Atium vs Aluminum

[HoidvsVoid]

I saw a WoB that stated that someone burning atium wouldn't see an aluminum spear or bullet or anything with a future shadow.

Why is that? Is doesn't make sense to me. 

With that in mind, also other metals can't effect aluminum either. Why not? I understand it's allomantically inert. but why?

 

[The One Who Connects]

In short: we don't have an explicit reason why. It just does.

I'll edit in a "long answer" in a moment..

---

Scadrial: No Atium shadows ^[1], can't be pushed/pulled, shields from emotional allomancy, dead zones in time bubbles ^[2] Aluminum in a wound can stop A-Pewter and F-Gold healing ^[3]
Sel: Can't be affected by Forgery, no info on if it affects Aons.
Nalthis: Cannot be Awakened, can be used (somehow) to prevent someone from becoming a Returned. [4]
Roshar: Can Soulcast into Aluminum, unknown if it them becomes immune. ^[5]
Threnody: An Allomancer would be able to heal from the withering inflicted by a Shade by burning aluminium.^[6]
It may be possible for an aluminium savant to cleanse their spirit of unwanted effects of Investiture.^[7]

---

It isn't just allomantically inert, it is magically inert. Even acts like a heat sink for Investiture.
(Investiture is the in-universe term for magical energy, but most of the characters don't know that, so it might be a new term)

Edited September 6, 2016 by The One Who Connects
Links being dumb

[Pagerunner]

1 minute ago, The One Who Connects said:

In short: we don't have an explicit reason why. It just does.

I'll edit in a "long answer" in a moment..

Hey, no fair! Get ninja'd like the rest of us!

Aluminum appears to 'destroy' Investiture, but if Investiture is a form of energy, then it can't really be created or destroyed - it flows from Shards, and back to Shards. I've always interpreted Aluminum as being a 'short-circuit' in the Investiture cycle; it goes straight back to the Shard it came from, doesn't pass Go, doesn't collect 200 dollars, and doesn't produce whatever effects it normally would. So, the Investiture that would normally be used to see the future of the object gets short-circuited, and the atium-user doesn't see anything. Same for other effects - F.Gold healing Investiture gets sucked into an aluminum bullet, instead, so you can't heal while you have one in you. The blue line from A.Steel or A.Iron gets absorbed. The Investiture from A.Brass and A.Zinc gets absorbed by the foil-hat.

That is just my speculation - aluminum does hold a Hemalurgic charge, so it definitely can't absorb all Investiture. We don't yet know the specifics of how Aluminum functions (or if there's even any deeper mechanics going on).

There has been some theorizing that aluminum itself has greater significance in the Cosmere as a whole - some think it was used to form a weapon that shattered Adonalsium, which is why it has screwy affects on all magic systems. I personally don't subscribe to that approach, but it does illustrate that there might be a lot more going on than we recognize with aluminum. Brandon is quite fond of foreshadowing and hiding important information in plain sight. On the other hand, it might just be a neat, natural worldbuilding opportunity to have a substance that is invisible to Investiture. It could have started in Mistborn as an outrgrowth of its Allomantic properties, and Brandon could have expanded it into other stories (Emperor's Soul, Shadows for Silence). Or, it might have started even before Mistborn, in White Sand; in the first graphic novel, we see certain creatures' shells are immune to Investiture, and there has been a lot of discussion that the shells might have aluminum in them. This might have been the first occurrence of aluminum, or it might be a retcon that the shells have aluminum in them.

Regardless of the specific development of the idea, it provides a nice detail that can consistently tie together all worlds and add an easy tool to all Cosmere magic systems. Brandon's philosophy of magic is that if you define it thoroughly, you can use it effectively as a narrative tool. Without rules, there are no rules to bend, or even break, and aluminum is an exception to many rules. But it might be the case only because it makes for good storytelling and worldbuilding; any explanation for why it's inert could sound extremely contrived, because it's a fictional situation in a fantasy series and is the definition of contrived.

[Yata]

Like @The One Who Connects (that i find a cool nick) said the alluminium isn't allomantical inert (it's a burnable metal after all)...it has some anti-Investiture abilities. The reason is unknown, but the fanbase began to product tons of theories: The mine for example, is that the aluminium is "spiritual empty" or without some relevant Spiritual Connection

 

Edit: ninjed by Pagerunner

Edited September 6, 2016 by Yata

[Shadeshadow227]

Aluminum is...strange when it comes to Investiture. Most kinds of Investiture, like the Dor, are useless against it. Yet a few kinds, like Ruin's and Harmony's, with Hemalurgy and Feruchemy, are completely fine. I think that it has to do with the Investiture and/or Intent of specific shards and the Spiritual Identity of Aluminum.