Walker

I think this is addressed to a member of the 17th shard.  That is a context in which "master" would make a lot more sense.

Calling Szeth's oathstone a "gemstone" (when it is mainly stone with a few crystals) is a stretch.

 

Imagine you hit a button. Hitting it will kill one person. There's a 99% chance to save a hundred lives and a 1% chance that no one will be saved if you hit it. I'd certainly hope most people would hit that button. Doing otherwise is a little bit risk-averse for my tastes.

 

Most people would not because they would be convicted of manslaughter for doing so.

You are not talking about performing an action that only saves a select group of people who are all in danger.  You are talking about sacrificing a random person -- without that person's consent -- to save others.  The consent factor here is key. There are absolutely no respected ethical or legal scholars anywhere today who accept this extreme version of utilitarianism.  Your example is actually used as a critique for why utilitarianism fails.

The Lift Interlude is now available at Tor.com, and is no longer limited to the Steelhunt.

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/12/words-of-radiance-excerpt-lift

Looking at the released readings, I think that there is some evidence that the corruption of the Heralds is actually related to Cultivation.

First, in Jasnah's prologue

“She’s getting worse,” the voice continued. “We weren’t supposed to get worse. Am I getting worse? I think I feel worse.”

We believe this is either from Nalan or his partner.  At first glance, this might be about Shallash.  However, the implication that they are getting worse as a result of this woman getting worse.

Second, in Lift's interlude:

Wyndle moved along beside Lift. “Mother has given up on your kind,” he said. “I can feel it. She doesn’t care any longer. Now that He’s gone . . .”

Because Honor declares himself the Almighty in the visions, we have often assumed that they are of Honor.  But perhaps they are of both Honor and Cultivation, and as she pulls away they become more corrupted.

Okay, I have been stuck on Hint Number 5 for days.  The other ones (that were supposed to be hard) were trivial, but I cannot find this page.  

My interpretation of the hint is somewhere in either the forum or in the Coppermind, and there are two many pages to check.