Vailadin Posted August 29, 2021 Report Share Posted August 29, 2021 so in stormlight we have an interlude where the dude measures the flamespren and it stays the height measured. were do we see this rule in the real world? quantum physics. when an electron is observed it collapses from a wavelength into a fixed point. anyone out there clever enough to expand on that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezzik Posted August 29, 2021 Report Share Posted August 29, 2021 Spoiler Questioner So, there's a line in Elantris that has always fascinated me. Raoden is reading really old books, and he says that some of these books mention words such as "frequency" and "pulse length." I'm a physics major, this reminds me a lot of quantum physics. Brandon Sanderson Yes, it does! Questioner So, my question is, how much is quantum physics a part of the magic in the cosmere? Brandon Sanderson Here's the thing. I don't know quantum physics well enough. That's a rabbit hole; I am an armchair scientist, I do not have a degree in physics. And so, while I really like it, I build it in... When I'm doing this, what I usually do is I build in cosmere versions, so I can't be held accountable to getting some little thing wrong. So, yes, quantum physics is important. But, in some ways, some of the things in the cosmere are more like the pop science version of quantum physics, what everyone thinks quantum physics is but really isn't, are actually some of the things in the cosmere. The fun, awesome version of quantum physics. I try to make some of it as accurate as I can, not having a physics degree. But I have to be aware that... I am not writing science fiction, I'm writing fantasy, so there will be things that you're like, "That's not quite right," but it works in the cosmere. Questioner Anywhere I should keep my eye out for more stuff like that. Brandon Sanderson In Words of Radiance... when was the interlude, is it in the first book? The spren, they took their measurements. That's part of it. We're gonna have, just, little things like that around that are relevant, but I'm not gonna dig into it deeply until [Mistborn] Era 4, probably. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/31/#e9625 Spoiler Questioner I'm a physical chemist and I'm reading your book [The Way of Kings] right now and at some point you have someone studying flamespren and what they saw, that's one of the fundamental tenets of quantum mechanics-- Brandon Sanderson Yes. Questioner So you got that from quantum mechanics? Brandon Sanderson I did get that from quantum mechanics. Questioner How did you come across that and decide to incorporate that into your epic fantasy? Brandon Sanderson Well The Way of Kings' magic systems are based on the fundamental forces. That was the original idea and the extrapolation from them. I'm fascinated by quantum mechanics and I have worked them into the way that-- Remember in my worlds, my books, the magics are a new branch of physics, in these worlds. And so they interact with our normal physics, it's not like they are ignoring them, so they obey the laws of thermodynamics, even when they appear to be breaking them, and they interact with quantum and all the stuff. It's just very natural that they are going to, to me if that makes sense? It would be weird if they didn't interact with them. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/3/#e28 Spoiler Hairu_Caul The problems of transporting investiture reminded me of asymptotic freedom a lot, is an analog of that at work in the Cosmere? Brandon Sanderson I'd say yes, but with fair warning that I am not an expert on quantum mechanics. manugutito Regarding this, I remember asking a question a while back about a chapter's annotation of two ardents measuring some flamespren's sizes, where sizes are fixed once measured (like real-life projective measurements in quantum mechanics). And then the annotation with Navani stating that flamespren are trapped and then the gem divided and used for conjoined fabrials, which sounds a lot like entanglement and/or cat states. So I'd say you may not be an expert but you sure know enough to at least make this a fun read for a physicist! Brandon Sanderson I've joked before that the way I treat Quantum mechanics in some of these spren relationships is the way that people THINK quantum mechanics work. But I did use some intentional entanglement language in the explanation I think you're referencing. (If it's the place where she's explaining something similar to the famous two marbles in a bag thought experiment for explaining entanglement.) https://wob.coppermind.net/events/445/#e14223 Spoiler ReticentBondsmith If you infused a ruby and split it into three or more pieces, would you be able to create a groupchat spanreed? Brandon Sanderson This has been attempted so far unsuccessfully. Good question! It is very plausible in the magic system. ReticentBondsmith I've always felt this was related to quantum entanglement. Is that part of where you got the idea from? Brandon Sanderson Absolutely. I mean, I know that's not how quantum entanglement actually works. But the magic systems all in the Stormlight Archive grew out of my interest in the fundamental forces. We are several magical steps removed from the actual science in each of these cases, but that was the origin for all those magics. The quantum entanglement fascinates me, particularly the way that we think things should work and find out they don't. I love that stuff. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/358/#e10750 Brandon will expand on it for you! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vailadin Posted August 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2021 thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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