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Divide by Zero: Difference between revisions
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The characters did something so incredibly ''wrong'' that reality itself couldn't handle it. Could be the result of a [[Time Paradox]], the result of a [[Yin-Yang Clash]], or an [[Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object|unstoppable force meeting an immovable object]], or the risk behind the [[Forbidden Chekhov's Gun]].
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
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]].
{{examples}}
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* This is slowly happening to ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' multiverse as "thinnies"—rips in the barriers between realities—gobble up space and time because the [[Big Bad]] is {{spoiler|using psychic energy}} to destroy the [[World Tree|titular tower]].
* Parodied in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, where one of Hex's quirky error messages is "Divide by Cucumber Error". Also, "Please reinstall universe and reboot."
** And let's not forget the effect of the first Glass Clock in ''[[
* Ted Chiang's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130115121005/http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/i/division/ Division By Zero]'' uses this as an analogy for the central mathematical conceit of the plot.
* In one of the dialogues from ''[[Godel Escher Bach|Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'', Achilles is granted permission by [[God]] to make one infinite-level Typeless Wish. He says, "I wish my wish would not be granted!" After this [[Logic Bomb]] goes off in a way that "cannot possibly be described, and so no attempt will be made to describe it", Achilles and the Tortoise find themselves in a totally unfamiliar environment. Achilles asks, "Did the earth come to a standstill? Did the universe cave in?" The Tortoise explains that they were [[Inside a Computer System|inside "The System"]] and the paradoxical wish crashed it: "I'm sorry, Achilles--you blew it. You crashed the System, and you should thank our lucky stars that we're back at all. Things could have come out a lot worse."
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