The number 42 and beyond

I am twenty-four years old and I have IQ worthy of a Mensa membership.

I know that dogs are colourblind and that a byte consists of eight bits. I know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell, how to simplify quadratic equations, and that sentences should not end in prepositions. I know what a hansom is, how to play power chords, and how sfumato works. I can solve sudoku, minesweeper, and cryptograms in quite impressive speed. I know the featural differences between avant-garde and kitsch; and leopards and cheetahs. I know what a Klein bottle and a Mobius strip is, I have read Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and The Book of the Dead, and I know who the greatest hero in Greek Mythology. I can set-up a personal computer myself, program a vcr, and cook a very nice chili con carne. I understand how a car engine works, from displacement to rpm, cylinder size to aerodynamics to center of gravity. I know who The Unabomber, Elliot Ness, Akira Kurosawa, Joseph Stalin, Professor James Moriarty, The Marx Brothers, Freddie Mercury, David Letterman, and Graciano Lopez-Jaena is. I am knowledgable in astrophysics, thermodynamics, trigonometry, psychology, classical literature, and music.

I know agreat deal about how the world works, but for the life of me, I will never ever understand why men fall for the wrong women…

author’s note: In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Hypercomputer Deep Thought generated the answer “42” to The Ultimate Question of Life, Universe and Everything after working for 7.5 million years. The computer, in response to Looquawl’s frustration with The Answer, replied that The Answer was correct, it’s just that they never really knew what The Question was all along.

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