Theory: Earwa is a simulation

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a2person

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« on: December 14, 2013, 09:05:36 pm »
The Dunyain believe that what comes before determines what comes after; i.e. there is some underlying physics / causality that governs what happens in the world. However, their ideology cannot account for sorcery or the apparent interventions of the gods or other things from the "outside" in their world. Sorcerers are visible to other sorcerers by an ugly "bruise" that they leave on the surrounding world.

One explanation for this could be that Earwa is a very sophisticated simulation, in which the physics engine deterministically moves the simulator from one state to the next. What is called sorcery may simply be that intelligent agents in the simulation learn to exploit glitches in the system that allow them to affect the state of the simulator beyond their intended capacity. Such hacks may leave an ugly bruise on the simulated world just as a hacky implementation of a new feature in an otherwise well-designed software system will look disgusting to good software developers.

Since Kellhus is Dunyain, I would expect that he would want to resolve the tension between the Logos (causality) and the outside-intervention he actually observes in the world. This would probably cause him a lot of cognitive dissonance. There are some hints in WLW that he manages to actually venture into the "outside", but he does not provide any big revelations about the true nature of Earwa. What if the "outside" itself has yet another "outside" and so on, indefinitely? Actually this theory is completely generic and it could apply to any story, or even the real world as we know it. But it seems that the books strongly hint at this possibility.


Madness

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« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2013, 12:59:36 pm »
None of what you wrote is implausible (in our world or Earwa), according to prevalent models. There simply remains the other 46 Nerdanelfold Thoughts, which roam the forum and use us, the living, as their battleplain. But your thoughts make me wonder if the tabby cats (seeded in TWP) of Earwa aren't really running their own computer projection to find the Question that asks the Answer?

Welcome to the Second Apocalypse, a2p ;).
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Callan S.

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« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2013, 12:49:26 am »
Rather than discrete simulation, I'd postulated that they've sort of mechanised the universe. Disciple of the dog spoiler:
(click to show/hide)
Here, the universe, by some method, is turned into a big machine. Not a discreet simulation, as you are turning something which was just there into the simulation you want, but kind of like a simulation. One overlaid over reality itself. A sort of universe rewriting nuke.

sologdin

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« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2013, 02:07:11 pm »
nifty line of inquiry. we should sift TSA for textual evidence that shoehorns it into baudrillard's simulacra and simulations, which is a famous writing among lit theory and philosophy types: http://www.egs.edu/faculty/jean-baudrillard/articles/simulacra-and-simulations/ - it is certain that RSB knows this writing well.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2013, 02:10:12 pm by sologdin »

Madness

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« Reply #4 on: December 25, 2013, 02:03:41 am »
Good call, solo, though I'm thinking a2p was riffing off of the (semi-)recent physics evidence suggesting that our own universe is a simulation.

I enjoyed Baudrillard both personally and academically (though, his works never got the rigorous analysis they deserved).

I will reread Simulacra with this theme of thought in mind.

Aside, Callan, you spoilered something only to rephrase it out of spoiler tags...
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Callan S.

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« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2013, 05:53:39 am »
Aside, Callan, you spoilered something only to rephrase it out of spoiler tags...
I am being told this. By my evaluation, I am not. If I spoilered someone who was killed in the DM novel, then postulate about who will be killed or was secretly killed in the SA books, it's not a spoiler. I'm making up wild acts of imagination in my postulation - anyone who takes them as gospel enough to appy to another book as if a fact is a fool or aught to pay me $9.95 for my imaginative works!
« Last Edit: December 31, 2013, 06:01:21 am by Callan S. »

Madness

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« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2013, 02:47:50 pm »
I think you could have made your point without drawing the analogy to Disciple.
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Wilshire

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« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2014, 03:02:08 pm »
Aside, Callan, you spoilered something only to rephrase it out of spoiler tags...
I am being told this. By my evaluation, I am not. If I spoilered someone who was killed in the DM novel, then postulate about who will be killed or was secretly killed in the SA books, it's not a spoiler. I'm making up wild acts of imagination in my postulation - anyone who takes them as gospel enough to appy to another book as if a fact is a fool or aught to pay me $9.95 for my imaginative works!

Lol a modest fee. Thats pretty much the cost of a full price mass market paperback.
Maybe more like $2.50?
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Callan S.

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« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2014, 04:19:34 am »
I am more...

Okay, $6.99 at the lowest...

(insert subtext about evangelist extremism, yet it's link to magnificence and yet the capitalist grind down of magnificence into petty haggling)

mrganondorf

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« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2014, 05:30:21 am »
Lol, I hope Earwe is not a simulation, but it would give an entirely plausible explanation for magic.  Anything can happen inside the sim.  Akka wakes up in a mind-o-tube and heads to work at the post office...then a column of black appears on the horizon!  The simulation is supposed to be over!  WHAT DO YOU SEE?