Ronan and the Powers That Be

[Caitlin]

...so you're thinking that the Pig is like a Universal tracking device? ...or a GPS-thingy?

That actually makes a lot of sense. Then the Powers wouldn't need to keep up on everyone/everything, just check up with the Pig when you need the information. Save the Powers some serious aggravation. ...yeah, I like that idea alot. ::mulls::

[wizardsrreal]

I think for me, it would be esier(at least at first) to be like Darrel. to only be in 2 places at once instead of everywhere and everywhen.

[bluesalamanders]

Presumably if one has the ability to be everywhere/everywhen at once or to bilocate, like an abdul can, then the ability to conceive of it and comprehend it comes as part of the package. Otherwise, what would be the point? If you could do it, but not understand it, you'd go mad.

~Anna

[Caitlin]

Originally posted by wizardsrreal:
I think for me, it would be esier(at least at first) to be like Darrel. to only be in 2 places at once instead of everywhere and everywhen.

Actually, Darrel was only in one place at one time. He was just waaaaay off in his own little world mentally. For instance, if...no, wait, you probably won't my ADHD allusion, um....hmm... Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you're feeling really daydreamy one day, and your brain just REFUSES to focus, so you jsut kinda let your mind wander farther and farther until you're completely oblivious to everything (those with ADD and/or ADHD will know what I'm talking about). That's about what Darrel's experienceing (although in a differnet way). He's so far off in his own little world that he's completely oblivious to the world around him, so he can't get out.

[Moeen]

Originally posted by Caitlin:
Actually, Darrel was only in one place at one time. He was just waaaaay off in his own little world mentally.

He's so far off in his own little world that he's completely oblivious to the world around him, so he can't get out.

Caitlin, I think you've confused Darryl's autism with his wizardly status as an abdal and his ability to create his own universes by modifying his own kernel. It's true that during his autism he was stuck in his own world keeping the Lone One busy, but he was also physically able to be in multiple places at once. He met Nita and Kit at the same time (which is what tipped of Nita to his status as an abdal) and then later when meeting them on the moon, he told them he was still back at home sleeping (so it was indeed physcial as well as mental). The Concordance entry on abdals here should clarify things a bit.

[Caitlin]

whoopsie. ::goes back to check it out::

hey, thanks for clarifying that for me. ...and awesome siggy. ::hearts::

[Moeen]

Heh, no problem Caitlin, and thanks for complimenting my sig .

Now as for the Transcendent Pig, and the powers that be in general, that's quite a different story than abdals. It seems that abdals, while they can be in more than one place at the same time, they still experience time like the rest of us. That is, they might be able to get closer to everywhere than the rest of us, but not everywhen. It's not clear what the powers are capable of, but we do know that The Pig can be everywhen (or in its words "Omnipresent"), and it also seems like The Pig doesn't work for the Powers, because they don't know where the the Pig comes from. Now, while the idea of being everywhen sounds like a neat idea, it also has its difficulties. For one thing, being everywhen means you know everything that has, is, and will happen in your experience, so that should mean that the Pig knew what Nita and Kit were going to ask it and what the outcomes would've been, yet it expresses surprise during its meeting with Kit. Does this seems problematic to anyone?

[Caitlin]

You kidding? the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is just...the best.

Wow, that does sound problematic...I'd have a hard time not giving stuff away. But then again, you'd know if you did give anything away, because you already the outcome before it happens. But you would know that the encounter was coming, and that you'd already know what was going to happen, so you could be prepared for it, couldn't you? Erm...you'd know to be ready for just such an occasion and take to talking like Peach? Mabye?

ooo..my little gray cells hurt now.

[Peter Murray]

Originally posted by Moeen:
For one thing, being everywhen means you know everything that has, is, and will happen in your experience, so that should mean that the Pig knew what Nita and Kit were going to ask it and what the outcomes would've been, yet it expresses surprise during its meeting with Kit. Does this seems problematic to anyone?

Maybe Chao's just polite? You know, like when a small kid tells you something you already know, but you pretend to be listening and interested? Or laugh at a joke you've heard before. Maybe, despite knowing everything he will be told in the future, he makes a point of always pretending he doesn't, at the point in time when he's told?

[Moeen]

Caitlin, Peter, of course both of your explanations are feasible, namely, the Transcendent Pig just pretends not to know anything because in it's conciousness it has a grasp of the whole timeline in it's experience and knows what the outcomes are. While this explanation works, it's a bit unsatisfactory, because you could say that for just about anything that the Pig says. Nevertheless, gledes being as uncommon as they are at any time, the Pig's astonishment at it may not be all that surprising. I look forward to seeing how DD handles the character in the future (assuming she does of course).