The Primacy of Perception: A Realmic Theory

[Confused]

@Spoolofwhool's recent theory made me peer again into the Spiritual Realm. My conclusions may be more nuanced than new. I focus on time and foresight to illustrate. As always, this post represents MY INTERPRETATION of text and Brandon’s words even if not every sentence so states.

Theory

I theorize sentient life’s perceptions form all Spiritual Realm Connections and Spiritual aspects. The Spiritual Realm is a null set until some mind starts writing data there. I believe raw Spiritual Realm Investiture is protean, changeable, and can execute any command a mind imagines. Perception limits raw Investiture’s infinite scope for both Intentional magic and Connection formation.

Adonalsium programmed the cosmere’s unknowable “operating system.” In-world people use the metaphor “Connection” to explain Adonalsium’s operating system. Connections describe perceived Physical Realm reality. Words like time and space have Cognitive and Physical Realm meaning but are “irrelevant” in the Spiritual Realm.

IMO, perceiving a Connection writes that Connection onto raw Spiritual Realm Investiture. Connections are the programming code that defines Spiritual aspects. Connections collectively hold the cosmere’s full set of perceived information. Connections make the cosmere’s operating system comprehensible to mortal minds.

Connections plug into the operating system like software applications. I think metaphors like time and space work as they do in the Physical Realm BECAUSE mortals perceive they work that way (or so Syl says). Two reasons magic systems differ are their Shard and their planet’s Cognitive Realm subastral. Each subastral’s unique perceptions form unique Connections. Each planet runs a slightly different version of Connection software. Hence hacking.

What Brandon Says

Quote

The Spiritual Realm consists solely of Investiture. Connections are not Investiture but “the equivalent of a quantum connection in our world, so it’s more like a force than something comprised of something.”

“Time didn’t pass; time had no relevance here. It was not a place. Location had no relevance. Only Connection, person to person, man to world, Kelsier to god....” (M:SH, Chapter 3-3, Kindle Loc. 1028, bold added.).

A Spiritual aspect is “a mix of [a person’s] connections to places, people, and times with raw investiture.” 

“I based [Roshar’s physics] on the idea of the fundamental forces, but this is kind of like a human construction. You could say that physics is pure and natural, but we're still putting things in boxes.”

“On the Spiritual Realm time, distance, and space are irrelevant. It's a place where time and space are compounded in one. So anything that exists on the Spiritual Realm, space doesn't matter for it.”

“Really it's the Spiritual Realm that is completely time-independent, right? All time and space are irrelevant once you reach the Spiritual.” 

“And the Spiritual realm has no time, um, it exists independent of time and location, all times and all places are one...”

“time and space don't mean anything anymore on the Spiritual Realm.”

Analysis

IMO, Brandon’s two key ideas are:

(1) “Only Connection” has Spiritual Realm relevance; and

(2) Spiritual Realm time and space “don’t mean anything,” are “irrelevant,” and are “one” with all other times and places.

I reconcile these ideas by concluding time and space are themselves “only Connection.” If they are SR-irrelevant, time and space must be Cognitive Realm constructs sentient minds impose on the Physical Realm. Brandon acknowledges this and says our physics is also a construct – a way humans impose order on earth. Sentient minds define Connections.

Sentient Minds Write Connections onto Raw Investiture

Quote

Yes, quantum physics plays a role in the way the cosmere works, and this was partially intended to display that. However, we do take a different route, as thinking about something can directly influence it in the cosmere. So it's more a fantastical version of quantum physics.

Stormlight Three Update #5 (Nov. 22, 2016) (bold added).

Brandon says the cosmere’s “fantastical version of quantum physics” means “thinking about something can directly influence it.” Thinking (or feeling) can write or rewrite a Connection that changes the Spiritual aspect. In Cognitive Realm time perception, that programming can occur moment by moment.

Space-Time

As a human construct, space-time has no SR relevance except through Connection. A newborn’s birth programs its Spiritual aspect with its human-imposed calendar birth date. The SR stores that Connection’s information. Other Connections store information on life expectancy, place of birth, and ethnicity. Each of these represents the human term for some feature of the cosmere’s operating system.

Past Events

A society’s “history” exists in the collective memories of its people. IMO, these events are stored in their Connection to people who witnessed or are taught/told about the events; and the events’ Connection to art, writing, or other artifact that memorializes the events. Perception affects these Connections: “History is written by the victors.” Singers and humans have different Connections with their past that reveal different explanations for the present. Over CR/PR time, “history” is erased and forgotten as memory and artifacts fade.

I speculate the Spiritual Realm “backs up” all its Connection data. Maybe this occurs at the atomic or sub-atomic level as people and objects decay into their components. Former Connections remain detectable the way digital data never fully erases.

Seeing the past through Connections seems easy. The information Connections store may exist “forever,” or at least as long as someone or some artifact remembers it. This information should be available to anyone whose magic allows them to look at it.

Foresight

Quote

“Time didn’t pass; time had no relevance here. It was not a place. Location had no relevance. Only Connection, person to person, man to world, Kelsier to god....

I saw everything,” Kelsier mumbled. “Everyone, everything. My Connection to them, and . . . and . . .” Spreading into the future, he thought, grasping at an explanation. Possibilities, so many possibilities . . . like atium....

it was less a matter of looking, and more a matter of trying to sort through the horrible overload of information and sensation that assaulted him....

Kelsier turned toward the tendrils of light spreading into the distance. Possibilities upon possibilities, compounded upon one another. Infinite, overwhelming. The future....

“The ribbons of the future are never as useful as . . . as they should be,” Preservation said. “I rode them much, in the past. It’s too hard to see what is actually likely, and what is just a fragile . . . fragile, distant maybe. . . .”

M:SH, Chapter 3-3, Kindle Locs. 1028 – 1055 (bold added).

Brandon confirms Vessels “don't know the future exactly.” Shards vary in their foresight abilities. I tie Shard differences to their “fundamental law/primal force.” Preservation (stasis) foresees better than Ruin (entropy). Honor (bonds) says Cultivation foresees better than him. Renarin discovers Voidbinding’s limits when Dalinar rebuffs Odium despite Renarin’s contrary visions.

Brandon believes cosmere future time is uncertain, a matter of possibility. If time, and hence future time, exists only as the construct of the collective sapient mind, what makes the future predictable at all? I’ll trot out some thoughts with no conclusions:

1. Brute Force Method. Maybe Vessels predict the future by trying to read the whole set of cosmere Connections – all the cosmere’s perceived information. Kelsier says you must “sort through” the SR’s “horrible overload of information and sensation.” Vessels might seek the sapient population’s collective sense of the future’s direction and weigh its probability against the full information Connections hold. This method resembles how the psycho-historian Hari Seldon foresees events in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. Taravangian seems to have written the Diagram with the brute-force method.

2. Algorithm Method. Each Vessel might use a Shard-specific algorithm to streamline their Connection data analysis. Maybe Fortune has its own streamlining algorithm when magic users tap that Spiritual attribute. These algorithms may cull and organize Connection data to make the future more comprehensible.

3. “Time Ribbons” Method. Maybe Adonalsium built Leras’ “ribbons of the future” into the cosmere’s operating system. Vessels and/or magic users can peer into these ribbons to foresee. (FWIW, Leras likes colorful language, as his Realmic “light” metaphor shows (also in M:SH).)

All or none of these ideas might be “right-tracked.” They are not mutually exclusive. I’m sure there are other explanations. Foresight’s mechanics elude me.

Conclusion

My theory again: Spiritual Realm Connections reflect sentient life’s perceptions and not the cosmere’s underlying reality. Human metaphors like space and time are “irrelevant” in the Spiritual Realm but explain the Physical Realm in terms humans understand.

As the Spiritual aspect’s programming code, Connections IMO execute sentient life’s programming commands. These include everything from a chasmfiend Connecting “food” with humans but not rocks, to Kaladin’s re-bonding his Connection to gravity. Connections paint Physical Realm reality to form the sensory tapestry sentient life experiences – the cosmere version of the Matrix.

SPOILER: Postscript for @Calderis 

Spoiler

Forgive my persistence, Cal, but I cannot let your last comment about my theory on Shard behavior stand unanswered. Here’s what you said:

On 4/27/2019 at 5:32 PM, Calderis said:

As to you thread, as far as the" facts" go, I did address them. I said we don't know enough. I have nothing more to add. 

You think ten years of text and WoBs that fully explain three Shards’ behaviors is not enough to base a theory on? These facts apply to one-third of the Shards with known magic systems!

Cal, I’m beginning to think if the proverbial tree in the forest fell on your head, you still wouldn’t believe it – unless you yourself wielded the axe. You defend Spool’s theory, which cites neither text nor WoB for its conclusions, because you had a hand in it. Yet you dismiss my well-supported theory as “speculation” without a thought on its merits. Hmmm...

My invitation for your substantive comments stands. I do value your input. For your convenience, I quote the Shard theory’s “summary” post. I edited this post’s version slightly and added the last quote box. You should look at the “full theory” post for quotes and analysis:

Quote

1. Shards combine personality and fundamental law/primal force.

2. Brandon TELLS us Ruin’s, Preservation’s, and Honor’s fundamental laws are entropy, stasis, and bonds, respectively.

3. Brandon SHOWS us how Honor grants his magic through bonds each time a Surgebinder uses his Honor-centric powers.

4. Brandon twice says the only difference between Shards is “the WAY they obtain their magic [capitalization in original],” confirmed a third time by the 2017 “Honor bonds” WoB.

5. These three Shards’ magic systems show us that a magic user’s Intended (capital “I”) performance of an act of entropy, stasis, or bonding “obtains” that Shard’s “magic.”

From these facts, I THEORIZE Shards obtain their magic through their Connection to that fundamental law/primal force:

Quote

The Vessels are not [infinite], even if their minds are enormously expanded by holding a Shard, they are not infinite. The Connection is all there in the Spiritual Realm....

Source (bold added).

This fact-based theory explains the behavior of one-third of the known Shards. (I exclude Ambition who has no known magic system.)

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by Confused

[Calderis he/him]

@Confused Alright. Fine. 

Spoilered for length and irrelevance to the thread. 

Spoiler

I never said there isn't enough evidence to make a theory. I said that I don't think that there is enough evidence. I've made theories that I myself think are baseless and more speculation than "theory" and other that's I've researched heavily and have no expectations that anyone else will believe. 

And therein lies my problem with your persistence on this issue. I have repeatedly told you that I disagree with your interpretation of many WoBs. I have repeatedly told you that many of the things that you have said, such as Odium’s "primal force" is breaking Connections is something that I don't see evidence for. 

And that's fine. You can believe that this "fully explains" the behavior and/or magic systems of three Shards. I am free to disagree. We do not have to convince each other if anything. Your insistence that I am being bullheaded because I interpret things differently than you is in itself just as bullheaded. You are the one continually asking for my input. 

I am not trying to change your mind regardless of how vehemently I disagree with any of your points. You do not have to change my mind to enjoy your theorizing, or have confidence in its validity. 

I've told you before that I respect you and your opinion, regardless of whether we agree here or not. And that is still true. 

But this is beginning to cross a line. I am adamant in my own beliefs yes. I will share them, and argue them, and frankly be obnoxious about them. But I am not going to single you or anyone else out as obstinate or oblivious, or willfully ignorant because the model to which they subscribe is not the same as mine. 

I will gladly continue to discuss things with you. I enjoy our debates and discussions greatly and in many ways you have helped me cement my own beliefs in the Cosmere more than any other single person. But when you cross from questioning my ideas to questioning my willingness to actually explore ideas because I don't agree with you, or your interpretation of the evidence you are presenting, then we will have a problem. In the future, if you wish to draw me into a thread and want my opinion or input that's fine. But if I've said that I have nothing more to say on the matter please respect that and allow me to disagree. 

I am not the most socially skilled person and if this or any of our previous interactions has come across as less than diplomatic or tactful I apologize. That has never been my intention. I do not want our relationship to suffer because of this. But if we aren't free to disagree with each other this stops being civil discussion and starts becoming something I want no part of. 

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by Calderis

[Halyo_Alex he/him]

Ho-lee CRAP

My brain hurts. It hurts a lot. ... But I think I get it.

If this is an accurate description of how the Cosmere works, then wouldn't everyone be able to Soulcast? Or lightweave?

...wait, what about Hoid's Yolish lightweaving? I feel like there's something I'm not picking up on here. Help. :'D

But other than my brain running itself in circles, this is all fantastic and I applaud your theorizing!

[Steeldancer he/him]

SPIRITUAL REALM WHOOP WHOOP
um. Je suis confused. I think there's a bit more stability in the spiritual realm, and that there are harder constructs to how things work. I don't think connection is so much perceived, as much as it just kind of is. You can't... actively change where you were born, for example. 
HOWEVER, your ideas are vaguely similar to what I understand of Microkinesis. But, at the same time, microkinesis doesn't work anymore after Adonalsium shattered, as far as we are aware. So, I don't think your ideas are true. I don't think any old person could just go BAM I imagine a giant pony and then a pony would be created. You need lots and lots of investiture available to you, at which point... your theory is kind of moot, because then you're a shard, and well, they can do lots of crap. If anything, you need a much larger mind and much larger amounts of investiture available to you in order to actively effect the spiritual realm in a conscious way. 
Plus, babies... aren't sentient. They aren't self aware. But they are definitely recording data there as they grow and stuff. There's lots of problems with saying only sentient minds make changes to what's in the spiritual realm. Plus all the talk of software is kind of gibberish. What kind of software is it? Apple? Windows? 
I do agree perception changes things. The boxes humans put surges into greatly effect how Surgebinding works. But that doesn't change gravity as a whole. 
Also, one last thing. I fundamentally disagree with your idea that Adonalsium's way of setting up the universe is "unknowable." Cuz... Brandon made this whole thing up. And I've made it my life mission to figure out what the heck is going on inside his head when he makes this up.
So, conclusion. There are some valid points to what you are saying. But if individuals actually could just do whatever the heck they want... well that wouldn't make much sense in the cosmere. Brandon Sanderson is all about rules. Rules make the magic more interesting. Shards are more similar to what you are putting forward, but even they must follow certain rules, and they're shards of "God" itself! And, if I'm not wrong, Adonalsium also had to play by rules. So, perception can't be everything. Otherwise, why would adonalsium ever have allowed itself to be shattered? Why hasn't Hoid just figured everything out by now, just imagining it to be as he thinks it should be? There is no infinite flexibility in the cosmere. If there were, I wouldn't be able to decipher those rules to try and figure out what might happen in the future. 
Also, why are your theories just so dang hard to read? I consider myself a high level reader, and I squint my eyes a lot, trying to piece together what you're trying to say. I recommend more laymans terms. More upvotes that way  

[Karger he/him]

I thought the spiritual realm was a realm of absolute truth uninfluenced by human perception.  At least Vorin teachings tell us so(although these could easily be inaccurate).

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

From what I've seen of Vorinism I'd question it if one of their tenants said the sky is blue. As for the theory, I think it could be a part of the puzzle but I don't see it as the unified theory of Cosmere everything. Connection can set the initial conditions but not dictate future events and development. Like Steeldancer says, gotta be some rules in this thing.

[Karger he/him]

12 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

From what I've seen of Vorinism I'd question it if one of their tenants said the sky is blue. As for the theory, I think it could be a part of the puzzle but I don't see it as the unified theory of Cosmere everything. Connection can set the initial conditions but not dictate future events and development. Like Steeldancer says, gotta be some rules in this thing.

Don't we also have a WoB that says that healing via investiture pulls your body toward some spiritual ideal of health?

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

The concept is that there exists in the SR a copy of yourself that is perfect and that healing rewrites your physical self to that SR copy.

[Karger he/him]

42 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

The concept is that there exists in the SR a copy of yourself that is perfect and that healing rewrites your physical self to that SR copy.

So my perfect self acording to this theory is what I see my perfect self as being?  I thought that was my cognetive self.

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

Your perfect self spiritually speaking exists independent of your perception. What you perceive as your perfect self is likely that spirit filtered through the CR. 

For the OP's theory to work something else has to be recording the Spiritual records. Something external has to be perceiving. I personally believe the more Invested an entity is the more easily they can alter the Spiritual records with perception as the editor. 

[Confused]

“Giant Pony”

@Halyo_Alex and @Steeldancer: Thanks for your comments, but I think you misunderstand me. Non-magic users can’t create giant ponies or spontaneously change their Connections to become magic users. They can and do form mundane Connections through their relationships with other people and objects. Both mundane and magical Connections IMO mirror mortal perception, not the underlying reality. Earth’s gravity may help explain what I mean.

Gravity’s Perception

Newton in the 17^th C. mathematically defines gravity. Newton’s formula is a metaphor, a scientific model. For 250 years, scientists “Connect” to gravity as Newton defines it. Then comes Einstein’s General Relativity theory. A new metaphor now describes gravity. Gravity doesn’t change, but our perception of gravity does. In cosmere terms, our new perception rewrites our gravity Connection.

Paradigm Shifts:

Spoiler

I urge anyone interested in how scientific models change to read Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn’s book coins the phrase “paradigm shift” to describe these changes. Now in its 4^th edition, the book is considered one of the 20^th C’s great sociological and philosophical works. It’s a relatively short and easy read.

Text Examples

Khriss describes how the “rules of perception” magically apply on Sel:

Quote

In addition, the rules of perception and intent are greatly magnified on Sel, to the point that language—or similar functions—directly shapes the magic as it is pulled from the Cognitive Realm and put to use. This overlap between language, location, and magic on the planet has become so integral to the system that subtle changes in one can have profound effects on how the Dor is accessed.

(AU, “The Selish System,” Kindle p. 18, bold added.)

Khriss refers to the way Sel’s location-bound magic systems access the Dor differently. I believe Selish magic always begins with some motion, but the motion’s form varies. Elantrians draw Aons, JinDo dance steps, Forgers and Bloodsealers twist essence stamps, and Dakhor monks twist their bones. These localized Cognitive expressions Connect differently to the Dor, but all still work.

Here’s another example of perception’s role in making Connections:

Quote

Questioner

Are you saying that the spren’s view of themself influences how they work?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah, and humans’ view of them because spren are pieces of Investiture who have gained sapience, or sentience for the smaller spren, through human perception of those forces. For instance, whether or not Kaladin is keeping an oath is up to what Syl and Kaladin think is keeping that oath. It is not related to capital-T Truth, what is actually keeping the oath. Two windrunners can disagree on whether an oath has been kept or not.

Source (bold added).

Perception Defines Spiritual Realm Ideals

We agree Spiritual aspects are Platonic ideals. The OP theorizes perception defines Spiritual aspects and their ideals. Shai confirms this:

Quote

“These things exist beyond us…We think about windows, we know about windows; what is and isn’t a window takes on…meaning  in the Spiritual Realm. Takes on life, after a fashion.”

 TES, Kindle p. 75, (ellipsis in original; bold added).

Pattern tells Shallan the same thing:

Quote

Pattern hummed. “Truth is individual.”

“What? No it’s not. Truth is . . . it’s Truth. Reality.”

“Your truth is what you see,” Pattern said, sounding confused. “What else could it be? That is the truth that you spoke to me, the truth that brings power.”

...

“Pattern,” she said, tapping her pencil— one she’d gotten from the merchants, along with paper. “This table has four legs. Would you not say that is a truth, independent of my perspective?”

Pattern buzzed uncertainly. “What is a leg? Only as it is defined by you. Without a perspective, there is no such thing as a leg, or a table. There is only wood.”

“You’ve told me the table perceives itself this way.”

“Because people have considered it, long enough, as being a table,” Pattern said. “It becomes truth to the table because of the truth the people create for it.”

WoR, Chapter 24, Kindle pp. 308-309, bold added.)

Mortal perception defines ideas (time, space, and gravity), objects (windows and tables), and all of Physical Realm reality. Marasi learns this when she draws power from the Bands of Mourning:

Quote

Blue lines exploded from her, first pointing at metals, then multiplying, changing, transforming. She saw through it all, everything in blue. There were no people or objects, just energy coalesced.

(BoM, Chapter 28, Kindle p. 359.)

The cosmere’s reality is “just energy coalesced,” or more deeply, pure Investiture organized in ways no one sees or understands. As Pattern says, “Your truth is what you see... What else could it be?”

Babies?

On 5/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, Steeldancer said:

Plus, babies... aren't sentient. They aren't self aware. But they are definitely recording data there as they grow and stuff.

This made me laugh! Babies aren’t self-aware? Tell that to parents whose babies wake them every few hours to eat or be changed. I think those parents might disagree with you.

Are Connections Inherent?

On 5/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, Steeldancer said:

I don't think connection is so much perceived, as much as it just kind of is. You can't... actively change where you were born, for example. 

SOMETHING “is.” Mortals call that something “Connection.” What does “where you were born” even mean when everything including “you” is coalesced energy/organized Investiture?

Spiritual Realm Problems?

On 5/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, Steeldancer said:

There's lots of problems with saying only sentient minds make changes to what's in the spiritual realm.

What else could make Spiritual Realm changes? Rocks can’t write a Connection. Mortals instead Connect with their perception of the rock. They don’t see the rock at its subatomic, “coalesced energy,” or Investiture levels.

Sentient minds observe the Physical Realm and create Connections to explain what they see. This is part of Brandon’s broader theme that the mind makes magic in the cosmere.

Are Cosmere Truths Knowable?

On 5/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, Steeldancer said:

I fundamentally disagree with your idea that Adonalsium's way of setting up the universe is "unknowable." Cuz... Brandon made this whole thing up. And I've made it my life mission to figure out what the heck is going on inside his head when he makes this up.

Unknowable by in-world mortals, not us. Deciphering Brandon’s brain is my mission too. Unlike you, on an actuarial basis I don’t have the next forty years to wait for my answers.

The Human Ideal, Perfect Self, and Cognitive Self

@Karger and @Bigmikey357, you ask an excellent question: where does one’s “perfect self” come from?

I think we should distinguish between the “perfect human” and the “perfect self.” The human ideal IMO derives from humanity’s collective perception of itself. The “spark of life” that turns coalesced energy into humanity exists independently of that perception. I believe many, many Connections go into defining the human ideal.

The “perfect self” OTOH is literally that – the best that person can be. IMO, the “perfect self” Connects to the human ideal, but no “perfect self” rises to the human ideal. I think our genetic capacity limits our self (though genetics is another scientific metaphor). In-world mortals might say inherited traits Connect to our ancestor’s gene pool.

I believe an individual’s self-perception defines their “Cognitive self.” Kaladin’s Cognitive self has brands. Lopen’s Cognitive self grows him a new arm.

Something “External” Perceives and Writes Connections?

On 5/9/2019 at 9:52 PM, Bigmikey357 said:

For the OP's theory to work something else has to be recording the Spiritual records. Something external has to be perceiving. I personally believe the more Invested an entity is the more easily they can alter the Spiritual records with perception as the editor. 

Why must “something external” perceive and write Connections when mortal perception defines everything? Even the cosmere definition of “fundamental force” varies by planet:

Quote

And the scientists on Roshar would, for instance, consider being able to travel between the Cognitive and Physical Realms as a force, the thing that pulls people back and forth between that, as a fundamental force. 

Source.

The WoB characterizes our own universe’s fundamental forces as a “human construction.” I agree Adonalsium (or whatever) created the cosmere’s Investiture-energy matrix. The OP posits Connections are mortals’ attempt to understand and describe that matrix.

I Have No Words...

On 5/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, Steeldancer said:

Also, why are your theories just so dang hard to read? I consider myself a high level reader, and I squint my eyes a lot, trying to piece together what you're trying to say. I recommend more laymans terms. More upvotes that way

Oh, Calderis! (Last one, I promise.)

Spoiler

Cal, I appreciate our interactions, do not take offense, and hope I give none. You say you’re not the “most socially skilled person.” I struggle daily with OCD. I can be more dogged than I realize I’m being. (If you haven’t noticed, my posts include few spelling or grammar errors. I edit A LOT.) You’re free to respond to whom and how you will.

On 5/9/2019 at 3:25 PM, Calderis said:

And therein lies my problem with your persistence on this issue. I have repeatedly told you that I disagree with your interpretation of many WoBs. I have repeatedly told you that many of the things that you have said, such as Odium’s "primal force" is breaking Connections is something that I don't see evidence for.

And herein lies my problem with your responses: I feel you never analyze the theory itself, that each Shard’s “primal force” magically distinguishes it from the others.

Yes, our WoB interpretations sometimes differ. But even when I’m wrong (more often than I’d like), the errors you mention don’t disprove the theory. The theory doesn’t rest on my speculations about Endowment’s or Odium’s “primal force.” The theory rests entirely on text and Brandon’s unequivocal (IMO) words about Ruin (entropy), Preservation (stasis), and Honor (bonds). To borrow a Singer analogy, I feel you focus on the broth and not the meat.

IIRC, you haven’t yet interpreted the 2017 WoB about Honor and bonds – certainly not in the context of other WoBs that support it. Yet that’s Brandon’s clearest statement to date on how Shards magically differ from one another.

Before commenting on Spool’s recent theory, I took time to make sure I understood it. I felt Spool’s effort and thoughtfulness deserved to be honored with an equally thoughtful response. I even upvoted him despite my belief his theory lacks factual support and internal consistency. If you choose to respond to my posts in the future (and I hope you do), I ask you also take the time to do it right. With more than 9,200 posts to your credit, you spread yourself very thin. Careful attention to a theory and its internal logic goes a long way, at least with me.

Thanks for hanging in there. With respect, C.

 

Edited May 19, 2019 by Confused