NutiketAiel

Thank you so much! Found one other in there, #77 isn't attributed, but that one was actually me. So weird hearing recordings of my own voice from that long ago...

Hey folks. I haven't posted in quite a long time, though I do lurk occasionally. My life has moved in other directions and I don't have as much time to devote to Realmatic Theory as I did in decades past I'm afraid. Still a big Brandon Sanderson fan, though. However, I did recently notice that there are a couple of misattributions on a particular record on the Arcanum. Specifically, the Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing of 3/21/14. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/219-words-of-radiance-philadelphia-signing/ There are words in Questions 46, 74 & 86 that are incorrectly attributed to me. That is not my voice. For #67, the first 3 questions are incorrectly attributed to me, but the fourth question is correctly attributed to me. In #68, the first question is correctly attributed to me, but the second question is incorrectly attributed to me. That was someone else. Question 100 is correctly attributed to me. I'm not sure how to edit the Arcanum. I know this is over 10 years ago but now that I've noticed the discrepancy I don't want to be attributed credit for someone else's words. Can someone please help me correct this, or tell me how to do so? Thank you.

Yeah, gimme a break, Shadeshadow. It made sense in 2014.

I'm not saying they aren't, I'm just saying that the controlled evolution is possible. Perhaps they are more closely related to the axehounds, who have no carapace but instead a strong, supple kind of in-between feature. But yes, the idea of them simply being directly created by Adonalsium is certainly simpler in many ways. I have no objection to that interpretation of the theory.

I'm inclined to agree with Acrestu. If I had to think of a humanoid species that could have evolved in the Rosharan ecosystem, the Listeners, with their ability to bond with Spren and gain carapace and other similar features of Rosharan animal life, would certainly seem to fit the bill. I don't necessarily agree with the idea of humans and "normal" animals being "brought" to Roshar, though. I'm of the opinion that humans were created on Roshar by Honor and/or Cultivation, not relocated there from another world (with the possible exception of the Heralds). We know this has happened before- Preservation and Ruin did it on Scadrial. As for more Earth-like animal and plant species, I'm of the opinion that they evolved naturally in Shinovar. It's a geographically isolated area sheltered from the highstorms. Under those conditions, more earth-like flora and fauna could have evolved naturally. Obviously the difference between the life of Shinovar and the life of the rest of Roshar is of a much greater degree than any diversity caused by geographic isolation on Earth... like, say Australia compared to the Eurasian mainland... but that can be attributed to the intensely different conditions between Shinovar and the rest of Roshar exerting very different evolutionary pressures. So, while on Earth, we can point to parallel evolution between, say, the wolf and the thylacine to fill the same ecological niche, such parallelism would be much rarer on Roshar because the evolutionary pressures of animals and plants in Shinovar are so vastly different from those of the rest of the planet. Which, I hasten to point out, does not necessarily preclude the kind of parallel evolution we see in the Listeners having a humanoid form. Opposable thumbs and tool manipulation are useful in almost any land-based terrestrial environment, storms or no storms.

I've never been to the TWG forums. It's possible I'm misremembering; it wouldn't be the first time. It's not central to my theory, just something that would be a useful reference. Thanks for trying to help, guys.

Adonalsium created the first humans on Yolen (also two other intelligent species, the Shodel and Dragons). We have no idea what process he used to do so. He could have created those humans and the Listeners on Roshar through a process of evolution. In real life, many people who believe in a deity and also accept the theory of evolution believe that their god created life through natural processes. So, the ideas of Adolansium creating the Listeners and them "naturally" evolving are not mutually exclusive.

I'm working on a new theory, but there's a needed reference that eludes me. I could swear that I read an interview, Q&A, AMA or signing report with Brandon in which he stated that the First Ideal of the Knights Radiant ("Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination") constituted the major theme of the Stormlight Archive series. However, for the life of me I can't find this anywhere. Am I crazy? Does anyone else remember Brandon making such a statement? Can anyone help me find the reference I'm seeking?

An interesting question to consider. I was not aware of this new information about the Listeners having interbred with various Rosharan races. Truthfully, though, I don't think this information has much of an impact on the theory one way or the other. Breeding between different intelligent species is a common enough feature in fantasy and science fiction. The fact that we have not seen it before now in the Cosmere (so far as we know) can probably be attributed to the fact that we have not seen two intelligent humanoid species interacting with each other on the same planet before Roshar. So, the idea of the Listeners interbreeding with Rosharan humans isn't all that surprising. I don't see it as either offering support for or evidence against my theory, though I am interested to hear if others have a different interpretation of the issue.

New Jersey is a great place for conventions.

It doesn't have to be physical pain- that's just how the nobility did it to their children, with controlled beatings. It's about stress. Kelsier snapped after Mare died.

I don't do costumes.

That's a perfectly valid interpretation. I'll admit I had not considered it from that angle.

We have not. In the only PoV we have from him, his own tests determine that he is of "average" intelligence.