New info on Spren!

[Senor Feesh]

An April Fool over on Reddit has gotten a comment from Brandon, which divulges (I believe) new WoB on the nature of Spren, which confirms some theories (and probably trashes others).

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/1bflq6/dreamworks_has_acquired_the_film_rights_for_the/

 

 

[–]Rutthed 2 points3 points4 points

4 hours

ago

Serious question: are there poopspren, and how would they fare in indoor plumbing situations?

[+]mistborn 0 points1 point2 points

1 hour

ago  (0 children)

[–]mistborn 0 points1 point2 points

1 hour

ago

Well, it depends on how you're defining spren. In the books, they don't make a distinction, but there are several varieties. At the basic level, everything has an identity--a soul, you might say, but more than that. This is based on how it is viewed, and how long it has been viewed that way. Feces would have this, but wouldn't have a very strong cognitive identity because of its transitional nature.

Other types of spren, the type that characters see and interact with, are cognitive ideals or concepts which have taken on literal personification over time. These are usually related to forces or emotions, and don't relate to this particular topic.

And that's far more than I ever expected to say on this...

[NewbSombrero]

This is fantastic.

[Nepene]

Nice find, thank you.

 

Incidentally, I've added this to my Realmatic Theory and Magic 101 post along with your name so any newbies can see.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Nepene

[Kurkistan]

Thanks for posting. I was about to start my own thread when I saw yours, though I still reserve the right to go all "I was totally right" in my two different "Forms" threads.

So the "Spren as Cognitive Aspects" crowd is right, essentially. Brandon also immediately switched from calling spren "souls" to "cognitive identities," which is a bit worrying, Realmatically. Perhaps it was simply an oversimplification.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Chaos]

Whoa. This is amazing. I never expected Brandon to say this much so early XD

So cognitive identities are in, and I assume Honorspren and things like that are those ideals.

[Hathsin]

Is this why people can't see certain spren?

 

If one person's "cognnitive ideal or concept" of the poo is that it is disgusting and smelly then would the spren he sees would be more akin to stink lines, while his Coprophagic dog, who quite fancies a good poo, would see different spren that look like gumdrops, lollipops, and other assorted candies?

 

No, wait, that would be ridiculous... candy is people food! Perhaps sheep then?

 

(and on a more serious  note, what does this mean about people like Rock who can see all spren? Wouldn't he have to have the same ideals as Kaladin? Maybe there is another type of magic we don't know about yet, that allows him to read peoples minds, or maybe I read something wrong and don't actually know what I'm talking about, and should have stuck with the poo eating dog?)

[Isomere]

Rock may have some aspect of the Awareness or Perception Surges. I'd think he will end up being a Stonewarden with Strength and Perception.  

[darkanimereal1]

Is this why people can't see certain spren?

 

If one person's "cognnitive ideal or concept" of the poo is that it is disgusting and smelly then would the spren he sees would be more akin to stink lines, while his Coprophagic dog, who quite fancies a good poo, would see different spren that look like gumdrops, lollipops, and other assorted candies?

 

No, wait, that would be ridiculous... candy is people food! Perhaps sheep then?

 

(and on a more serious  note, what does this mean about people like Rock who can see all spren? Wouldn't he have to have the same ideals as Kaladin? Maybe there is another type of magic we don't know about yet, that allows him to read peoples minds, or maybe I read something wrong and don't actually know what I'm talking about, and should have stuck with the poo eating dog?)

 

You would think, though, that if people had varying ideas about spren and each saw spren somewhat differently that when they went to talk about them they would compare descriptions and realize that what they saw were different. I know this is a society that takes spren for granted, but young children would see them and ask their parents, and somewhere along the line you would realize that you're seeing two different things.

 

Perhaps, instead of it being completely dependent on one person's perception, it has to do with the over-all perception of something. Just like in TES, where the object has an established idea of what people think about it, the spren and it's physical appearance has to do with how the spren perceives most people think about it.

 

 

Rock may have some aspect of the Awareness or Perception Surges. I'd think he will end up being a Stonewarden with Strength and Perception.  

 

Maybe, but haven't people also speculated that Dalinar will be a Stonewarden? If so, Dalinar should be (theoretically) able to see the cryptics/truthspren that are bothering Elhokar. Or at the very least see them in the mirrors or out of the corner of his eye.

 

Also, Rock describes his ability to see Syl as something special, but not unheard of among the Unkalaki. Unless there's a whole flock of blooming Unkalaki surgebinders up in the mountains, I think this is probably not true. Plus, I feel like Teft would have noticed if Rock were draining stormlight, since he notices Kaladin doing it. At least after Teft figures out Kaladin, I would think he would be paying more attention to those details everywhere he looks.