The Nature of Resonances Rethought

[Trusk'our he/him]

Resonances are something that are created when two (or more, potentially) powers exist in an entity and are used extensively. They pop up as pleasant little perks that aren't directly fueled by the powers themselves but are influenced by the nature of what the powers are.

Anyway, I found this WoB:

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/385/#e12608

OrangeJedi

Do Mistborn have resonances?

Brandon Sanderson

*Hesitantly* Everybody does, but they're not as pronounced.

OrangeJedi

Is that because they just have so many powers?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

This makes me wonder, does Brandon really mean that everybody has a Resonance, even those without Invested powers?

It's very possible that he meant that all multi-powered individuals do, but that it's just too small to notice normally, but for the sake of this discussion I'm going to assume that he meant that everybody technically has a Resonance.

I think that this could simply be a skill or talent that someone has- for example, if you're naturally gifted with playing the piano in the Cosmere, that would be counted as a Resonance. Above average with spearplay (ahem, Kaladin)? Resonance. 

Basically, I hypothesize that a Resonance is just a slight augmentation in some part of your Spiritweb, making your more naturally gifted in a certain area than others. This plays well with what we've seen Resonances do, as none that I can think of are too far removed from what a person can already do; Windrunners Connect to others better, allowing for them to create more Squires than other Orders. Lightweavers have mnemonic abilities, which are just an extension of natural memory.

Hypothetical Radiant Resonances include an innate sense of geolocation (Elsecallers) and speaking/understanding others more easily (Edgedancers).

Even my hypothesis for Wax and Wayne's Resonances don't seem much like anything more than a boost to natural abilities (Wax; aiming incredibly well, Wayne; extra lucky- increased Fortune).

Now, if all these Resonances hold true, then none of them grant an ability that isn't already present to some extent in the bearer. I believe that this supports the idea that Resonances can be present in everyone, not just those with powers. Those powers would augment those natural Resonances though, bringing them to the forefront and making more use of them, which is what would traditionally be called a Resonance.

So, if Resonances are present in all people, this makes me wonder; can I spike it?

Yes, yes, this is pretty much my first question to all new postulations, but in this case, I feel it's pretty fitting. Perhaps if a Resonance-talent is tied to one's Destiny you could use H-chromium, or if it's more a web of Connections you could use H-duralumin.

I also think it would be interesting to see if one could augment a Resonance to greater levels by spiking, regrowing (F-gold), and re-spiking it multiple times, adding to its total effect. If this is the case, you could possibly grant someone Savant-level skill in an area without the other consequences.

[Treamayne]

All WoBs tagged #Resonance

2 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

when two (or more, potentially)

More powers means less Resonance:

Spoiler

Yata

There is something that recently was debated by some fans and I hope you may give some clue about the "side effect of interaction between magic" as was pointed in the Twinborn and Surgebinder cases: Are those "perks" stackable? To say if I am a Fullborn like Rashek, wil I have all the possible Twinborn's perks or a specific "Fullborn's perk"? And about the same topic, a Mistborn or Full Feruchemist has his own perk/perks?

Brandon Sanderson

I've worked under the premise that if you hold too many of the powers, like a Mistborn, the result is a loss of these little quirks. The mechanics of it are interesting, but I'll leave you to theorize on that sort of thing.

2 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

pleasant little perks that aren't directly fueled by the powers themselves

But they are directly related to the powers:

Spoiler

 

Quote

 

Brandon Sanderson

The idea of resonance is that two powers, combined, meld kind of into one single power. This is a manifestation of the way Shards combine.

 

Note: Edited out Savant discussion

Quote

Questioner

I was wondering, with resonance. Is that a sort of constructive interference?

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, is that the formal term? For the constructed.-- Oh constructive? I thought you had said-- yeah. So yes, I would say that that is an accurate phrase. I mean obviously it's not exactly the same thing. But yeah, that's what I was looking at when I was building it, was kinda things like this with waveform patterns and whatnot. So yes. At least, it was inspired by this kind of idea.

 

3 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

this makes me wonder; can I spike it?

Doubtful - not only is the Resonance an effect generated by the interaction of two powers, Hemalurgy usually strips Resonance:

Spoiler

Questioner

As far as Hemalurgy, when you give that-- when it's done to somebody, would that create a new resonance?

Brandon Sanderson

It's possible that it could. Though I'm gonna say, most of the time, no... Lots of things are possible, but I'll give you a "mostly no" on that one.

 

[Trusk'our he/him]

46 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

More powers means less Resonance:

Yes, they effectively wash each other out.

I'm mostly wondering if there could be what counted as a Resonance without a real power Involved, perhaps like how there are real life savants or people who are simply naturally talented.

48 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

But they are directly related to the powers:

Agreed. They are still a separate phenomenon though, where the two combine in a way similar to constructive interference, meaning that they possibly enhance what's already present.

50 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Doubtful - not only is the Resonance an effect generated by the interaction of two powers, Hemalurgy usually strips Resonance:

  Hide contents

Questioner

As far as Hemalurgy, when you give that-- when it's done to somebody, would that create a new resonance?

Brandon Sanderson

It's possible that it could. Though I'm gonna say, most of the time, no... Lots of things are possible, but I'll give you a "mostly no" on that one.

 

Fair enough; it won't typically work (I wonder why that is though. I have some guesses, but I'd really like it if Brandon delved more into them in era 3 Mistborn), so isn't something that probably can be taken via Hemalurgy.

Hmmm. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps Resonances boost what's normally there (I feel like there is a decent amount of supporting evidence for this), but a true Resonance is only present when two or more powers mix, so not everybody has them.

However, you might still be able to replicate the effects of a Resonance with Hemalurgy if you could figure out how to add to the piece of Spiritweb that is normally augmented by said Resonance; if it's truly just an addition/slight alteration to what's normally present in the Spiritweb, you could probably replicate it with the right Hemalurgic know-how.

[Treamayne]

34 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

I'd really like it if Brandon delved more into them in era 3 Mistborn

This is likely:

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The "perks" ("secondary effect born with interaction between powers") also has not a 100% sure name, but the main one at the moment is resonances....We will discovered a lot of the in the third trilogy where the Scientific Method would be applied to the magic.

Though, that's from 2016 - so it may actually reference Era 4. . .

34 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

However, you might still be able to replicate the effects of a Resonance with Hemalurgy if you could figure out how to add to the piece of Spiritweb that is normally augmented by said Resonance; if it's truly just an addition/slight alteration to what's normally present in the Spiritweb, you could probably replicate it with the right Hemalurgic know-how.

The thing is, like Savantism, it is something that develops over time - so more likely a misting or ferring that gains a second ability through Hemalurgy might develop their own resonance (based on the two abilities now interacting) but it would not have been affected by whatever resonance the spike donor may have had:

Spoiler

 

Quote

 

PhoenixKnight777

Each Order of Radiant has some resonance between their Surges, correct? Can you give us some examples of what would happen in a Surgebinder somehow achieved an impossible pairing, such as Division and Illumination or Transformation and Gravitation?

Brandon Sanderson

I haven't really thought about it. You go ahead and theorize on that, I'm sure you can come up with interesting ones. Totally possible in the cosmere. The structure that is on Roshar prevents it from currently happening, but totally possible. I mean, very plausible. I haven't theorized on those yet, so I'm not going to right now.

 

Quote

Questioner

If a Radiant uses an Honorblade or binds a second spren, could they get new abilities/resonances by having access to Surges that aren't usually combined?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, they could. Indeed.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Treamayne
Second Quote

[Trusk'our he/him]

9 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

This is likely:

  Hide contents

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The "perks" ("secondary effect born with interaction between powers") also has not a 100% sure name, but the main one at the moment is resonances....We will discovered a lot of the in the third trilogy where the Scientific Method would be applied to the magic.

Heck yes 

9 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

Though, that's from 2016 - so it may actually reference Era 4. . .

Heck no 

Quote

The thing is, like Savantism, it is something that develops over time - so more likely a misting or ferring that gains a second ability through Hemalurgy might develop their own resonance (based on the two abilities now interacting) but it would not have been affected by whatever resonance the spike donor may have had:

So, basically, you're saying that you might be able to develop a Resonance via Hemalurgy by combining powers over time? Probably with the right steps, yes, though based on the WoBs it is probably harder to do it that way than if you could just replicate the effects of one.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Trusk'our

[..... he/him]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:10 PM, Trusk'our said:

Resonances are something that are created when two (or more, potentially) powers exist in an entity and are used extensively. They pop up as pleasant little perks that aren't directly fueled by the powers themselves but are influenced by the nature of what the powers are.

Anyway, I found this WoB:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/385/#e12608

OrangeJedi

Do Mistborn have resonances?

Brandon Sanderson

*Hesitantly* Everybody does, but they're not as pronounced.

OrangeJedi

Is that because they just have so many powers?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah.

This makes me wonder, does Brandon really mean that everybody has a Resonance, even those without Invested powers?

It's very possible that he meant that all multi-powered individuals do, but that it's just too small to notice normally, but for the sake of this discussion I'm going to assume that he meant that everybody technically has a Resonance.

I think that this could simply be a skill or talent that someone has- for example, if you're naturally gifted with playing the piano in the Cosmere, that would be counted as a Resonance. Above average with spearplay (ahem, Kaladin)? Resonance. 

Basically, I hypothesize that a Resonance is just a slight augmentation in some part of your Spiritweb, making your more naturally gifted in a certain area than others. This plays well with what we've seen Resonances do, as none that I can think of are too far removed from what a person can already do; Windrunners Connect to others better, allowing for them to create more Squires than other Orders. Lightweavers have mnemonic abilities, which are just an extension of natural memory.

Hypothetical Radiant Resonances include an innate sense of geolocation (Elsecallers) and speaking/understanding others more easily (Edgedancers).

Even my hypothesis for Wax and Wayne's Resonances don't seem much like anything more than a boost to natural abilities (Wax; aiming incredibly well, Wayne; extra lucky- increased Fortune).

Now, if all these Resonances hold true, then none of them grant an ability that isn't already present to some extent in the bearer. I believe that this supports the idea that Resonances can be present in everyone, not just those with powers. Those powers would augment those natural Resonances though, bringing them to the forefront and making more use of them, which is what would traditionally be called a Resonance.

So, if Resonances are present in all people, this makes me wonder; can I spike it?

Yes, yes, this is pretty much my first question to all new postulations, but in this case, I feel it's pretty fitting. Perhaps if a Resonance-talent is tied to one's Destiny you could use H-chromium, or if it's more a web of Connections you could use H-duralumin.

I also think it would be interesting to see if one could augment a Resonance to greater levels by spiking, regrowing (F-gold), and re-spiking it multiple times, adding to its total effect. If this is the case, you could possibly grant someone Savant-level skill in an area without the other consequences.

I agree that everyone has resonances I just think that their resonances are between different parts of their Spirit webs say their human attributes cuz like you know those are parts of their Spirit web so who's to say you can't have a resonances out of those they're still investiture 

Edited October 31, 2023 by .....