Theory: The Attributes and the Surges

[skaa he/him]

(Note: This post mentions Surges that were revealed by Brandon in interviews, and are not found in the Way of Kings. These will be in a Spoiler tag, just in case you don't want to know them yet.)

One thing I've noticed for a long time is that each Essence has two Divine Attributes associated with it, just as each Order of Knights Radiant has access to two Surges. I've always felt that these two things, the Attributes and the Surges, can be connected somehow, but at the same time it had always felt impossible. For one thing, there are twenty Attributes and only ten Surges. Also, each Essence has a Primary Attribute and a Secondary Attribute, but there is no apparent indication that the Orders have a primary Surge and a secondary Surge.

I've decided to take on the impossible task of connecting the Attributes and the Surges. Allow me to describe my little adventure in minute detail.

 

First of all, I realized that if I could somehow connect the Primary Attribute of an Essence with the Secondary Attribute of the previous Essence, and do it for all the Essences, I would cut the number of Attributes in half. There'd be ten Attributes, which might then be correlated to the ten Surges. If a Surge correlates to an Essence's Primary Attribute, it would suggest that Orders have a Primary Surge.

Here is my attempt:

Zephyr 1 & Sinew 2: Protecting and Guiding -> Boundary
A protector keeps boundaries from being breached. A guide indicates where boundaries are.

Vapor 1 & Zephyr 2: Just and Leading -> Law
Being just means upholding the law. Being a leader means your word is law.

Spark 1 & Vapor 2: Brave and Confident -> Choice
A brave man acts fearlessly on his choices. A confident man doesn't doubt his choices.

Lucentia 1 & Spark 2: Loving and Obedient -> Affinity
You have an affinity with what you care about. You have an affinity to what you follow.

Pulp 1 & Lucentia 2: Learned and Healing -> Improvement
Learning improves knowledge. Healing improves health.

Blood 1 & Pulp 2: Creative and Giving -> Openness
You cannot be called creative until you express your new ideas. You cannot be called giving until you share your property.

Tallow 1 & Blood 2: Wise and Honest -> Truth
Wisdom is the understanding of truth. Honesty is the expression of truth.

Foil 1 & Tallow 2: Resolute and Careful -> Direction
A resolute person never changes the direction of he has set for himself. A careful person keeps track of the direction he is going.

Talus 1 & Foil 2: Dependable and Builder -> Trust
People trust that a person known for dependability will perform his task. People trust that a known builder will create structures that last.

Sinew 1 & Talus 2: Pious and Resourceful -> Contentment
A pious person humbly accepts whatever his religious vocation may be. A resourceful person can work with whatever limited resources he has.

How did I do? Feel free to make suggestions or corrections.

Anyway, given that I now had ten Divine Attributes instead of twenty, the next step was to try and connect them to the Surges, but here I encountered another setback: it didn't make much sense. How does Boundary become Pressure? How does Truth become Transformation? It was apparent that I was still missing something.

Running out of ideas, I decided to arrange my ten Attributes into the Double Eye pattern, with Boundary on the top right, Openness on the bottom left, etc., connecting each of them as the Orders themselves are connected in the Knights Radiant Chart. Then I looked for patterns in the connections.

 

 

Vertical Pairs:
Boundary<->Affinity
Improvement<->Contentment
Trust<->Openness

Diagonal Pairs:
Boundary<->Openness
Law<->Truth
Choice<->Direction
Affinity<->Trust

I noticed that the three vertical pairs have a cause and effect relationship. Being inside a boundary naturally gives you affinity to it and everything else inside it. Achieving improvement in a desired area naturally leads to contentment. Trusting people naturally leads to opening up to them. On the other hand, the diagonal pairs have more of a balancing relationship to them (e.g. boundaries balance openness, etc.).

What's interesting is that Improvement causes Contentment as well as balances it, because it's possible to be content with low improvement, or never being content with any improvement, both scenarios being sub-optimal. This makes the Improvement<->Contentment pair the fifth balancing pair as well as the second cause-and-effect pair, which sort of makes it stand out (which is cool because it's at the center of the chart, after all).

Anyway, I started thinking about the importance of balancing each Attribute, like how people should open up their boundaries and let others in sometimes to keep from going crazy, and I was about to drift off further into philosophical territory, when I realized something:

Letting something through a boundary sounds very much like the concept of pressure release.

 

I had just discovered how to derive the ten Surges.

The five balancing pairs were the key. I realized that if you think about how each pair is balanced, especially in the context of the Rosharian environment, then with just a bit of creativity you will end up with the Surges.

For those who only know about the Pressure, Gravitation, and Transformation Surges and who do not want to get spoiled, please don't click this:

Boundary with Openness -> Pressure
Given two adjacent areas of different densities, if they are not completely closed to each other (i.e. if their boundary allows movement between them) then there exists a certain pressure for the higher density region to seek a state of equilibrium by pushing material to the other side.

 

Law with Truth -> Gravitation
When a leader's laws are believed to be based on truth, people will tend to gravitate towards following him. On Roshar, the soul of a physical object gravitates towards whatever it truly thinks it has to follow, which is usually whatever has the strongest spiritual presence in its vicinity (i.e. Roshar itself).

Choice with Direction -> Division
Having a choice in what direction to take implies a separation of paths, where a group that was once united may become divided. It is therefore a source of division.

Affinity with Trust -> Friction
For two people in a relationship (whether romantic, political, etc.), the more they trust each other, the less likely they will part ways. The same goes for objects on Roshar, where things that interact with each other will tend to "stick around" longer the more friction they have.

Improvement with Contentment -> Growth
Growth is any improvement done from a state of low contentment to a state of high contentment.

Openness with Boundary -> Illumination
One kind of opening with a boundary is a window, which is mainly for allowing light from one side to illuminate the darkness on the other. Illumination Surgebinders can make things act as "windows" to various forms of illumination.

Truth with Law -> Transformation
The truths that have the force of law are those that can enact change. On Roshar, the soul of an object can desire to change, but this is a truth that the object's soul usually cannot enforce, unless Investiture kicks in.

Direction with Choice -> Transportation
The direction you choose is where you want yourself or something else to move towards. This is the direction of transportation.

Trust with Affinity -> MagnetismCohesion
People tend to trust those they have an affinity with, people they share something in common with, people who belong to their group. This is analogous to the force of cohesion, which is the attraction of similar substances to each other.

 

Contentment with Improvement -> Tension
If you try to improve someone who is already content, you might be able to do it, but you will still experience some resistance to change, a tension.

 

***

Whew! It took me a long while to come up with all that. But I'm not done yet!

 

(Edit: Since we now know that the ninth Surge is Cohesion, not Magnetism, I'm all but ready to abandon the following part of the theory. But I'll keep it here for your amusement.)

Remember when I mentioned how the vertical pairs in the Attribute Double Eye have a cause-and-effect relationship? I think I've figured out what that means in Surgebinding. It means that Pressure Surgebinders can sort of access Friction, and that MagnetismCohesion Surgebinders can sort of access Illumination, and that, yes, Growth Surgebinders can access Tension... sort of.

What do I mean? Think about it: how different is Full Lashing (Pressure) from giving a very high friction to an object? Not much, right? Pressure and Friction are different Surges, but they can both make things stick together. Two different mechanics for the same result.

In light of this, I'll make further predictions: MagnetismCohesion Surgebinders will be able to convince people that they see something that isn't there, which is essentially illusion magic like Lightweaving, except light isn't involved. And Growth Surgebinders will probably be able to use plants as additional sensory organs, similar to how Tension Surgebinders can sense faraway things (like the Stoneward in Dalinar's vision).

 

 

***

 

To conclude, since there is a Surge connected to an Essence's Primary Attribute, that Surge must be its Primary Surge. Let me present each Essence's Primary and Secondary Attributes as well as its equivalent Order's Primary and Secondary Surges:

 

Zephyr/Windrunners

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Boundary/Law

Primary/Secondary Surges: Pressure/Gravity

 

Vapor/Skybreakers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Law/Choice

Primary/Secondary Surges: Gravity/Division

 

Spark/Dustbringers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Choice/Affinity

Primary/Secondary Surges: Division/Friction

 

Lucentia/Edgedancers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Affinity/Improvement

Primary/Secondary Surges: Friction/Growth

 

Pulp/Truthwatchers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Improvement/Openness

Primary/Secondary Surges: Growth/Illumination

 

Blood/Lightweavers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Openness/Truth

Primary/Secondary Surges: Illumination/Transformation

 

Tallow/Elsecallers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Truth/Direction

Primary/Secondary Surges: Transformation/Transportation

 

Foil/Willshapers

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Direction/Trust

Primary/Secondary Surges: Transportation/Cohesion

 

Talus/Stonewards

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Trust/Contentment

Primary/Secondary Surges: Cohesion/Tension

 

Sinew/Bondsmiths

Primary/Secondary Attributes: Contentment/Boundary

Primary/Secondary Surges: Tension/Pressure

 

Edit: Added an actual Double Eye of the Almighty diagram of my ten Attributes.

 

Edit: Replaced Stability with Direction, as suggested by beef man.

 

Edit: Revised the section on Surges in light of the new Ars Arcanum Surges list and new WoB about the Order positions (I got my Surge prediction wrong, but the idea is close enough for the theory to still be valid). Also, replaced Motion with Choice since that made things less convoluted.

Edited April 10, 2014 by skaa

[Mysty she/her]

Wow, that took a lot of thought. Can I really only give one upvote?

magnetism...I bet Brandon could do a lot with that surge

[skaa he/him]

Thanks! I was going to delve into the Voids as well (I believe they are the result of an imbalance in the five balancing Attribute pairs), but my brain is complaining that it needs some sleep, the whiny little bugger.

Edited February 17, 2014 by skaa

[Elbereth she/her]

I really like this theory. Perhaps you could give us a visual? The surgebinding chart labeled with those attributes?

[skaa he/him]

I really like this theory. Perhaps you could give us a visual? The surgebinding chart labeled with those attributes?

 

Thanks! Alright, this isn't the best-looking Double Eye of the Almighty diagram, but here you go!

 

 

Another thing I noticed is that Boundary and Openness are the paired Attributes that contradict each other the most, which is interesting given that the honorspren of Windrunners and the Cryptics of Lightweavers seem to have some sort of rivalry going on.

 

Edit: Here's an updated one.

 

Edited April 9, 2014 by skaa

[beef man]

I find this theory very interesting and while being a much more comprehensive and thorough theory than my own, it came to a similar conclusion about the final surge (sort of). My theory was the chart is following the alethi script/glyph pattern and therefore is symmetrical across the center with spiritual on the right and cognitive surges on the left (I think the middle ones physical but that ones is harder to figure out). Which except for the Truth/motion pair - that seems to hold true with your chart. Since the mirror of the tenth surge was gravity (a spiritual force that bonds things), I figured the tenth must be a form of cognitive bonding (I like the term magnetism). I think our theories are both right on the money except for the Motion term you use. I think you were stretching that one - but I can't find a better term that is mirror to truth, opposite of stable, and works with law. Your the Master Mind. Any ideas?

 

Boundary is a force - trust is a cognitive equivalent

 

Law and stability are almost the same thing (though I think law more cognitive and stability more a force but that can be argued both ways I think)

 

Truth and motion - I don't see the connection

 

Openness (cognitive) and affinity (spiritual force) are basically synonyms

Edited February 17, 2014 by beef man

[skaa he/him]

I think our theories are both right on the money except for the Motion term you use. I think you were stretching that one - but I can't find a better term that is mirror to truth, opposite of stable, and works with law. Your the Master Mind. Any ideas?

 

Well, Aristotle defines motion as the actualization of a potentiality, i.e. making something that is possible into something that is true. Do you think that sounds close enough to Truth?

 

I admit that I did have trouble with that attribute. I initially named it Action, but I couldn't seem to connect action with division. When I came up with Stability for Careful/Resolute, I decided that Motion made the most sense.

 

Anyway, you're probably right that horizontal symmetry is also important. It wasn't something I considered when I did this. Fortunately my model turned out to be horizontally symmetrical as well.

Edited February 17, 2014 by skaa

[Swimmingly he/him]

I wonder if those attributes could be interpreted as the ancient Alethi highprince positions (War, Law, Trade, Information, etc.?)

[beef man]

Ok. Try this out. switching motion and stability around. and tweaking their names  a bit

Brave + Confident = Steadfast (as in immovable) - which is a mirror of truth. Essential for law and is balanced by . . .

Resolute + Careful = Vectoring/Direction (as in going/ setting a constant path/direction) - which is a mirror of Law, dependent on truth, and balanced by immovable steadfastness (kind of like liberals and conservatives balance each other out to think of it from a political viewpoint).

 

Combined they still will get you the surges in the same way too. Does it still work in your theory or no? (I want to get this to work because an Ars Arcannum with the surges included showing the complete integration of the magic system would be nice. As would a Surge diagram including the attributes under the names of the Radiant Orders they represent. Then we could easily see which Herald goes to which order, their powers, attributes, essences - ect. Decode the whole system)

 

On another note: Again I sadly run into the problem of Law sounding more cognitive and Vectoring more a force/spiritual. Likewise Steadfast sounds like a cognitive term when I it should be an force/spiritual term for Truth. Working on that . . . though sadly it might mean my spiritual on the right and cognitive on the left is wrong (I doubt I am wrong on that though). Thinking Unmovable and Direction are the key to this but they don't sound as good when comparing to all the rest.

Edited February 17, 2014 by beef man

[skaa he/him]

Ok. Try this out. switching motion and stability around. and tweaking their names  a bit

Brave + Confident = Steadfast (as in immovable) - which is a mirror of truth. Essential for law and is balanced by . . .

Resolute + Careful = Vectoring/Direction (as in going/ setting a constant path/direction) - which is a mirror of Law, dependent on truth, and balanced by immovable steadfastness (kind of like liberals and conservatives balance each other out to think of it from a political viewpoint).

 

Direction does indeed sound better than Stability. It sounds more philosophical, whereas stability (in reference to transporting things) sounds a bit more sciencey. I've always thought that Brandon's inspiration for the Essences was Greek Philosophy (Aristotle and Co.), so that works.

 

Steadfast(ness?) sounds more like Careful/Resolute than Brave/Confident. Besides, you can be brave without being steadfast (e.g. if you are brave but gullible). Okay, I misunderstood your suggestion, sorry. Still, Steadfastness doesn't sound quite right.

 

I still think Aristotle's definition of motion should be considered here because Truth is actuality, and Motion (making the potential actual) is also actuality, so in the context of actuality truth and (philosophical) motion are synonyms. Also, Laws direct Motion, so it all fits.

 

On another note: Again I sadly run into the problem of Law sounding more cognitive and Vectoring more a force/spiritual. Likewise Steadfast sounds like a cognitive term when I it should be an force/spiritual term for Truth. Working on that . . . though sadly it might mean my spiritual on the right and cognitive on the left is wrong (I doubt I am wrong on that though).

 

Well, there are spiritual laws, right? Gravity is a spiritual law on Roshar, after all.

Edited February 22, 2014 by skaa

[beef man]

If you use direction instead of stability, it is no longer a balance to motion. It would be a compliment. That is why I moved steadfast/unmovable into that position. I don't know. Its your theory. Now to make it all pretty ad create an awesome chart out of it all.

 

also there are spiritual laws. My theory is the three surges on the right of the chart are spiritual and the ones on the left are cognitive. spiritual laws inevitably seem to revolve around forces and cognitive around concepts. So I would want the terms used to match this idea as well and it just isn't lining up well.

Edited February 18, 2014 by beef man

[skaa he/him]

If you use direction instead of stability, it is no longer a balance to motion. It would be a compliment.

 

There is such a thing as undirected or random motion. It is also possible to direct something to not move (in this sense, "direction" will mean "instruction"). I think both imbalances are associated with Voids (Randomness and Cessation?). I'm still in the process of forming my hypothetical list of the ten Voids, which I will post later

 

Edit: By the way, I just noticed that Direction (in the sense of "instruction") is another way of thinking about laws. So there is, again, horizontal symmetry (Direction<->Law).

Edited February 18, 2014 by skaa

[el_warko he/him]

Skaa, +1'd for your work, it is good, but I have to ask, is there a reason you didn't include the outermost vertical pairings in your vertical / horizontal extrapolation (Direction<->Truth and (Law<->Motion)?

Edited February 18, 2014 by el_warko

[skaa he/him]

Skaa, +1'd for your work, it is good, but I have to ask, is there a reason you didn't include the outermost vertical pairings in your vertical / horizontal extrapolation (Direction<->Truth and (Law<->Motion)?

 

I was assuming that they were connected because of their Primary/Secondary relationship with Essences (Direction and Truth -> Tallow, Law and Motion -> Vapor). The same goes for all the outermost connections. I suppose it's possible that the outermost connections are significant in some other way. Any ideas?

 

Now that I think about it, the outermost connections seem to form a thematic continuum. Boundaries are defined by laws, which govern motion. Improvement means moving closer your affinity. Improved openness means fuller truth. Giving true directions leads to trust. People who trust their boundaries are content. Um... I have absolutely no idea what all that means for Surgebinding.

Edited February 18, 2014 by skaa