Jump to content
  • 0

The potential to Soulcast a recycled object.


Shallan's Ward

Question

3 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

That's actually a really interesting thought. My guess is that it would depend on how long the object had been recycled into some other state from its original one and how different that was from whatever it began as. For example, if you recycled a damaged bottle by melting it down and making a new bottle out of it, there would probably be no real difference. The bottle would still be seen as a bottle by anyone looking at it and the bottle itself would probably still see itself as more or less the same thing. Brandon's mentioned the Ship of Theseus paradox and come down on the side of 'it would be the same ship, Cognitively' so that probably holds for recycling things into very similar things.

On the other hand, recycle that same amount of glass into a decorative paperweight, or divide it up and use it to make the glass portion of spheres and then wait long enough for thinking beings to see the glass as the new paperweight or the multitude of separate glass beads and the Cognitive self would shift accordingly. Then, it might remember that while it's one thing now, it used to be something else and could be easier to Soulcast. It would also depend on what you're trying to Soulcast the object to, versus what it originally was. On that same line of thinking, recycled objects would probably be much easier to Forge.

That said, the Wind's Pleasure gave us an example of Cognitive entities that at one point must have considered themselves separate (ie, all the trees that the wood came from, all the plant fibers in the lines, rigging and sails, the metal in the nails...) now see themselves as a single thing with a very firm Cognitive self-image, so extending that idea to recycled materials there's got to be some point where the recycled thing has gained 'Cognitive permanence' such that it's effectively indistinguishable from the original thing, in terms of Soulcast-ability.

Edited by Weltall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
1 hour ago, Shallan's Ward said:

Hypothetically speaking, wouldn't an object that had been recycled be easier to soulcast? Because the item has already changed once and could be easier to convince to do so again, right?

Yeah but to a degree, to say...most of the objects were different stuffs during their lives. It will depend how long it was in the current state

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
1 hour ago, Weltall said:

That's actually a really interesting thought. My guess is that it would depend on how long the object had been recycled into some other state from its original one and how different that was from whatever it began as. For example, if you recycled a damaged bottle by melting it down and making a new bottle out of it, there would probably be no real difference. The bottle would still be seen as a bottle by anyone looking at it and the bottle itself would probably still see itself as more or less the same thing. Brandon's mentioned the Ship of Theseus paradox and come down on the side of 'it would be the same ship, Cognitively' so that probably holds for recycling things into very similar things.

On the other hand, recycle that same amount of glass into a decorative paperweight, or divide it up and use it to make the glass portion of spheres and then wait long enough for thinking beings to see the glass as the new paperweight or the multitude of separate glass beads and the Cognitive self would shift accordingly. Then, it might remember that while it's one thing now, it used to be something else and could be easier to Soulcast. It would also depend on what you're trying to Soulcast the object to, versus what it originally was. On that same line of thinking, recycled objects would probably be much easier to Forge.

That said, the Wind's Pleasure gave us an example of Cognitive entities that at one point must have considered themselves separate (ie, all the trees that the wood came from, all the plant fibers in the lines, rigging and sails, the metal in the nails...) now see themselves as a single thing with a very firm Cognitive self-image, so extending that idea to recycled materials there's got to be some point where the recycled thing has gained 'Cognitive permanence' such that it's effectively indistinguishable from the original thing, in terms of Soulcast-ability.

exactly, there is also this relevant WoB on the topic:

Quote

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

I wanted to ask whether cake has a soul? In Realmatic theory, stuff has souls. So, somebody turns wheat into flour, and flour has a soul. Do they come together when I bake the cake?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

...So, this gets into some weird cosmere theory stuff. The level that if you are a student of philosophy, you'll recognize just wearing on the sleeve where this one came from. This is a mashup of Shinto beliefs and the theory of the forms by Plato, and kind of its own weird thing, that became Realmatic theory in the cosmere...

So, in the cosmere, things take on an Identity and a soul based on how people perceive them. It's human perception that is creating a lot of this, because the various powers that made the universe have this sort of desire to be sentient. And power left long too long in the cosmere starts thinking, that's just how it goes, and starts thinking of itself the way it is perceived. So, that cake, as soon as its created, the disparate parts of the souls start being thought of as a cake, and start gaining some traction as a cake. If you left that cake alone long enough, which wouldn't take too long for a cake because people don't look at cake and think "Oh, a bunch of wheat and flour." They think "Cake." That thing will start having a combined soul of the various bits of power, and the longer you leave it, the more permanency it's gonna have as a Spiritual artifact in the cosmere.

So, yes, cake has a soul.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...