It's sad that "42" has become the standard answer to 'meaning of life & universe' questions...there were several other classic replies before Douglas Adams came along. "Life is a fountain" "Life is a 3-legged stool"...etc.

And remember, the computer in "Hitch-hikers Guide" only supplied the answer. It didn't know the ultimate question......which, in another book, later turned out to be "What do you get if you multiply six by nine"?.....giving rise to the line "I always thought something was fundamentally wrong with the universe".

The whole point OF the entire joke/shaggy-philosopher story/Hitch-hiker's Guide routine is that, as tempting as the question about ultimate meaning is, it is pretty much beyond our attempts to even properly phrase the question. The question/answer routines are very Zen-like..."42" is one possible part of one Koan. Any reputable Zen master would change the answer as soon as a student repeated "42" to anyone else! ☺