Kurkistan Theory-update Roundup

[Kurkistan he/him]

I'm currently in the process of cataloging all of my theories that I need to disprove/update/improve with new evidence that flooded out after WoR's release (seriously, good work to all Sharders for asking and reporting this time around).
 
This here, then, is an index of all of the relevant ones I can think of right now for your/my viewing pleasure. See it as a to-do list and/or as a reminder of the various crazy things I believe.
 
Feruchemical Health and Cognitive Aspects:
-Reaffirmed by numerous WoB's to extend to Stormlight healing.
--Example:

Q: Why didn’t Kaladin’s brand heal if Lopen can regrow an arm?
A: It comes down to how one views oneself. It is the answer that you think it is. So really what that’s saying is Kaladin sees himself as branded.

--Second Example:

Q [1:01:52]: Why can Stormlight heal Lopen's arm, but can't heal Kaladin's scars?

A: Because a lot of the healing in the cosmere works on principles of expectation and how you envision yourself. 
Q: So Kaladin has accepted the scars.
A: And Lopen never accepted the one arm. It's one of these ties when I built the magic systems that I wanted certain threads to run through them, so when I eventually have them being used in the same books, there will be consistency among them, so they won't feel like everything's just thrown together. So, the intention and expectation, for instance, in Warbreaker. What you want to have happen, the expectation, the way you are thinking about things, all that influences what actually happens. Very important for most of the cosmere magics.

 
Stormlight retention as a function of gem size:
-While initially dis-confirmed by Brandon to some extent, WoR makes it rather clear that gem size matters in how long things can hold stormlight, what with it's mondo-gems lasting longer and all.
 
Traversing the borders of time bubbles (specifically the distension theory):
-Totally disproven. The borders of time bubbles are in no way malleable. You stick your arm through, and the bubble's surface stays where it is while the effect travels with it. It's weird, as surface-questions ever have been.
--Source:

Kurkistan: Last question: If Wayne was inside of a speed bubble and punches somebody who's standing outside it, what's happening with his fist and them: are they like sucked into the bubble, or what?
Brandon: So, I have... So _exiting_ a speed bubble, while it's going, has _weird_ ramifications on lots of things. It would be really hard to punch somebody through a speed bubble-
Kurkistan: So would the surface like distend around his fist-
-<Illustrates with fist "stretching out" invisible film>
Brandon: It's going to steal your momentum, but if you actually managed to do it, then- yes. Anything in the speed bubble that's touching through is counted as being as part of the speed bubble.
Kurkistan: Okay, so the bubble would end here <Draws invisible surface in the air> and his fist would be out there <Illustrates by "punching" arm through the fake surface, demonstrating the fist extending past the bubble while he arm is within>, but still fast?
Brandon: Yes.
Kurkistan: Oh okay, thank you.
Brandon: That's how I would imagine it so far.
Kurkistan: But the bubble does _end_ at [the same place still, with the fist extending out past its boundary].
Brandon: The bubble does end, yes.
Kurkistan: <Makes pleasantries and goes to leave, foolishly putting phone in pocket and so obscuring audio a bit>
Brandon: And when you're punching through, it's going to- your momentum is gonna'- you're going to lose momentum and get a ricochet, because you're lurching from- <notices Kurkistan (very foolishly) acting like he's about to leave> anyway... I'll let you figure that one out on your own.

 
Spren as Forms:
-Confirmed in its entirety. Spren are individual Cognitive entities, and each type is based on some singular Spiritual ideal of a concept.
--Source:

Kurkistan: Are flamespren, are they all doing their own thing, or is there some Ideal of "Fire" sitting in the Spiritual Realm that they're all based on?
Brandon: Each spren is based on the Ideal of Fire.
Kurkistan: And is that sitting in the Spiritual Realm?
Brandon: Yes, we're using sort of a Platonic Ideal, and that concept is in force, so <sounds hesitant> "yes", but [spren] are manifestations of it.

 
Forms in General:
-Applies to more than a few theories all under the "Forms" umbrella. The above WoB has some rather heavy implications for other "Formic" theories as well.

 

Forms and Divine Breath Healing:

-Got this one more than a bit wrong. I reference the healing done by bestowing Divine Breath as one of the "core" pieces of evidence for Forms several times in various theories, and turns out I was rather wrong on it. Good thing I got Brandon to confirm Forms' existence elsewhere, at least.

--Source:

Kurkistan: So these Ideals in the Spiritual Realm: Divine Breath, does that heal by accessing some Ideal of Human Health: so a guy who had never had a tongue and doesn't know how to speak all the sudden has a tongue and can speak?

-[Editor's note: Talking of Susebron here]

Brandon: You are... <LONG pause> You are, um, on the right track.

Kurkistan: Okay

Brandon: Because the Breath is... eh. How can I explain this? You are, yeah... So... So each Breath is a shade of diety, right?

Kurkistan: Yeah.

Brandon: And each Breath incorporates into it this sort of idea of being endowed by the diety Endowment, correct?

Kurkistan: Yes.

Brandon: And so each Breath you hold brings you one step closer to becoming like that, and so what you're saying is... is "yes", kind of true, yes. 

Kurkistan: But it's like within the Breath, not sitting off by itself-

Brandon: Yes, yes yes exactly.

 
Hoid (probably) has Gold Feruchemy:
-Given more weight. Hoid has some instant-speed healing that heals the soul, and so is not afraid of Shardblades (as we saw in WoR's epigraph...). While some other Cosmere healing magics could perhaps grow back your head or your soul, not that many are such that they can be applied to oneself at a moments notice and do the same.
--Source:

Q: If Hoid got beheaded, would his body grow a new head?
A: yes
 
Q: what if Hoid got cut by a shard blade?
A: The Shardblade cuts the soul and what Hoid does heals the soul

 
Aluminum is weird to everyone:
-Ought to be expanded to "aluminum is weird to everyone" with the revelation that it interacts oddly with all magics. Feruchemical gold healing can't push it out and other weirdness surely awaits us. Also, it does interact a tad with Thugs.
--Source:

Kurkistan: What would happen if you shot a Thug with an aluminum bullet or stabbed him with an aluminum knife?
-[Editor's note: Brandon initially misunderstands the question, as you shall see.]
Brandon: Ah, that's a good question. And, um.. the wound would not be able to heal _around_ the aluminum, but once the aluminum came out, and was gone from the system, they would be okay.
Kurkistan: Wait, is that a Bloodmaker, not a Thug?
Brandon: Oh, you're talking about Thu- Oh, okay. Yeah, ummm... It would work similarly, but it really wouldn't really have a huge effect on them.
Kurkistan: Ah, okay. 'Cause Peter was implying that there was some weird aluminum interaction with Thugs.
Brandon: What was he thinking of... There is some weird interaction but-
Kurkistan: <rudely interrrupts> In the wedding scene [in Alloy of Law] Wax thinks that they would have aluminum bullets to deal with Thugs and I was like "oh that's a typo" and Peter was like "oh no it's not..."
Brandon: No no... That would just be- it's like I said: healing it until the bullet is gone. It's just the same as the Bloodmaker.
<Various pleasantries from me apologizing for all the confusion>

--Source:

2:51:29
Q. In other worlds, are we seeing any magics already? Like, Allomancy might be in Roshar?
A. You’ve seen people using Allomancy in Roshar before.
Q. You said that on Roshar the only reason they have aluminum is that they can Soulcast it, right? I think you said something like that … maybe?
A. (no answer)
Q. I was wondering how that would work, if an Allomancer were to--
A. Aluminum has some weird properties on all of the magic systems, not just allomancy. It does not have the same effect, but aluminum has some bizarre effects.

 
Personal identity and Clothing:
-Clothing as "default a part of you" is backed up again and again, I think, in WoR, particularly in regards to Lashings. Note how even Kaladin's clothes do/don't stick to his Full Lashings according to which is more convenient to him.
-The active inclusion/exclusion of clothing also gives very strong evidence to the tangential "are Lashings aspected to their originator?" discussion in that thread.
 
Yet Another FTL Theory:
-Took some hits and got some encouragement. We've long since found out that bubbles won't expand in vacuum, and the Distension theory (which was tangential but would have been nice to have) being taken down stops us from having teardrop bubbles. On the flip side, FTL likely involves time bubbles and nicrobursting.
--Source:

Kurkistan: If I get a Slider, a Pulser, and a Nicroburst in a rocket with a lot of metal, do I have FTL?
Brandon: Hehehehe. You're getting _closer_ but you haven't figured it out yet.

 
Stormlight vs. Feruchemical gold Healing:
-Thoroughly hamstrung and then set on fire. This also spawned some follow-up discussion, but at the end of the day WoR teaches us that Radiants and those with Regrowth can both heal damage to the soul. WoR in general also teaches us that Stormlight healing is crazy-powerful and looks to be able to do anything that Feruchemical gold can do.
 
There are no Universal Soulcasters:
-A bit on the fence here. I'm leaning towards "no" given the whole "turned to stone" thing in WoR indicating that there is indeed some deeper bond between fSoulcasters and their users, and I find it personally unlikely that Radiants suffered those symptoms.
 
The MEC:
-Yargh, I really need to update this thing. Main takeaway that can be summarized in less than a thousand words is that the laws of physics in the cosmere are indeed Spiritually based, as many argued for/assumed in that thread and elsewhere.
--Source:

Kurkistan: Are the laws of physics in the cosmere Spiritually based?
Brandon: They.. The laws of physics in the cosmere are _ours_ except where they have been changed by Spiritual influence. So I guess you could say "yes."

-Also I mis-modeled how Heightenings work, to some extent. See the WoB for Divine Breath above.

 

Are Spren Vampires?:
-Sorta-maybe, it seems. WoR teaches us that various spren are "in" the Physical to a greater or lesser extent, and then we have Rock seeing them all the time. My bet at this point is that Pattern would show up on the camera and Syl wouldn't.
-Also, I neglected to update that thread with a RAFO I got:
--Source:

Kurkistan: Could Syl, or any other type of Spren, be seen in a photograph?
Brandon: Excellent question, and I like the way you phrase it. Let's give this one a little more time before I get into the specifics of whether spren are manifesting physically or not.

 
---
 
To reiterate, this is partly an update to my millions of loyal followers and partly a board-clogging to-do list for myself. Anything I missed, perhaps some sub-tangent in a thread I didn't remember?

Edited July 17, 2014 by Kurkistan

[Tempus]

I'll be slowly going over all the theories I can find for my Theory Index. If I find anything, I'll be posting it on there, and if I see something you missed that I really think you should redevelop, I'll be sure to send you a message.

 

If you begin to redevelop or update any theories, keep us posted! I have followed this thread, so I'll be keeping my eye on it.

[Argent he/him]

And for the gajillionth time I want to finally pick up web development and make a site dedicated specifically to cosmere theorycrafting and indexing... One day, folks. One day.

[lyht]

And for the gajillionth time I want to finally pick up web development and make a site dedicated specifically to cosmere theorycrafting and indexing... One day, folks. One day.

 

Couldn't we use part of coppermind for that? Oh, wait there was an entire discussion about that, with no final consensus. However, if a wiki system could handle it, it is easy to set one up. If not, what do you want in a site like this? and maybe there is some type of system that would work.

[Argent he/him]

The thing is, I want more than just a Wiki, or a forum thread. Tags are the least of the features not supported (well enough) by either one. I haven't had a chance to think about this idea realistically, so I don't know what I would like to have in it, but I suspect a few years down the line cosmere theories will be much more popular with the general public than they are now - and, not to blow this out of proportion, but look at how versatile the sites about the Middle Earth are. I fully expect the cosmere to match that by the time Brandon is done with it.