Formula for life

A very dear friend of mine has given a formula for life.

Life = Luck (Effort)
You might say..."So what?? This is not some great gyaan for me. Everyone knows luck and effort are important."
Jus wait, guys and galz, for there's a mathematical specification :
Luck is the independent quantity, you don't control it, it is controlled in laboratories Up There!!
Effort in the bracket, is the dependent quantity, the thing which you control, which is entirely in your hands.
So even if you put in a world of efforts, if the quantity outside the bracket is zero, you are a gone case. If luck = 0.5, you will get only half of the results expected, and so on....
Well, That much for his formula and the logic behind it.
Now, let's sit down and analyse it.

1. Do random formulae like this tell you about the state of mind of the theorists behind them??? Well, not in the case of the above given formula, since he has maintained this formula in good and bad times. But generally, I think people are different in different phases of their life - success, failure, youth, old age, bachpan etc. And that's partly because, the response which you get from people changes according to circumstances. As they say, "duniya ugte suraj ko hi salaam karti hai, dhalte suraj ko nahi!" I know some people who have stopped considering the luck factor, once they get success, which to me, is foresight of the shortest range.
For example, there was a popular sms doing the rounds some time back - "In life, add friends, subtract sorrows......multiply....divide......and success will be yours!"
Well, most of us, forward sms's just for the sake of forwarding. But try sending this sms after thinking about it, days after a dear friend has backstabbed you... or in Raghu Ram's words - "when you have been given a dose of your own medicine."
What I mean to say is that your perception of non-material things like luck, effort, success, failure changes as you encounter different situations and reach different stages in life. So, let common sense prevail, and give such formulae only after lots of deliberation and thinking....and not while you indulge in arbit talk with your friends!! Otherwise, you may have to add a new quantity later. (Have I taken this topic too seriously???? Well, never mind!)

2. Secondly, what is the relation between luck and effort? Are they really independent and dependent respectively? Or, the saying, "Fortune favours the brave." holds true? Is luck a manifestation of The Highest Authority or is it just a placebo?
This is where the debate of Atheism vs. Religion steps in....and for me, that is banned territory. I'll leave it for my readers to decide.

3. What is the importance and respect given to such formulae?? Is it directly proportional to the social status that one has??
My friend claimed this formula to be accurate and remarked that this formula can command the world's respect if some iconic personality gives it. Is that true? If it is, it would strengthen my belief that at the end of the day, we all are philosophers, though of the Murphy genre.....most of us!
You can relate it to the comparative definitions of knowledge and wisdom also - philosophy is another name given to the general wisdom that your mind achieves at some point in time, after you accrue a lot of knowledge.
So, just analyse the course of events in your life and even you can come up with your formula or theory.
Readers, please let me know about your perspectives....
Ciao

p.s. - Watched the 2006 hit "Blood Diamond" yesterday. Another movie which makes you think.
I will post about it soon. Got microprocessor test tomorrow. Wish me luck!