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Studies: The Slowing Process

"Here's an idea I had concerning the slowing process. It seems all the really powerful people in any fantasy epic live longer than everyone else (elves, Sauron, Gandalf and Strider in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, for instance), and the sameholds in Jordan's world. He's said a lot about this slowing business, and I think I've discovered what causes Aes Sedai to live longer. If I'm right (big if there), it just shows the amazing amount of time and thought RJ has put into the architecture of his world! Here we go...

Anyone who can channel, be they Aes Sedai, the Kin or perhaps even male, reach a point at which they begin to age more slowly. According to Elayne in ACoS, this happens around the age of 21-25 for females (Aes Sedai, at least), and the amount of this "slowing" depends onthe strength of the person to whom this occurs. I assume this means that the stronger the channeler, the slower he or she ages.

Saidin and Saidar, working with and against each other, makeup the force that causes the Wheel of Time to move. Taken more literally, the True Source is the force that drives time forward in RJ's world. One might say it is like a river turning a miller's wheel (in fact,this analogy works very well when describing the whole slowing process).

Now, let's say that a someone who can channel begins using the Source. They some how divert some of Saidin or Saidar from the main flow and use that energy to affect the physical word (they lift a rock or throw balefire at someone). In other words, they shunt some of the water away from the miller's wheel in order to do some thing else. So what happens to the wheel? It begins to turn more slowly!!! (In more physics-oriented terms, when the continued application of the Source lessens, the angular velocity of the wheel decreases as energy is lost). This actually assumes that the Wheel is under some sortof friction, but since the Source is constantly applied (a wheel without friction would turn forever at the same angular velocity and not require more energy to keep up the movement), I assume that without the Source, the wheel would start to grind to a halt.. Maybe weaving the Pattern accounts for the "friction" on the Wheel of Time, but who knows.

So, how does the universe deal with this constant and variable slowing of the Wheel? In Jordan's world, the imbalance is corrected by the slowing process. For the bodies of those who channel, time does not flow at the same rate as for other people. This time-slowing does not affect the perception of the channeler, so that their consciousness ages just like everyone else's, but a channeler's cells do not experience the same flow rate of time and thus they do not age like the rest ofthe populace. The amount of the slowing depends on how much of theOne Power a person diverts from the normal turning of the Wheel--thus those who are stronger slow the Wheel more than those who are weaker.

This may seem wacky, but remember in our universe time is just relative to how fast you are moving, so it is perfectly acceptable for the use of the Source to affect the rate of time passage in Jordan's reality. Only one question remains, however, and that has to do with the fact that Aes Sedai do not live as long as they "should" and they attain an agelessness that most other channelers do not experience. This may simply be a side affect of the Three Oaths, or a trick of the Power that the Aes Sedai keep to themselves. Even the oldest Accepted at the Tower, though she should have reached the "agelessness" after forty years of using the Power (it happened to people like Suian in afar smaller amount of time, but that could just indicate the difference in strengths) simply looks like she's 26. Aes Sedai must some how disrupt the natural slowing process in order to keep their skin perfect. Something must happen along those lines for the relatively powerful Aes Sedai to die more quickly than others.

Of course, I don't know about stilling and how my theory fits in with the changes in Suian and Leane due to being cut off from the Source. There are surely some other things I have not thought of, so please comment on this!"

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