7 Life Lessons From Full Metal Alchemist

1. To gain something, you must lose something first. The Law of Equivalent Exchange proves that even so.

In real life, the Law of Equivalent Exchange is similar to the Law of Energy Conservation. If you present the same value, you can transform it into another one. Thus, “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed — only converted from one form of energy to another.” For example, nothing can be gained unless something of equal value is lost. To perform fusion or fission of chemical reactions, it will require a lot of energy in reality.

If you like economics, we have the principle of opportunity cost. No matter what we do, there are always compromises. In which, we divide what we sacrifice over what we gain.

I am surprised as much as baffled when I heard that phrase for the first time, which was repeated enough from every anime opening of FMA to stuck in my memory. It’s right in every aspect.

2. Human life is priceless. It has no equivalent.

Nothing compares to the value of human life. Every human life is precious; we have emotions; we have flaws. And more importantly, we have a soul. Flaws make us human, and we cannot recreate our bodies because we cannot present the same equal value of the human soul. No matter how far technology can reach us, how far we already know, we will never understand what it takes to replicate the human soul.

What separates us from other living and non-living entities in this world is that we have a soul and a working memory. Elric brothers, FMA’s protagonist, had to learn this one the hard way. After attempting to bring their mother back to life, Ed and Al were forced to face the harsh truth.

3. Justice is hard to obtain because every valuable lesson entails pain, and there’s no such thing as a painless lesson.

To learn from our mistakes, we face the hardships first. We rise from our past trials, and that means getting hurt and committing a lot of errors.
To protect the people we love, we are willing to take the hard path to achieve justice and search for truth. So that other people don’t experience the unjust of what we do.

4. No one is above the laws of nature: People can obtain all the authority in the world, but they are never above the laws of nature. And for those who will try to do so, have the unfavorable consequences.

Edward Elric from FMA said the below components of an adult human body.
Water: 35 liters, Carbon: 20 kg, Ammonia: 4 liters, Lime:1.5 kg, Phosphorus: 800 g, Salt: 250g, Saltpeter:100g, Sulfer: 80g, Fluorine: 7.5 g, Iron: 5.6 g, Silicon: 3g, and 15 other elements.

In reality, it is a rough estimation. Having all these elements known and yet not even science can recreate a successful human body.

On the other hand, humans will do anything in the name of progress. In the anime where prisoners are turned into the objects of scientific experimentation for Philosopher’s Stone.

5. Vengeance is dangerous. It does more harm than good. More suffering than harmony.

Scar, FMA’s antagonist, went on rampage spree with his left hand of destruction that only led to more suffering. Hatred results in more hatred: And those who do it not for thirst for redemption is with noblest intentions.

To quote Scar, “One who receives pain can still sleep, but one who gives pain can never sleep.”

6. Everyone deserves a second chance: People change in a given time. Yes, even how bad the person can be.

We often not forgive the person who did wrong on us. And what Full Metal Alchemist wants to show us is that it’s the wrong thing to do. Sometimes we have to accept reality and move on.

Too much hope is never good; we get that. But one should not dig the anger deeper to let the person change for the better. Like Edward, he keeps grudges to his dad because his father did not attend his mom’s funeral but what he realizes after — is that his father does it for his own benefit — that both of his parents do it for his own good.

As Edward said, “Keep moving forward, You’ve got two good legs. So, get up and use them.”

7. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, no one can enter the chambers of your own mind and it is true as to this date.

Edward learns the biggest sacrifice one can make, one that is even greater than a person’s life — Is the seizure of his own knowledge. Therefore, after he talks with ‘Truth’, he can never use alchemy again.