Feruchemical healing vs Stormlight healing

[Narcoleptic Axolotl]

So, I was going through the Mistborn series again, and something about the feruchemists' healing powers caught my attention. Now, healing by stormlight in (say it with me) the Stormlight Archives is pretty well explained. Using stormlight, a radiant can restore a physical object to its cognitive perception. That is, a person or thing that has been recently wounded or broken can be healed or fixed with the power of stormlight. We see this many times: Szeth healing minor wounds, Kaladin healing minor wounds, Shallan healing a crossbow bolt to the face, Dalinar healing a sword through the chest, Dalinar fusing a broken stone back together, Shallan using stormlight to recover from drunkenness, Shallan healing minor wounds, Lopen regrowing his arm, Lift healing Gawx's slit throat, and Renaren healing a lot of people including himself when he gets crushed by a thunderclast. We also see injuries that can't be healed, like Rysn's legs. I can't remember who talks about it, probably Jasnah or Wyndle, but whoever it was said that this has to do with perception in the cognitive realm. If an injury is recent, stormlight will heal it because the person doesn't see themselves as injured. That's why Rysn's legs couldn't heal. She thought of herself as a cripple, so no amount of stormlight would heal her. On the other hand, (you'll see why that's funny in a second) Lopen could grow back his arm because despite his jokes, he thought of himself as a whole person with two arms, which is surprising since he'd been missing it for so long. (on a sidenote, does this mean that Shallan was only able to dispel her drunkenness because she doesn't see herself as a drunk? What implications does this have for Teft's firemoss addiction?)

So, that brings us to feruchemy. A bloodmaker ferring (or a full feruchemist) can store health in a goldmind, drawing upon it later to heal wounds and other ailments including disease, headaches, etc. The question is, does this healing of the body work just the same as stormlight healing on Roshar, by restoring the body to the way it is perceived in the cognitive realm? Or is it a different kind of healing that just enhances the body's natural auto-repair functions? Perhaps neither.

On a related note, what if someone with both of these powers tried to use them at the same time, like some meta-compounding? Imagine storing health while consuming stormlight to take up the slack. Now that I think about it, stormlight could be used to fill a couple different metalminds. For example, at one point Shallan feels guilty about using valuable stormlight to keep herself warm in Urithiru, and Sazed, while standing in the snow preparing to defend Luthadel, taps a brassmind for the same purpose. Imagine using the surge of graviation (to fly like Kaladin does) while filling an ironmind. Using stormlight and filling a pewtermind at the same time. I also want to see someone fill a steelmind but inside one of those bendalloy bubbles Wayne can make.

And on a less related note, what would it mean to compound copper? We're told that compounding a metal "increases the power tenfold" but how do you increase a memory?

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I'm not necessarily looking for answers, I'm just giving you all something to think about and discuss. Feruchemy do be fascinating.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Narcoleptic Axolotl

[vigeeking]

I suspect time is at the root of everything.  Light has two states that seemingly conflict (particle and wave) and who is to say that time is not the same (vector and discrete point).  If that is true, then a real world analogue might be how the traffic on the internet works (stream vs burst).  There's a whole bunch of tech speak behind it all, but I see echoes of the math that runs the internet in the writing that we all love. 

All of the healing I have seen in Brandon Sanderson's books reminds me of how we handle software merges in the IT world.  We use tools to keep track of software in a point in time, and have the ability to revert back to that point to continue our work.

The underlying magic I see in much of the books, especially with regards to healing stems from truing up those two times.  I wouldn't be surprised if I could flow chart it out to demonstrate that healing from stormlight damage is basically like a git cherry pick https://www.javatpoint.com/git-cherry-pick.  Radiants understand the intricacies of the system (git in this case) so they just know how to do some of the more esoteric commands.  Feruchemy is more of a merge.  Take what you did in one place, merge it into what you are currently working on now.  That allows teams to work asynchronously on the same problem. Much like the 17th shard here, we can all talk about a HUGE swath of time in all of Brandon Sanderson's books, in a common time and place, even though we are referencing events in entirely disparate timelines.

It constantly amazes me how much I use the principles underlying both L.E. Modesitt's books and Brandon Sanderson's work in my day to day professional life.  The more I learn about his world, the more I have been able to directly apply it to my own.  And I have made real world advances in some of the tech I work with specifically because many of Brandon Sanderson's concepts map out directly to the real world, in an allegorical form.

[Honorless]

We don't know the precise mechanics of how Feruchemy works but Cosmere healing generally works by imposing the status of your Platonic idealized self over your Physical body, Stormlight healing, Regrowth, gold Feruchemy all seem to work via this same method.

[the_bros11_2]

Oooo! Good question. I'll have something to think about for the next few days (: 

[StanLemon]

I think it depends on how much Health you are drawing too. In Alloy of Law, Wayne heals the burn on his back but he has to draw on his Health and heal a little slower (but still very quickly) and it healed by first forming a scab rather than just healing away like Stormlight does

[ftl]

18 hours ago, Narcoleptic Axolotl said:

So, that brings us to feruchemy. A bloodmaker ferring (or a full feruchemist) can store health in a goldmind, drawing upon it later to heal wounds and other ailments including disease, headaches, etc. The question is, does this healing of the body work just the same as stormlight healing on Roshar, by restoring the body to the way it is perceived in the cognitive realm?

It should be broadly similar. There might be minor differences, but the general principle - restoring the physical to match the cognitive/spiritual - should still be the same.

18 hours ago, Narcoleptic Axolotl said:

On a related note, what if someone with both of these powers tried to use them at the same time, like some meta-compounding? Imagine storing health while consuming stormlight to take up the slack. Now that I think about it, stormlight could be used to fill a couple different metalminds. For example, at one point Shallan feels guilty about using valuable stormlight to keep herself warm in Urithiru, and Sazed, while standing in the snow preparing to defend Luthadel, taps a brassmind for the same purpose. Imagine using the surge of graviation (to fly like Kaladin does) while filling an ironmind. Using stormlight and filling a pewtermind at the same time. I also want to see someone fill a steelmind but inside one of those bendalloy bubbles Wayne can make.

Yeah, if someone was a feruchemist and a radiant, you could definitely do that - it would basically function the same as a twinborn compounding, filling a metalmind with power being gained from an outside source rather than from the feruchemist. However, I think it would be more limited than twinborn compounding - you're limited by how much stormlight you can get, instead of being directly able to tap investiture from Preservation. You could fill the metalminds pretty high up in a highstorm, though.

18 hours ago, Narcoleptic Axolotl said:

 

And on a less related note, what would it mean to compound copper? We're told that compounding a metal "increases the power tenfold" but how do you increase a memory?

Possibly being able to make multiple copies of it? Storing a memory removes it from your mind, so you can't both have the memory AND have it in the metalmind. Maybe with compounding you could both have the memory, and store it in multiple metalminds, and have it in your own mind. So a copper compounder would have a perfect memory - every memory they get the instantly store in a metalmind, while also keeping it in their actual mind. And they can refresh their memories from the copperminds, so they never forget anything.

 

[Narcoleptic Axolotl]

On 9/10/2020 at 4:02 PM, StanLemon said:

it healed by first forming a scab rather than just healing away like Stormlight does

You're right, I forgot about that. Even though I just finished Alloy of Law. So maybe it just works like regular healing but super fast. But no, then it would still leave a lot of scars. And blood loss messes this whole thing up anyway. Yes, he's healing super fast, so very little blood should be able to escape, but forming the scabs would take a ton of platelets, leaving his blood somewhat empty of them until his body produces more. I suppose though, that tapping the goldmind could increase his production of those kinds of things; platelets, white blood cells, and now that I think about it, maybe red blood cells too. The name "bloodmaker" must have come from somewhere.

Still though, I don't remember any wounds healed by feruchemy (or stormlight) leaving scars. Wax had 7 scars from bullet wounds, but I don't think Wayne had any, despite getting shot, burned, etc. many times during his career. So maybe it's a combination of both - vastly enhanced but otherwise natural healing, along with extra-natural healing which relies on the cognitive realm to decide how to heal the body.

[+Bzhydack]

3 hours ago, Narcoleptic Axolotl said:

You're right, I forgot about that. Even though I just finished Alloy of Law. So maybe it just works like regular healing but super fast. But no, then it would still leave a lot of scars. And blood loss messes this whole thing up anyway. Yes, he's healing super fast, so very little blood should be able to escape, but forming the scabs would take a ton of platelets, leaving his blood somewhat empty of them until his body produces more. I suppose though, that tapping the goldmind could increase his production of those kinds of things; platelets, white blood cells, and now that I think about it, maybe red blood cells too. The name "bloodmaker" must have come from somewhere.

Still though, I don't remember any wounds healed by feruchemy (or stormlight) leaving scars. Wax had 7 scars from bullet wounds, but I don't think Wayne had any, despite getting shot, burned, etc. many times during his career. So maybe it's a combination of both - vastly enhanced but otherwise natural healing, along with extra-natural healing which relies on the cognitive realm to decide how to heal the body.

It have to be magical healing (normal Investiture healing mean - restoring spiritual/cognitive ideal), not just fast regeneration, simply because there are parts of body what cannot be simply regrow - Wayne mention that he broke his spine many times, and this isnt damage what can be simply regenerate. We also saw Miles's body actively pulling out shot from wound. We also know that Aluminum in wound will stop F-Gold based healing - if this would be simply regeneration, it aluminum shouldnt have any effect (besides physicly blocing wound like any other metal)

So yes, practicly F-Gold works like Stormlight healing. Difference is, F-Gold has more limited power source (in terms of raw power) - only humans inner Investiture. You practicly storing your Ideal Self-Image in metalmind converted into Investiture and when you need to tap it, you actively rostiring this Image.

And this is why Gold Compounding is the purest Investiture Healing.