Symmetry vs. Imbalance

[Firiel she/her]

Okay, so one thing that stuck out to me while reading TWoK was the importance of symmetry both in man-made things like names and cities and in the natural rock formations of the land itself. It seemed well-explained enough that I suspect it will be important in future books. What seemed equally important to me was the contrast to symmetry seen in the description of the symbol-heads (cognition-spren?) seen by Shallan and Elohkar. Their distinguishing feature seems to be their lack of symmetry or some fundamental imbalance in the way they look.

Now I suppose there could be a fairly simple, surface-level explanation that the lack of symmetry is just a way to indicate they don't come from the symmetry-obsessed Roshar (and instead are connected to Shadesmar, I presume), but it just feels like there is so much more going on here... I just can't really put a finger on any particular connection or information this would reveal. Is this crazy, or did other people get the idea that something reasonably important is going on here?

Edited April 6, 2011 by Firiel

[Joe ST he/him]

good catch! I like where you're going with this one

[happyman he/him]

Ah, this reminds me of the good old days on Timewasters when we were trying to figure out Hemalurgy. There were lots of hints that "felt right," but when we finally got the whole story, it made so much more sense than our little hints had ever managed. I think you're on to something, but it is much the same way: Something that feels right, but without context seems very difficult to place.