In Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, Earth is a supercomputer that is computing the the Ultimate question, whose answer is 42.
I was wondering is Douglas Adams was inspired by any existing philosopher when he wrote this. Does there exist any philosophy which views human society as a computation, trying to figure out a solution to some ultimate problem?
Edit: BTW I am not talking about being in the Matrix. In the Matrix humans exist as a result of computation. Purpose of such simulations would be at the mercy of its creator, usually entertainment as shown in popular media. I am talking about humans themselves being a computation. For this humans dont need to be inside a simulation. Earth in Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy wasnt inside a simulation, it was itself the computer.
Before I start hypothesizing about what humans may be trying to compute, I want to know if any philosopher has thought in this direction already.