#jenkinverse

counted up to chapter 96 which was released today

cut because this shit is long

theory one:

so worlds are divided into temperate worlds - which have life - and non temperate - which don't.

the temperate worlds can be divided into 3 categories. Helpful, Neutral, and Harsh.

a Helpful world is one that actively helps its inhabitants to survive and reproduce. you have to be a real fuckup to not make it here. there are very few threats to any organisms survival; to the point it almost seems surreal and unnatural (perhaps it actually is).

a Neutral world is one which neither helps nor hinders the survival of its inhabitants. you do need to carry your own weight in a world like this but there isn't much to get in your way or make your life particularly difficult. it's not uncommon for neutral worlds to not even have predators (or at least very few).

a Harsh world is one which actively hinders the survival of its inhabitants. it's not enough to pull your own weight here, you also gotta deal with natural disasters and predators and poisons and whatnot. still, it's quite reasonable for a species to survive here; even if it won't be easy.

this theory doesn't explain deathworlds

theory two:

theory two is the first instance of the classification theory as opposed to a categorization theory. it posits that each of the categories of world can be divided into three classifications, based on how often the world seems to fit into any category.

the middle classification of each category is for worlds that show qualities of that category the overwhelming majority of the time, and shows qualities of neighboring categories only a small minority of the time (and in equal measure for the upper and lower categories).

the classifications at the edges of a category are for worlds that show roughly equal measure of two neighboring categories, and a small but notable degree of a third.

if we consider non-temperate as a category, then this model can explain death worlds; as tho they are non-temperate on average, they still display qualities of a Harsh but temperate world frequently enough to have life on them; even if that life is beyond hardened to survive the deadly conditions of its home.

example of how this theory works: a class 5 world will be Neutral around say 60% of the time at least, with the rest being equally split between Helpful and Harsh. a class 4 will be Helpful somewhere between 30% and 45% of the time, Neutral between around 55% and 45% of the time, and Harsh between around 15% and 5% of the time.

theory three:

the classification theory is applicable, but stands to be refined a little. here is the test theory. it posits that survival consists of a set of tests; and how many an organism needs to pass in order to survive is dependent on the world it's on.

Helpful worlds require you to pass almost no tests at all. even if you fail almost every test; as long as you pass at least a few, you will survive.

Neutral worlds require you to pass about as many tests as you fail.

Harsh worlds require you to pass most tests, but allow you to flunk a few.

Death worlds require you to pass virtually every. single. test. to survive. this is further justification for calling them Death worlds; since how could the random process of evolution manage to keep organisms alive and adapted in such a strict and unforgiving environment?

trolly non temperate worlds will not let you live no matter how many tests you pass.

worlds are still divided into classifications, but now it's based on how many tests have been passed. this system is much more mathematical, algorithmic, and similar to what we see in cannon.

theory four:

the latest theory proposes only 12 categories; but there are still worlds with even harsher conditions than a category 12, and still live thrives there. they arnt many, but it's enough to call the theory into question. the solution is borrowing an idea from theory two, and saying that these worlds are non-temperate most of the time, but act as temperate deathworlds a significant enough portion of the time for life to survive there (deathworlds allow for survival if you pass 100% of the tests, while non-temperate won't allow survival even at 100%).