[Secret History spoilers] The functional difference between two things

[Oversleep]

The functional difference between being dead and worldhopping.

When people die, their Cognitive and Spiritual aspects are ripped from the physical one. In a way, they are two-realm people instead of three... and lack of ties to the Physical Realm means they have no anchor and as result are pulled Beyond. Is that correct?

Now, worldhoppers (and other people able to transport themselves into Cognitive Realm like Elsecallers and probably Lightweavers) also can enter Cognitive Realm fully, effectively erasing themselves from the Physical Realm. How are they able to make their body temporarily disappear? What happens to their ties to the Physical if there is no body?

I assume that traversing the Realms is in fact consciousness concetrating more on one of the Realms - Shallan and Jasnah are still present in Physical when Soulcasting, but their essence is concentrated on the Cognitive. Similarly, when Kelsier stares into Fuzz's eyes, he concentrates on the Spiritual.

But being able to completely disappear from one of the Realms, like worldhoppers and Jasnah do with Physical, is a little different.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Oversleep

[happyman he/him]

I don't pretend to really understand it, but one really important functional difference is that a world-hopper can re-enter the physical realm and have their original body back and interact with the people normally.  Cognitive shadows can't enter, or even really affect, the physical realm at all.

[Oversleep]

56 minutes ago, happyman said:

I don't pretend to really understand it, but one really important functional difference is that a world-hopper can re-enter the physical realm and have their original body back and interact with the people normally.  Cognitive shadows can't enter, or even really affect, the physical realm at all.

The question is: how? How they can reenter the Physical?

I mean, if their body is not in Physical (because it isn't), how they're different from a Cognitive Shadow? Cognitive Shadow is a person who has no body. Worldhopper is a person who temporarily has no body.

But during that time when worldhoppers worldhop, when they're travelling through Cognitive... are they even different from a Shadow?

[Yata he/him]

To me the only difference between a Cognitive Shadow and a Fully Living Being is about their Ties to the physical.

When a Worldhopper changes Realm he simply attunes his own body to the Cognitive (you may call it difference frequencies or change layer of reallity but it's quite meaningles to try a specific explaination).

A Man in the Cognitive is there with his own body and it may be hurt like happen in the physical. For example Nazh reacted to a manace with his knife. If in the Cognitive you can't be hurt in standard way you will never did something like that. The same thing happened with the Ire's guard (also if they didn't get the change to fight).

A Shadow in the Cognitive shapes his own "essence" to fit his own body, probably because without tie in the physical. His own projection collaps in the Cognitive instead of the Physical (like the famous metaphor of the Sun, ray and shadow).

[Wonko the Sane he/him]

There is definitely a fundamental difference to their presence in the Cognitive Realm. Jasnah and Hoid both need magical means to traverse the Cognitive Sea, and when Khriss and Nazh set up camp, they do so on a lake-island. Kelsier, on the other hand, is just able to walk straight through. He seems far more a part of the Realm than the others do.

Also, keep in mind that we've seen Shadows in the Physical Realm, too -- on Threnody.

[Alfa he/him]

It's also quite possible, that worldhoppers - instead of being anchored in the physical realm, like normal people do - take a part of the physical realm with them into the conitive.

[Savanorn he/him]

I think an important part has to do with bodies, which so far as I know represent the physical realm manifestation of a thing. 

A dead person is separated from their body, their physical aspect, their tie to it is severed, and as such they are indeed 'two realm entities.' Because they are severed, a dead person is not bound to their body and can leave it. 

A worldhopper has a body, but it is temporarily transferred from the physical realm, their tie to that realm isn't severed and should they re-enter the physical their body can and will manifest itself. 

SA spoilers

Spoiler

Think of a worldhopper's physical body light a shardblade. Shardblades do not exist in the physical realm until summoned, but they always 'exist'. 

So yeah, links to the physical are the key part here. 

I suspect Kel will have managed to get his body back by using hemalurgy to 're-link' his cog/spir aspects to a physical body.