User:Skaa/Attributes and Surges

Attributes and Surges
Discussion	Thread
Author	skaa
Status	Unproven
Espousers	skaa

This is an attempt to show the relationship between the Divine Attributes and the Surges on Roshar. This process will involve two steps:

1. 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.
2. 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: Choice

A brave man chooses fearlessly. A confident man does not doubt his choices.

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.

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, Choice<->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).

Choice with Direction: Division

Having a choice with directions implies a separation of paths, where a group that was once united may become divided. It is therefore a source of division.

Affinity with Trust: Abrasion

For two people in a relationship (whether romantic, political, etc.), the more they trust each other, the less likely they will part ways. When such a strong relationship does end, it typically leads to suffering for one or both of the parties. Similarly, things that interact with each other will tend to "stick around" longer the more friction they have, and the end of high-friction interactions often exhibit abrasion on one or both objects.

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).

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.

Direction with Choice: Transportation

The direction you choose is where you want yourself or something else to move towards. This is the direction of transportation.

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.