Theory: Feruchemy & Old Magic

[Nepene]

@Nepene

 

So you just threw in Feruchemical parallels as a side note? Okay, I can see that, I suppose. You really didn't need to make the direct connection, though, as (though perhaps I'm just slow here) I think that just muddies the issue. Saying "his thoughts going more slowly makes him appear stupid and hampers his ability to rule and interact" can stand fine on its own, and is a valid point.

 

Still, though, I'm sure that slow!Taravangian could still just chill in his quarters (very slowly) planning and plotting by his lonesome or with a group of trusted advisers, if all that really suffered from his condition was appearances.

 

It is important to mention other attributes that Brandon might apply to the king in terms of his IQ, using terms that he prefers rather than our own subjective ones.

 

It's not just interaction though. A good memory, a common feature of a high IQ, helps you make decisions. A good connection with a person, easier if you have a similar IQ, lets you judge the quality of their advice.

 

I'm just saying, I really wouldn't want a king like that deciding the fate of a peasant like me.

[Kurkistan]

I think we may be talking at cross-purposes, then. I'll just ask a simple question: Nepene, do you believe that Taravangian's condition is best described as a fluctuating IQ (however that ends up being modeled, Realmatically, if at all) or is it a case of his thoughts being "slowed" or "sped up" like is the case with storing or tapping Feruchemical Zinc?

[Nepene]

I think we may be talking at cross-purposes, then. I'll just ask a simple question: Nepene, do you believe that Taravangian's condition is best described as a fluctuating IQ (however that ends up being modeled, Realmatically, if at all) or is it a case of his thoughts being "slowed" or "sped up" like is the case with storing or tapping Feruchemical Zinc?

 

I wouldn't want to predict based on what evidence we have. It certainly seems like there is something to him being slowed down and sped up, but when we see scenes where he is smarter or stupider we may see some other attributes that are also augmented, assuming Brandon thinks IQ is more than mental speed.

[Kurkistan]

Okay then. I think you're wrong, and it's just plain IQ, as has been argued quite thoroughly in this thread, but I suppose that's that.

[happyman]

I also think it is IQ.

 

I tend to think of myself as a pretty smart guy, which I sometimes am, I guess.  It's hard to tell; I've never been anybody else.  Nor have I ever bothered to have it tested; I'm smart enough to know how meaningless that would be.

Anyway, when I am on the top of my game, I am making connections, drawing inferences, and otherwise making decisions that just seem obvious to me which seem to leave other people wondering how I did it.  On the other hand, when I am very tired, the very same things can seem very hard to impossible.  There have been many times when I have spent a couple of hours (or sometimes a whole day!) working something, only to come back fresh the next day/week, and instantly see what I was doing wrong.

In other words, I think that intelligence is much more than mental speed, and that zinc does not explain Taragavinian's experience well.  But time will tell.

[Odium's_Shard]

I think it's just his rampant insanity, personally. Genius is a two-sided coin.

 

True insanity is insanity that a person reasons themselves out of.

If any of these sound familiar, you are most likely a future psychopath:

 

"But it was for the greater good of humanity."

"It was necessary to kill people as part of a greater plan to save them, sometime very far into an unknown future."

"My oath requires me to kill these hundreds of people on pure principle."

"This is pretty fun."