To quibble, “42” IS the answer rather than the question, although as you say the question itself is unknown.
But I stress that, until we know WHAT the Question is, we have no idea what the answer signifies. To say that the Question is simply “What is the meaning of life?”, to which the Answer is “42” is obviously incorrect, as 42 is a quantity and not a meaning. All we know about the Question is that it covers “life, the universe, and everything.”
And I don’t know who Colfer is, but unless he can claim to have found the Question somewhere in Adams’ unpublished notes I personally would not consider his speculations to be any more valid than mine.
To quibble, “42” IS the answer rather than the question, although as you say the question itself is unknown.
But I stress that, until we know WHAT the Question is, we have no idea what the answer signifies. To say that the Question is simply “What is the meaning of life?”, to which the Answer is “42” is obviously incorrect, as 42 is a quantity and not a meaning. All we know about the Question is that it covers “life, the universe, and everything.”
And I don’t know who Colfer is, but unless he can claim to have found the Question somewhere in Adams’ unpublished notes I personally would not consider his speculations to be any more valid than mine.