Travel through the Cognitive realm

[Hentient Forger]

Okay so I know that places in the cognitive realm are closer together, which makes traveling between worlds easy, but how do worldhoppers actually get to the other worlds, is space just non existent? or does space become like a landmass that worldhoppers can just walk across? It seems like it wouldn't just go away, because its unlikely that no one in the cosmere thinks about space at all. 

Does anyone know how this works? 

 

[Father Bin Bridgeman]

Quote

Space on the Cognitive Realm is heavily distorted such that areas that have little to no Cognitive presence are diminished significantly. This means that the vast empty space between planets in the Physical Realm do not exist in the Cognitive Realm. Different worlds sit right next to each other in this Realm, with oceans acting as the borders between worlds.

this is probably because most people aren't world hoppers and aren't aware of the vast distances between other planets

Edited May 21, 2020 by Father Bin

[Eternal Khol King's Tester]

48 minutes ago, Hentient said:

Okay so I know that places in the cognitive realm are closer together, which makes traveling between worlds easy, but how do worldhoppers actually get to the other worlds, is space just non existent? or does space become like a landmass that worldhoppers can just walk across? It seems like it wouldn't just go away, because its unlikely that no one in the cosmere thinks about space at all. 

Does anyone know how this works? 

 

once they get to where no one is thinking about(probably deep space) distance is contracted and you can walk light years in steps(a few steps in the CR would amount to light years in the PR)

 

 

Questioner

So like as far as distance traveled in Shadesmar. So when Kelsier is in Shadesmar, he meets the Ire, who are presumably Elantrians. How far did he travel? Is that still within Scadrial's realm of the Cognitive Realm?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, that's within-- By the time he meets them he has slipped right to the edge of the Cognitive Realm on Scadrial and into, kind of, the darkness between planets. 

Questioner

Okay.

Brandon Sanderson

He's close enough that he can get there. But he's kind of suffused with Scadrian Investiture then, to a point that it would be harder--you saw in there--for him to get further. I would say that he's like... He has entered space between planets, but he's not out of the solar system.

Questioner

Okay, so he's still in the Scadrian system, just not--just edging a bit there.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, yep. That's what I'd say if I had to actually point him in that <a map>. It gets really fuzzy though, because it wouldn't be too much longer before he enters another solar system. Like, he would pass lightyears in steps as he starts getting further, if that makes any sense.

Questioner

That makes sense, because, I mean, with worldhopping in general it's like... You can only... I mean it's... I don't know how the time dilation works per se, but...

Brandon Sanderson

It's not-- there's not much time dilation. What you've got going on is... Things that people aren't around to think about, things without minds or any sort of life, don't manifest on Shadesmar very much at all. And so the space between planets gets really small, unless there's another planet out there with thinking beings or at least some sort of life on it. Like even lower lifeforms, you'll get something manifesting on Shadesmar. But yeah

Questioner

Okay. So the Cognitive Realm, in Shadesmar... It's kind of the... Any kind of sentient or cognitive life-- that's what is building Shadesmar? So like anything where there's blackness... is like... condensed or--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes. Particularly if no one's thinking about it. If people are thinking about it - like, for instance, an island in the ocean that was scoured of all life and even bacteria would still manifest in Shadesmar on that planet because people are aware of it and things like this. But one on the other side of the planet, that no one ever knew about it, probably wouldn't.

Questioner

So that same island, if people just stopped thinking about it or like stopped being aware of its presence, would it...

Brandon Sanderson

It could slowly vanish, yes. And so-- But that's more of a thought experiment. You're never gonna have a planet that that happens to, you know cause-- but thought experiment wise, yes, that would eventually kind of get consumed by Shadesmar and vanish. The same thing would happen to a planet that you strip the atmosphere from--all the bacteria and life dies on it--you know, slowly going to vanish. But a moon will still manifest because people are thinking about it. It'll just not-- it won't-- it'll be hokey, it'll be weird--the moon will be. Like you might find a little patch that represents the moon. Something like that.

Questioner

That's interesting.

Brandon Sanderson

You're not gonna find the full landscape of the moon until people start visiting it. And it's gonna grow on Shadesmar.

White Sand vol.1 release party (June 28, 2016)

Edited May 21, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Honorless Bondsmith]

2 hours ago, Hentient said:

Okay so I know that places in the cognitive realm are closer together, which makes traveling between worlds easy, but how do worldhoppers actually get to the other worlds, is space just non existent? or does space become like a landmass that worldhoppers can just walk across? It seems like it wouldn't just go away, because its unlikely that no one in the cosmere thinks about space at all. 

Does anyone know how this works?

Ocean, rather than landmass

People don't really think of space (like the place) as space (like physical space), instead thinking of it as simply the other. The true distances between heavenly bodies in space is staggering but again people can't really visualize such vast distances.

This, combined with there being no thinking minds in the corresponding region in deep space in the Physical Realm makes interstellar distances shrink in the Cognitive. 

As people get more knowledgeable and educated across the Cosmere about space, this situation may just change (though Brandon always RAFOs these questions)