a rhetorical device in an answer usually does not mean the absolute number 42, but rather intends to use it ironically.
Particularly delicate at this point: Poggenburg's tweet appeared on May 25th, 2018, or rather this interjection took place on May 25th. May 25th is the so-called World Towel Day, on which Douglas Adams, the author of the novels “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, “ Life, the Universe and All the Rest ”, “ Take care, and thank you for the fish” and “ Once Rupert and back” . This Towel Day also goes back to the book in which a towel is described as the most useful thing you could have with you on your travels through the galaxy.
We wish everyone a happy towel day! #TowelDay #DouglasAdams pic.twitter.com/SCwTjcDILe
— DW | Culture (@dw_kultur) May 25, 2018
Fans of the story carry a towel with them on this day and like to post it too.
Is it all a question of socialization? Born in Saxony-Anhalt in 1975, Andre Poggenburg probably missed the connection to western pop culture. It's a shame actually.
Clear reading recommendation from Mimikama editor Beate! No panic! It's never too late to read something really good. And then you understand the countless allusions that you come across every day in conversation.
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