Hello Internet!
My name is Steve!
Welcome to RAFO!
Now last week, we talked about the seven different planets we've gotten stories on in the Cosmere.
Since then, I got a lot of comments from people in reference to Sel, what I called the safest
planet.
While it's true that the planet of Sel is fairly safe, getting to Sel is extraordinarily
dangerous, because of a huge amount of power stuck in the Cognitive Realm.
Now, if you're new to the Cosmere, you may be wondering "What the heck is a Cognitive
Realm?"
And that is what we're going to talk about today.
So welcome to Realmatic Theory for Dummies.
You're not a dummy.
You know I don't think that.
You're great.
You're beautiful.
Please keep watching my videos.
So, the Cosmere is made up of three separate Realms.
These three realms aren't different layers of a world.
It's not the like the Physical Realm is a boat and the Cognitive Realm is the ocean.
Everything in each realm has a manifestation in the other realms.
Now I've thought a lot about the best way to explain these realms, and I've come up
with this: The Cosmere is a Videogame.
Go with me on this.
We talked a lot about the Physical Realm, which is where most everything in the Cosmere
books happens.
People walking around, interacting with other people, picking up things, being specific
places: Physical stuff.
The Physical Realm is basically what you see on screen.
You've got your player character, you've got all the non-player characters, and everything
you interact with in the game is the Physical Realm.
While you're playing the videogame, you are in a specific place; your game clock is running.
Then there's also the Spiritual Realm.
We don't really know a lot about the Spiritual Realm at this point, but presumably it's where
your spirit is.
Now the Spiritual Realm is like the electricity that powers the game.
Electricity is not a single point in space; it's not a single point in time.
It permeates the entire system, and without electricity the game simply wouldn't work.
And who knows, maybe when Mario falls into a pit of lava, that Mario goes to a fancy
electrical afterlife.
There's also the Cognitive Realm.
This is where, basically, the minds of things manifest themselves.
Which, if you've read any of the Stormlight Archive, is called Shadesmar.
Shades...
The Cognitive Realm is like the game code underneath.
Everything that occurs on the screen of the game is because the code said that could happen.
Just like anything that occurs in the Physical Realm is because your mind said "Yes, you
should do that."
Now, just like a videogame, there are certain things in the Cognitive Realm that would allow
you to do something different from what you would normally see.
Basically, there are glitches that you can exploit.
Which means anyone using magic in a Cosmere world: Kelsier, Kaladin, Kenton, (what's with
the K names, Brandon?)
Vasher, Raoden - Cheating.
Just like a game code is really different from the actual game, the Cognivite Realm
has some huge differences from the Physical Realm as well.
Land masses and bodies of water in the Cognitive Realm are basically reversed.
Where there's a continent in the Physical Realm, there's an ocean in the Cognitive Realm.
Where there's a pond in the Cognitive Realm, there's an island in the Physical Realm.
And depending on the world that you're on, things will look different.
We've gotten a glimpse of the Cognitive Realm of Scadrial, and what is landmass there becomes
sort of a mist.
On Roshar, the physical landmass there becomes and ocean of spheres.
In the Cognitive Realm, because space itself has been bent, the spherical worlds of the
Cosmere have been flattened.
That means interplanetary travel is entirely possible.
At this point in the history of the Cosmere, there isn't a wide conception of space as
really a thing.
So because no one's thinking about it - and the Cognitive Realm is made up of peoples'
minds and thoughts, the massive space between inhabited worlds becomes miniscule.
Comparing it to Earth: rather than having to get on a rocket ship with Elon Musk and
go to Mars, we could just walk there.
For example, on Roshar if you go this way in Shadesmar, you'll hit Sel.
If you go this way, you'll end up at Scadrial.
This way for Nalthis.
This way for somewhere else.
Relative North and South with get you to the other planets in the Greater Rosharan system.
That's not the only difference between the Cognitive and Physical Realms.
There are things that exist in the Cognitive Realm without being in the Physical Realm.
In the game, it's possible to find hidden areas that are outside of the playable area
through going into the game code.
You're going through the Cognitive Realm!
You might not be in the game world at all anymore, but your game clock is still running.
We know specifically of one country that exists solely in the Cognitive Realm: Silverlight.
Don't know a lot about it, but it's got at least one university, so it's smart!
Now, going into specifics about the Cognitive Realm can get kind of spoilery.
I'll warn you.
Because the Physical and Cognitive Realm are so different, there are also different dangers
depending on where you are in the Cognitive Realm.
We haven't even met them yet, but I know I would never want to run in to and angerspren.
The Cognitive Realm of Sel is incredibly dangerous.
You'll encounter a giant, raging plasma storm called the Dor that will just tear you to
shreds.
We'll talk more about what the Dor is next week.
Which means although Sel is the safest planet in the Cosmere, the cognitive representation
is probably the most dangerous place you can get.
So, to sum up: Everything has a body, mind, and spirit.
A stick will know it's a stick, and will be a stick spiritually.
Your player character has a specific set of game code, which is powered by electricity.
Thank you again for watching!
As always, please subscribe so you're notified for my next week's video.
If you want to learn more about the Cosmere or Brandon Sanderson, check out other videos
that I've done.
If you have more questions about Realmatic Theory and the Cognitive Realm, I suggest
going back to Oathbringer or Mistborn: Secret History.
There, if you have any other questions, you can Read and Find Out