Cognitive Realm

In Realmatic Theory, the Cognitive Realm is the realm between the Spiritual and the Physical. It is described as the world of the mind. As even non-living things can have a Cognitive aspect in the cosmere, it is possible to communicate with--or at least listen to--non-living things while in the Cognitive Realm.

Space on the Cognitive Realm is heavily distorted such that areas that have little to no Cognitive presence are diminished significantly. This means that the vast empty space between planets in the Physical Realm do not exist in the Cognitive Realm. Different worlds sit right next to each other in this Realm, with oceans (which are solid on this Realm) acting as the borders between worlds. This allows someone on the Cognitive Realm to travel from one world to another just by walking.

Some beings like Soulcasters and Shards can have their consciousness or even their whole body appear on the Cognitive Realm using their Invested ability. It is also possible to use Perpendicularities to move to and from the Cognitive Realm.

Appearance

The few regions in the Cognitive Realm revealed so far has shown major differences in composition and appearance, but there are common characteristics:

Fluid-Solid reversal

Bodies of water in the Physical Realm appear as solid in the Cognitive, whereas land on the Physical Realm appear as a vast sea, the composition of which differs for each region. It has been implied that there are regions on the Cognitive Realm that don't have this reversal.

A tiny sun

There appears to be a sun in the Cognitive Realm's sky, but it has consistently been described as being smaller than what each character seeing it is familiar with. The sun disappears in the space between worlds.

Investiture-based illumination

All Invested Physical objects glow in the Cognitive Realm. Since life itself appears to be a form of Investiture, living things glow as well. Certain objects might also glow even though they are not Invested, as in the case of metal in Scadrial, though why this is so has not yet been revealed.

Plants on Cognitive land

Some areas in the Cognitive land (which is water on the Physical Realm) appear to have plants or plant-shaped objects on them, the type of which differ in each region.

It is unknown how common those characteristics are on the Cognitive Realm of other cosmere worlds.

On Roshar

Main article: Shadesmar

Rosharan scholars call the Cognitive Realm Shadesmar. Non-living things on Roshar's Physical Realm appear as dark glass beads in Shadesmar, while living things appear as flames. Bodies of water in Roshar's Physical Realm appear as dark obsidian land in Shadesmar, while Physical land appear as a dynamic sea of glass beads. Shadesmar's sky is black, with narrow clouds lining up towards a tiny sun.

Shadesmar is the natural habitat of the spren, and is where their true form can be seen. There are spren cities around Shadesmar, presumably on the obsidian lands, on which trees made of crystal also grow.

On Scadrial

Physical things on the Cognitive Realm on Scadrial appear shrouded in mist. Living things, as well as metallic objects, appear to glow. The Physical land appear misty and fluid, while bodies of water on the Physical Realm appear as solid, dark, smoky stone where mist-emitting plants grow.

It is possible to take the misty Cognitive aspect of an object on Scadrial's Cognitive Realm and use it away from its Physical location, as Kelsier does in Mistborn: Secret History. How this can be done has not yet been fully explained.

On Sel

The Shards of Dominion and Devotion were Splintered and trapped in the Cognitive Realm by Odium. While the power of most other Shards resides in the Spiritual Realm, Odium has locked the power of Dominion and Devotion in the Cognitive Realm to ensure that nobody on Sel could gain those Shards. This makes the Cognitive Realm on Sel extremely dangerous as anyone who comes there unprepared would be shredded by the power of the Shards, now collectively known as the Dor.

It is unknown if the area of Cognitive land where the Ire are positioned during the events of Mistborn: Secret History is in Sel, though the Ire appear to be Elantrians who are native to Sel. The area around the Ire building has tall jagged rock formations that look like trees.

Silverlight

Main article: Silverlight

Silverlight is a human-inhabited city fully located on the Cognitive Realm. The city has several universities, and is where Khriss is based.

Not everyone on Silverlight Worldhopped from the Physical Realm of other worlds, as some people there were born in the city itself.

Other Regions

According to an interview with Brandon Sanderson, there is a world that appears in the Cognitive Realm as an "empty wasteland of near-nothingness.".