Seeing the Future

[S. Stormy she/her]

Okay, so seeing the future. We all know that it's bad in Vorin culture(I think it's Vorin, right?). So... 

...where did that come from?

So, we know that seeing the future comes from bonded a corrupted(oops, I mean Enlightened) mistspren(is that the only kind of spren that can cause future-seeing?) from Sja-Anat. And it's sort of of Odium, which is kind of evil? A little bit? But back when that culture-ness started, in the first beginnings of the Knights Radiant the first time, I'm pretty sure Sja-Anat hadn't been doing any corruption then...

So where did that come from? What did y'all think?

(also yay it's basically my first non-Kaladin post! go me!)

[Treamayne]

49 minutes ago, Shallan Stormblessed said:

Okay, so seeing the future. We all know that it's bad in Vorin culture(I think it's Vorin, right?). So... 

<snip>

So where did that come from? What did y'all think?

(also yay it's basically my first non-Kaladin post! go me!)

How much Cosmere have you read?

M:SH spoilers

Spoiler

In Secret History we get to see Preservation (Leras) share a small portion of Shardic Future sight with Kelsier (the broken windows analogy) and in OB we get to see a similar event when Odium is taunting Taravangian (though Odium does not allow T to peak at the spiritual realm that Kelsier got to see)

Subsequently, we learned that different Shards have different levels of "facility" with this mechanic - based on their intent. Preservation and Cultivation are believed to be (have been) two of the best because the Shard's Intent is so strongly tied with "future" events. Odium is middle of the road. Honor is known to be one of the worst at this (since the Shard's Intent is so strongly tied to the present)

Therefore, I think the prevailing theory is simply that back at the beginning of the Desolations, as humanity changed allegiance to Honor; because Honor was significantly worse at this type of prognostication the Heralds taught that any "visions" should be considered suspect as they were more likely to come from Odium*. Fast forward 4000yrs and a sound wariness of being misled is now a very strong cultural taboo.

 

*conversely, maybe it was a tactic he used in early desolations, and the heralds and humanity learned the hard way that visions of the future can be . . . misleading.

 

[bmcclure7]

4 hours ago, Shallan Stormblessed said:

Okay, so seeing the future. We all know that it's bad in Vorin culture(I think it's Vorin, right?). So... 

...where did that come from?

So, we know that seeing the future comes from bonded a corrupted(oops, I mean Enlightened) mistspren(is that the only kind of spren that can cause future-seeing?) from Sja-Anat. And it's sort of of Odium, which is kind of evil? A little bit? But back when that culture-ness started, in the first beginnings of the Knights Radiant the first time, I'm pretty sure Sja-Anat hadn't been doing any corruption then...

So where did that come from? What did y'all think?

(also yay it's basically my first non-Kaladin post! go me!)

Voidbinding existed before Renarin. That where it comes from.

[offer]

12 hours ago, Shallan Stormblessed said:

Okay, so seeing the future. We all know that it's bad in Vorin culture(I think it's Vorin, right?). So... 

...where did that come from?

So, we know that seeing the future comes from bonded a corrupted(oops, I mean Enlightened) mistspren(is that the only kind of spren that can cause future-seeing?) from Sja-Anat. And it's sort of of Odium, which is kind of evil? A little bit? But back when that culture-ness started, in the first beginnings of the Knights Radiant the first time, I'm pretty sure Sja-Anat hadn't been doing any corruption then...

So where did that come from? What did y'all think?

(also yay it's basically my first non-Kaladin post! go me!)

We also know that there is a regal form that gives future sight.

From the song of secrets in Words of Radiants:

Quote

Nightform predicting what will be,

The form of shadows, mind to foresee.

As the gods did leave, the nightform whispered.

A new storm will come, someday to break.

 A new storm a new world to make.

A new storm a new path to take, the nightform listens.

 

Since they had this ability during the desolations it caused the humans to associate future sight with Odium`s forces.

[Returned]

It's a sound warning, since future-sight tends to not be very helpful. With extreme care you can get something out of it, but most efforts to use knowledge of the future for your own benefit seem to fail. If you don't believe me, ask Rayse.

The successful uses seem to come from those who are the very best at it (Preservation, at least, got what he wanted), but Rosharan humans are definitely not going to qualify for that status. Having a tiny piece of the future revealed to them is going to lack the context that makes it useful in making decisions, especially with the limited knowledge a given human is likely to have and without an unusual amount of Fortune to back you up, seems a lot more likely to harm you than to help you.

[bmcclure7]

6 hours ago, offer said:

We also know that there is a regal form that gives future sight.

From the song of secrets in Words of Radiants:

 

Since they had this ability during the desolations it caused the humans to associate future sight with Odium`s forces.

We are also told very specifically that voidbinding powers include future sight. 

[Letryx13]

Even Honor said that to speak of the future was forbidden.  He was wary of trying to predict events.