Divide by Zero: Difference between revisions

To divide a number by zero is the one thing elementary math teachers tell you<ref>Sometimes, an elementary math teacher will insist that division by zero gives zero. They are wrong, although 0/0 ''is'' different than any other 0-division case.</ref> that you [[Lies to Children|simply cannot do]] (but as usual, Real Life is more complicated than elementary school; see [[Divide by Zero/Trivia|the Trivia section]]). It led to a joke on [[Image Board|image boards]]s <ref>actually, the meme is [[Older Than They Think|much older than that]]</ref> that if someone were to divide a number by zero, it would break reality. Someone making a suggestion that is severely unlikely is often compared to this. When [[Time Travel]] is involved, usually results in a [[Time Crash]] (and a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] for all involved). An [[Eldritch Abomination]] is something whose very nature is ''continuous division by zero itself''.

Compare [[Awesomeness Is Volatile]], where [[Chuck Norris]] [[Chuck Norris Facts|can divide by zero]]. See also [[Logic Bomb]], which can overlap with this. Not to be confused with [[The Singularity]].

** And let's not forget the effect of the first Glass Clock in ''[[Discworld/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'', which [[Time Crash|shattered the whole of recorded history]]. The History Monks just about managed to patch it back together again, leaving behind only a couple of [[Plot Hole|plot holes]].

*:* Much the same happens with any two "extradimensional interfaces", with specific effect defined by the one undergoing the transformation, i.e. "inner", if applicable. Usually it destroys them both and often does nasty things to everything around as well. AD&D's ''Tome of Magic'' added 3 more - Flatbox always explodes; Warp Marble always safely deactivates, dumping the trapped creature to the Astral Plane (both also do the same when subjected to any form of teleportation); Dimensional Mine does nothing but dumps any extradimensional space in which it's placed into the Astral Plane, which destroys the item creating the pocket, if any - but not the mine ("Hey, guys, I found a cool figurine on the Astral..."). Rulings on non-permanent spells with such effects (Deeppockets, Rope Trick, Extradimensional Pocket, Seclusion) vary.

**::* So of course this was weaponized in various "extradimensional bomb" setups - e.g. [http://www.spelljammer.org/ships/equip/ed_missile.html as described here]. The probable reason why such interactions were not removed as outrageously exploitable is that magical items are very, very expensive and variants created via spells are either inconvenient or temporary and thus limited by the number of high-level spells the offending party can cast in a row.

*:* Another case is a [[Sphere of Destruction|Sphere of Annihilation]] (permanent or created by spell) meeting a planar gate, except the result is somewhat random - they may pass through each other as empty place or interact violently.

**::* A variant of this is described in the ''Elder Evils'' sourcebook. Putting a Sphere of Annihilation into a Well of Many Worlds creates a ''black hole'' - which proceeds to ''[[Apocalypse How|swallow up the entire Material Plane in a matter of minutes]]'' barring divine intervention.

**::* A Sphere of Annihilation on its own should qualify, as it is literally a hole in the continuity of the multiverse.

*:* There is also the incredibly old demon lord ''Pale Night'' who appears as a female humanoid wrapped in a shroud. The shroud is however not part of herself, but Reality's desperate attempt to hide her true form from the rest of the multiverse. She has the ability to shed the shroud for a short moment and having a very strong [[Weirdness Censor]] is the only thing that prevents everyone from being annihilated by trying to make sense of what they saw.

*:* The multi-setting crossover AD&D module ''Die Vecna Die!'' justified the changes between 2nd and 3rd Edition in-universe, as a result of Vecna the lich-god Dividing Reality By Zero when he escaped from ''[[Ravenloft]]'' to ''[[Planescape]]''.