User:Skaa/Attributes and Surges
This is an attempt to show the relationship between the Divine Attributes and the Surges. This process will involve two steps: Unify the Primary Divine Attribute of each Order with the Secondary Divine Attribute of the previous Order. This is to create a list of ten Divine Attributes (instead of the current twenty) to coincide with the number of Surges. Relate the ten unified Divine Attribute to the ten Surges.
Unification of the Divine Attributes
Upon close inspection, it is possible to find a unifying theme between the Primary Divine Attribute of an Order and the Secondary Divine Attribute of the previous Order. This suggests that those two Attributes are related and can be combined into a single Attribute:
Protecting and Guiding: Boundary
A protector keeps boundaries from being breached. A guide indicates where boundaries are.
Just and Leading: Law
Being just means upholding the law. Being a leader means your word is law.
Brave and Confident: Motion
Bravery is moving without fear. Confidence is moving without doubt.
Loving and Obedient: Affinity
You have an affinity with what you care about. You have an affinity to what you follow.
Learned and Healing: Improvement
Learning improves knowledge. Healing improves health.
Creative and Giving: Desire
A creative person produces things that are aesthetically and/or functionally desirable. A giving person cares about what other people desire.
Wise and Honest: Truth
Wisdom is the understanding of truth. Honesty is the expression of truth.
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.
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.
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.
The relationship between the Attributes and the Surges
Now that we have ten Divine Attributes instead of twenty, the next step is to try and connect them to the Surges. First, we arrange the ten unified Attributes into a Double Eye pattern.
Outer Pairs
- Boundary<->Law
- Law<->Motion
- Motion<->Affinity
- Affinity<->Improvement
- Improvement<->Desire
- Desire<->Truth
- Truth<->Direction
- Direction<->Trust
- Trust<->Contentment
- Contentment<->Boundary
Vertical Inner Pairs
- Boundary<->Affinity
- Improvement<->Contentment
- Trust<->Desire
Diagonal Inner Pairs
- Boundary<->Desire
- Law<->Truth
- Motion<->Direction
- Affinity<->Trust
The key to relating the Attributes and the Surges is the concept of balance. Of all the Attribute pairs, there are five that can be seen as balancing pairs, pairs of concepts that can both complement and clash with each other. These are the four Diagonal Inner pairs (Boundary<->Desire, Law<->Truth, Motion<->Direction, Affinity<->Trust), plus the Improvement<->Contentment pair. The Surges are the result of a harmonious relationship between these balancing pairs, as demonstrated below:
Boundary with Desire: Adhesion
When people desire something, once they obtain it is difficult to separate them from it, as they will tend to create a boundary around it (literally or figuratively speaking). Similarly, an object that is attracted to a different object will be bound to it, adhering to it.
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). Gravity Surgebinders trick objects into changing what they think their true spiritual leader is.
Motion with Direction: Division
The less chaotic your motion is (e.g. the less you bump into things, change direction, etc.), the farther you will end up. Real life physics states that all things will tend towards less chaos eventually, but Division Surgebinders accelerate this process by granting a moving object with a directional stability so high that it actually divides obstacles from itself to stay true to its natural course. The Shardblade is one example of objects powered by the Division Surge.
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: Progression
Progression is any improvement done from a state of low contentment (high desire) to a state of high contentment (low desire). Growth Surgebinders can grant a soul of a living thing the gift of contentment by improving it in a way that is desirable to it.
Desire with Boundary: Illumination
Adding boundaries to desire means giving it a clear, definite shape. Once your desires become clear to you and you finally know what you really want, you attain insight and enlightenment. In other words, you attain 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. Transformation Surgebinders (a.k.a. Soulcasters) grant objects the ability to enforce a desire to change.
Direction with Motion: Transportation
When you direct the motion of something, you transport it to a desired position. Transportation Surgebinding is basically a form of telekinesis, the ability to make objects move directly to where you want it to move.
Trust with Affinity: Cohesion
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, no matter how small. Tension Surgebinders might be capable of giving supernaturally high tension to themselves or to other things. Their sensitivity to change might also allow them to detect change even from a distance, as long as they focus on a specific type of change. For example, they could focus on any call for help and, as the Stoneward in Dalinar's Starfalls vision indicated, they will hear such calls as soon as they happen.