# Is there a mathematical model for the "strength of your emotional reaction" to the effect of SMBC Comics's formula?

SMBC Comics (Emotion) presented the formula

$$\text{strength of your emotional reaction} = \frac{\text{emotional power of an event}}{\text{your distance from the event}}.$$

It feels intuitively correct, but "distance" seems oversimplified in the current digital age. Thus, I'm curious if there is actually a mathematical model along these lines.

Question: Is there a mathematical model for the "strength of your emotional reaction" to the effect of SMBC Comics's formula?

Honestly, I don't even know what to search for here. I put emotional reaction model into PubMed, but it didn't help.

• I think this comic means "distance" more figuratively than that, and is intended to point out something we more or less take for granted. That is, if you are close to an event (say, a death of a close family member) you are more strongly affected than if someone dies somewhere else in the world. You could also say the same thing for time, in that a more recent event has a stronger impact than one that occurred years ago. I think it is not possible to model such a thing with an equation, since the variables involved are too difficult to quantify. Jan 28 '20 at 16:08