Mistborn Microbes?

[Paliah Bridgeman]

I'm not a scientist, just a fan of popular science, but sometimes new theories I read about remind me of the Cosmere. Apparently some newly discovered bacteria can "use energy in its purest form – naked electricity in the shape of electrons harvested from rocks and metals." Somewhat more dramatically, I've even seen speculation that these bacteria could be present in the human body: "El-Naggar suspects that electrical interactions between bacterial and human cells may have important, almost entirely unexplored health implications. After all, the sewage experiments indicate there are electrically active bacteria in the gut. He wonders aloud: Do they communicate with human cells as part of the body’s internal ecosystem?" I'm not saying Mistborn Midi-chlorians, but....

[DeadFencer Forescout]

But allomancy uses the metal as a message, not a power source. Burning metal is basically a memo to Preservation, asking to use some power. Allomantic power comes from Preservation, not the metal itself. 

[Kingsdaughter613 Prime]

Sounds more like the world where everything is electrified. The Dark One's world I believe.

[Paliah Bridgeman]

I don't think it's an exact parallel to any magic system that we've seen so far, but it's still interesting to note the similarities between scientific and fictional concepts. Many speculative fiction authors are inspired by ideas from science, and some even seem to predict future discoveries and inventions. This is usually more common in science fiction than fantasy, but Mr. Sanderson's books are some of the most scientific fantasy I've ever read. One thing I love about the Cosmere is the way the in-world process of studying the magic systems is similar to the scientific method in our world.