Bugsy Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) This may have already been proposed, but I just suddenly thought of a potential Cosmere tie in to an interest of mine. As such, I thought I'd inform you guys here on the Shard. Basically, I'm proposing that the Golden ratio was used as somewhat of a base for the cosmere. For those of you who don't know, Phi is a letter of the Greek Alphabet that in modern times is used to represent the golden ratio. The golden ratio is a number that inexplicably appears in nature on a variety of scales, from the patterns in which flower petals grow to the literal shaping of galaxies. It also pertains to the Fibonacci sequence (a series of numbers in which each new number is equal to the sum of the 2 previous numbers) because the ratio of a given point on the sequence divided by the point directly before it grows ever closer to the golden ratio as the points increase. This number, expressed as a decimal, is approximately 1.618. Obviously, this number x10 is roughly equal to 16, a number with drastic influence on the cosmere. 10 is relatively important as well (the 10 orders, etc.). It would also be important to scale the ratio upwards from a plot perspective, because Adonalsium couldn't have exactly split into 1.6 shards. It would be very interesting to see how the golden ratio pertains to a variety of in-world phenomena, such as the shape of Roshar, orbital patterns of planets, the formation of the Starbelt, any number of Shallan's sketches, the sand plates that form patterns, and possibly even the Shattering itself. I'm currently on vacation, but once I get home I'll do some research into applying this info to some of the topics listed above Edited April 4, 2016 by Bugsy6912 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 it probably is. the fact that the number is found in many phenomena means that there are underlying reasons for it that are tied to the nature of mathematics - namely, the fact that if you take a rectangle with a ratio of phi between the sides, and you build a square on its longest side, you get another rectangle with a ratio of phi, so that ratio tend to appear on stuff that grows one bit at a time. the cosmere has our same math, so we should find it there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Bard Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 I don't think Adonalsium split into 16.18 shards. You might find something more general in the laws of nature, but that's quite specific. Mistborn: Secret History spoilers: We know that 16 people actively joined together to split Adonalsium. If it had been a natural event, I might have given that theory more credit, but as it stands, I don't think it's likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobar14 Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 I don't think Adonalsium split into 16.18 shards. You might find something more general in the laws of nature, but that's quite specific. Mistborn: Secret History spoilers: We know that 16 people actively joined together to split Adonalsium. If it had been a natural event, I might have given that theory more credit, but as it stands, I don't think it's likely. Maybe that extra .18 shards turned into the investiture that is just hanging around the cosmere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted April 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) I don't think Adonalsium split into 16.18 shards. You might find something more general in the laws of nature, but that's quite specific. Mistborn: Secret History spoilers: We know that 16 people actively joined together to split Adonalsium. If it had been a natural event, I might have given that theory more credit, but as it stands, I don't think it's likely. They could have specifically chosen to have 16 people in the team because they knew he would, upon being shattered, split into 16 shards. We have no way of knowing until the Dragonsteel books are published. ETA: also, 16.18 is an approximation, it isn't an exact value. Because a number of pieces has to be an integer, it's possible that it was 16 just due to rounding. Edited April 4, 2016 by Bugsy6912 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardbearer Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 We have WoB from before Secret History that Adonalsium could have been split into a different number of shards if things went down different at the Shattering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 As far as we know, 16 is only significant to Adonalsium due to the Shattering generating 16 pieces, not any other reason. It's possible there are other reasons but I think you're gonna need more evidence to establish a pattern or possible hints at reasons to the pattern before it becomes compelling. In a similar vein, as per Word of Brandon, 10 is significant to Tanavast/Honour. We don't have any evidence of any other significance to the number, so there's no particular reason to think that sixteen is actually an approximation of phi x 10 as opposed to simply the number of future Vessels that got together to perpetrate the Shattering. Phi is relevant to the shape of Roshar because IIRC its shape is based on a fractal pattern. There could be a reason for that beyond Brandon just thinking it makes cool art, but again, we have nothing to tie that together with the other instances of phi showing up. (and it showing up in Shallan's sketches is just good art, alien creatures SHOULD follow the golden ratio for obvious reasons) Phi is common in nature for a reason, so it's not a particularly persuasive theory without more evidence IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svordish Scientist Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 Maybe the .18 left over is Hoid 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Windspren Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 Maybe the .18 left over is Hoid My thoughts exactly. More seriously, it's probably just an Easter Egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Authweight Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 I actually think that 16 is significant for a different reason entirely, which is that it is a power of two. My guess is that Adonalsium's fracture was symmetrical in important ways, explaining why each shard's power is so precisely the same as the others. If Adonalsium was shattered by repeated division in two, then there would be multiple possible numbers it could break into, but they would all be powers of two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I actually think that 16 is significant for a different reason entirely, which is that it is a power of two. My guess is that Adonalsium's fracture was symmetrical in important ways, explaining why each shard's power is so precisely the same as the others. If Adonalsium was shattered by repeated division in two, then there would be multiple possible numbers it could break into, but they would all be powers of two. Well, assuming you weren't okay with Shards of unequal power, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenod Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Roshar's form is based upon the Julia set, watch the video at the top of the page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_set P.S. This was also the easter egg hidden in the map, they found it out in this thread: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6912-hidden-things-in-map-of-roshar/ Peter confirmed it here: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6912-hidden-things-in-map-of-roshar/?p=127526 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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