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What is the meaning of life? Is lasting peace possible? How can we overcome division? What should I do when I have no idea what comes next?
Human beings have asked questions like these for centuries. As a fan of science fiction and humor, I am reminded of the famous answer given in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. When a supercomputer is asked to determine the answer to life, the universe, and everything, it eventually responds with the number 42.
The answer is funny because it is both incredibly simple and completely unhelpful. A number cannot tell us why we exist, how we should treat our neighbors, or what to do when suffering enters our lives.
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