Is The Anti-Life Equation A Proper Equation?
According to Wikipedia, this is the formula for the evil god Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation, currently menacing DC comics:
“loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side”
Now, I may not know much about maths, let alone the higher-dimensional equations of the Fifth World – but I have to ask myself – is this actually an equation? Even if you put “Anti-Life =” at the start? Well, surely not. It’s an equation followed by a proposition and then some statements which I guess the equation will help prove…? Mathematicians? Help me out?
What I DO know is that the main equation bit also needs some BRACKETS! Every good equation should have brackets. This would seem to make more sense:
“Anti-Life = (loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + (((self-worth ÷ mockery) ÷ condemnation) ÷ misunderstanding)) x guilt x shame x failure x judgment”
Poor old self-worth! Long-term students of music and FT will also notice that this is the definition of emo we’ve been struggling for.
I think it’s according to Professor Morrison himself! I think the crucial thing is his separation of the constituents into things that divide, things that add, and things that multiply. I think he’s expressing (name of term forgotten) where (fear + despair) * shame = (fear * shame) + (despair * shame).
distributivity?
(((self-worth/mockery)/condemnation)/misunderstanding)
= self-worth/(mockery x condemnation x misunderstanding)
and it seems to me that if you MULTIPLY that fraction by (guilt x shame x failure x judgment) there’s got to be SOME kind of cancellation happen surely… ?
is n a subscript or a power?
Yes, surely some of these concepts are vectors by their very nature. I would have though that mockery would be some sort of factor of failure : perhaps failure x publicity.
But a low self worth would clearly end up with a low Anti-Life – though of could here the subject is Dark Side (Darkseid) so difficult to work out if that is good or bad.
It’s more fun than Jim Starlin’s version where, to the complete non-surprise of all those familiar with his work, the anti-life equation turned out to be #24723783 in a series of embodiments of death.