theory Could Canticle be awakened like Nightblood?

[Shadow of Electrum]

After rereading Sunlit Man and hearing about the grand apparatus, I started thinking about what Canticle could actually be. I'm not speculating what it's for in this post, but it started that way. When I got to the part where Nomad realizes that the planet is sucking up the sun's investiture, I had a sudden thought that I think has some merit as a theory. Could Canticle be awakened somehow?

The transfer of heat on Canticle seems to only work for things that are "alive" and it has to be done with specific intent when something without a conscience is involved. So my theory is that the planet is able to drain the sun's investiture by using the same method that the beconites and whatnot use to transfer heat, and it can do this because it was awakened for that intent. I looked to see if there were any WoBs that deconfirmed this or if anyone had made a similar theory but I couldn't find anything, so if you have any feedback that would be appreciated.

[alder24]

13 hours ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

After rereading Sunlit Man and hearing about the grand apparatus, I started thinking about what Canticle could actually be. I'm not speculating what it's for in this post, but it started that way. When I got to the part where Nomad realizes that the planet is sucking up the sun's investiture, I had a sudden thought that I think has some merit as a theory. Could Canticle be awakened somehow?

The transfer of heat on Canticle seems to only work for things that are "alive" and it has to be done with specific intent when something without a conscience is involved. So my theory is that the planet is able to drain the sun's investiture by using the same method that the beconites and whatnot use to transfer heat, and it can do this because it was awakened for that intent. I looked to see if there were any WoBs that deconfirmed this or if anyone had made a similar theory but I couldn't find anything, so if you have any feedback that would be appreciated.

Theoretically it might be possible but I doubt it's Awakening. There is one WoB about it:

Spoiler

msyverw

So, what's up with Canticle? You've got the sunlight, it appears to be Invested and then the planet's core is trying to suck it up. And you know, where does it go after it does that, and...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, Canticle was built for a very specific purpose by a very powerful being in the Cosmere, that I will someday get to. You're going to see some more stuff like this. Basically, megastructures that imitate planets or other sort of heavenly bodies.

msyverw

So it's not like some avatar of Autonomy or something like that?

Brandon Sanderson

It's not an avatar of anything, it was built for a specific purpose, yes.

Just wait til I get to the Grand Apparatus, you're gonna love that. What was that voice that talked about a future Cosmere planet? Hmm!

Dragonsteel 2023 (Nov. 21, 2023)

That's what we know. It's a megastructure built for a specific purpose. You don't need conscience for that, gemstones capture investiture and Stormlight with no conscience involved, Canticle can work in the same way. In the case of Threnodites it's the donors that have to have conscience - Nomad was using the same mechanism to transfer his Torment to a Sunheart. Canticle is the receiver of investiture, it doesn't have to be Awaken, it has to just capture it from the sunlight.

But because we have nothing about it and this seems to be a far future project, we will have to wait a long time for answers. Until then this theory is as likely as others.

[Shadow of Electrum]

Thanks for the feedback! However, I do have some issues with your analysis.

On 2/29/2024 at 7:54 AM, alder24 said:

You don't need conscience for that, gemstones capture investiture and Stormlight with no conscience involved

I know that there are situations where investiture can be captured without conscience or specific intent, but I don't think Canticle works that way. I can't think of any instances where two inanimate objects transfer heat without an incantation from someone or another.

On 2/29/2024 at 7:54 AM, alder24 said:

In the case of Threnodites it's the donors that have to have conscience

In all the instances of heat transfer, a conscience is needed to instigate the transfer, whether it be the donor or the receiver. We can see this when someone frees a charred or when nomad cures his torment; either the donor or the receiver can be the instigator. There is also the fact that if Canticle is an inanimate receiver in this instance, does that make the sun the conscious instigator? Of course there doesn't always need to be an instigator like you mentioned, but the MoI of Canticle seems to be heavily based on connection and intent.

On 2/29/2024 at 7:54 AM, alder24 said:

It's a megastructure built for a specific purpose. You don't need conscience for that

I specifically mentioned awakening as a potential fix because we've seen "awakened" machinery referenced multiple times in the book as well as in Tress. Awakening appears to be the cosmere's solution to complex computation with the mention of the awakened steel mind, the beacon ship computer(potentially), and the connection tablet, so a complex megastructure made for a specific unknown purpose seems more likely to be awakened than less likely.

[alder24]

3 minutes ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

I know that there are situations where investiture can be captured without conscience or specific intent, but I don't think Canticle works that way. I can't think of any instances where two inanimate objects transfer heat without an incantation from someone or another.

It's not heat that is transferred, it's investiture, but because there is a planet in between the star and the core of Canticle, it provides a resistance, heating Canticle's surface as a result. Investiture is energy.

And I've got an example of two inanimate objects transferring heat - the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. But this doesn't apply to Canticle's core, it's too invested, it's in a higher energy state.

13 minutes ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

In all the instances of heat transfer, a conscience is needed to instigate the transfer, whether it be the donor or the receiver. We can see this when someone frees a charred or when nomad cures his torment; either the donor or the receiver can be the instigator.

True, I forgot about this part, like when the Cinder King was drawing investiture from people.

22 minutes ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

Of course there doesn't always need to be an instigator like you mentioned, but the MoI of Canticle seems to be heavily based on connection and intent.

Intent is a part of every single Invested Art in Cosmere. Just because people need intent, doesn't mean the planet that was somewhat created needs it as well.

37 minutes ago, Shadow of Electrum said:

I specifically mentioned awakening as a potential fix because we've seen "awakened" machinery referenced multiple times in the book as well as in Tress. Awakening appears to be the cosmere's solution to complex computation with the mention of the awakened steel mind, the beacon ship computer(potentially), and the connection tablet, so a complex megastructure made for a specific unknown purpose seems more likely to be awakened than less likely.

Sure, but not every machine needs to be Awakened. You don't need to put sentience everywhere. The planet doesn't do much for now, it just draws some energy in and stores it. It's no more complicated than a giant battery. Not a lot of thinking is needed to achieve that. 

 

Your line of reasoning is good and valid, however there is no way to prove or disprove it for now. We know nothing about this structure so everything is possible.

[Shadow of Electrum]

Thank you for the conjecture! The last thing I'd like to say though is that I'm aware that the "heat" from Canticle is investiture, and that the resistance and interference is what causes the actual heat related to the phenomena. I seem to cause a lot of confusion whenever I start discussions like this and I will try to be more clear about what I know in the future. I've learned a lot in my short time here and I'm doing my best to build an accurate model of the cosmere and all it's quirks, so I appreciate you and everyone else's feedback in this regard.