I lol'd, Meyna.
Elser, I found you the original version of this thread from over at
Zombie Three Seas:
What if Kellhus was one of us?. Digging through ZTS is always fun so thanks for another opportunity to do so.
Since there we didn't get past a Dunyain in our world being Anasurimbor Hilton/Spears, (then) newly-elected Obama, or a religious leader, I shall try and do your new questions some justice.
Hey, I've been recently wondering about this and I'd love some of your input.
1) What would a individual like Kellhus look like in modern times?
2) What would his goals be?
3) He would seek to master his circumstances but what would that mean in our world? 3.5) Would he seek to save us from self destruction or isolate himself in the path to enlightment?
4) Which path would he follow as means to power?
5) A technology entrepreneur building a megacorporation, a politician manipulating foes & allies, a cult leader, a revolutionary with a long trail of warcrimes behind him?
6) In the absence of magic & weak religion, which forces would he use?
6.5) Science, media, money, education, heidegger's and nietszche's philosophy?
7) What would his skills look like, what would the realistic basis for them be?
7.5) Uncanny mastery of cognitive biases, genetic engineering, nootropics, a very manipulative mother?
8 ) Where would he come from?
8.5) A Zen monastery, abject poverty, an insanely privileged family, an experimental boarding school?
9) Thinking of examples in fiction maybe ozymandias (Adrián Veidt) in Watchmen or the protagonist in the Limitless film, does anyone think of others?
Anyways I think this is a fun analytical excercise.
1) As I wrote there, we have no Cnaiur to warn us of Kellhus. So we'd probably not be able to understand a Dunyain in our world as we do a Dunyain in the narrative. We would always perceive the Dunyain from
inside its lies.
2) Dominion over all. Ultimately, self-preservation or, perhaps, still questing for the Absolute; upload his consciousness to some kind of indestructible interstellar computer-ship or something?
3) Considering we are his circumstances, he would dominate us. Until the whole world was tractable, he would work to make it so. To be honest, this would probably amount to him conducting a massive campaign of eugenics and genocide to bring humans down to a more manageable number; he'd probably see a number of us as quite useless and mostly unnecessary.
3.5) We are tools. Kellhus of the narrative might have been corrupted to perceive that saving humans is an end itself, but I'd say we'd be means only here.
4) Any and all. He'd simply come prepackaged to fill the niche of our choosing. The world is in desperate need of someone to display a basic sense of human dignity; just take a look at the ridiculous fervour over a Pope
acting Christ-like 
?!
5) Meyna had this one down, though I'm honestly not sure that Kellhus himself would even need to be visible in the sense of public figures. He'd be like the ultimate puppet-master in our world. As Zarathinius wrote in the ZTS thread, "the Secret Global Conspiracy® would try to draft him." But he'd probably dominate them as well.
6/6.5) He'd master the hard sciences and use his advances as he saw fit. He'd probably read all the "humanities" texts but only as it would make
people easier to control.
7/7.5) As per 6/6.5, he'd master and expand on math, biology, chemistry in ways we can't yet fathom. Then he'd do whatever he wanted with his abilities.
8 ) If he's not a Dunyain like the books, then he'd either be a genetic anomaly or from affluent means.
9) That's the great thing about Kellhus. He's a fairly original and unique character. Laplace's Demon but that isn't fiction, per say.
I think something this thread (and the other) inevitably hit upon is that without goals (questing for the Absolute is a gamble in our world), it is very difficult to surmise
why Kellhus would use us for anything. Unless the Dunyain are invariable creatures of domination, simply dominating circumstances endlessly.
