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Two things... Shannow Send a noteboard - 18/12/2009 09:28:25 PM
You said that the Tower doesn't restrict women of higher strength. But the sample population of the Tower, ie. the thousand channelers we see, are skewed towards the center, with no one of very great strength or very great weakness. Which means Moiraine is not very far above the average of 50, and Egwene is clearly above it while Nynaeve and her ilk are far above it and closer to the upper end of the range.

It works really well if you make increments of 4.75. That gives us 21 levels, and you can place strong Aes Sedai like Anaiya or Myrelle or Sheriam at 50, and the list is quite good, in that case.

Edited to add... RJ never spoke of any relative strength scale. He said channeler strength is distributed over 21 levels, and that the channeling population follows a bell curve. Both statements refer to no mysterious relative scale.

The conclusion is rather inescapable... given the bell curve, a woman like Moiraine will have an effective strength greater than 50, but not much so.

And I'd like to know why this seems impossible. RJ made many comparisons between OP strength and actual strength. If you look at actual strength, the average man is likely to be half as strong as the strongest man. And that gap is still huge, still good enough to explain the great differences we see between the strongest and weakest channelers.


One: Why would the Tower restrict themselves to the middle? They won't stop anyone who is too strong from joining them. But they do stop people who are too weak from joining them. 37.5% of all channelers, in fact.

The truth is that Sharina isn't representative of the majority of channelers who are never found. For every one Sharina that is found, there are hundreds of Kin or other women who could learn, who are WEAKER than the average Aes Sedai. There are only 6 women stronger than Nynaeve, but there are thousands of female channelers. So people of that level are simply very rare, and VERY far above the average woman in strength.

There is no sensible reason why the White Tower would restrict stronger channelers from joining them. The reason that Cadsuane is the strongest modern channeler, is because a woman of her strength is exceedingly rare. Not because the Tower are deliberately excluding stronger channelers. But they are deliberately excluding weaker channelers.

I challenge you to provide a mechanism by which stronger channelers are excluded from the Tower.

No, logic says someone like Cadsuane is far above average strength.

Two:

Even if, as you suggest, Moiraine is close to average strength, that means that Moiraine is above 50 in strength. And since we know that Egwene is stronger than Moiraine and Melaine combined, that means Egwene must be at 100 strength or more.

That means Egwene is stronger than the strongest woman, Lanfear, who is at 100. How do you explain that in your quirky model?
This message last edited by Shannow on 18/12/2009 at 09:39:25 PM
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The One Power Bell Curve: Proof that it is not centered on 50% of the strongest channeler's strength - 18/12/2009 08:37:55 AM 1860 Views
I always thought the curve was one sided - 18/12/2009 01:17:32 PM 1128 Views
I would say that your sample is flawed. - 18/12/2009 05:02:02 PM 1233 Views
well said *NM* - 18/12/2009 05:12:40 PM 588 Views
It doesn't matter... - 18/12/2009 10:02:38 PM 1058 Views
But, it sort of does. - 18/12/2009 10:43:08 PM 1136 Views
So you're saying that no modern Aes Sedai are even of average strength? - 18/12/2009 10:51:01 PM 1298 Views
Are you sure it's the same bell curve from the AoL? - 18/12/2009 11:11:19 PM 1183 Views
The Tower is restricted to the middle... - 18/12/2009 05:35:03 PM 1268 Views
Two things... - 18/12/2009 09:28:25 PM 1160 Views
The culling theory... - 18/12/2009 09:36:34 PM 1077 Views
The culling theory applies to the ENTIRE population, not just Aes Sedai... - 18/12/2009 09:42:31 PM 1215 Views
Yes, but Aes Sedai take it to a new level... - 18/12/2009 09:48:59 PM 1294 Views
Re: Yes, but Aes Sedai take it to a new level... - 18/12/2009 10:06:15 PM 1056 Views
Several more things... - 18/12/2009 11:26:19 PM 1240 Views
You don't understand your own model... - 18/12/2009 11:38:05 PM 1263 Views
So RJ was wrong about Bell Curve distribution? - 19/12/2009 06:03:24 PM 1101 Views
Re: So RJ was wrong about Bell Curve distribution? - 19/12/2009 06:10:52 PM 1103 Views
Its simple really... - 19/12/2009 06:15:23 PM 1159 Views
Age-Related Sample Bias - 18/12/2009 06:41:03 PM 1085 Views
I have no problem with that...but it implies that the average woman today isn't at 50% of Lanfear... - 18/12/2009 09:46:00 PM 1189 Views
Partially agreed... - 18/12/2009 10:13:46 PM 1094 Views
A thought that occured to me, and I'd like your opinion... - 18/12/2009 07:38:29 PM 1082 Views
Well Sharina isn't a sparker and she's the strongest AS - 18/12/2009 07:57:17 PM 1091 Views
Yes... - 18/12/2009 08:01:57 PM 1195 Views
Is it just my bad memory or is one of the wondergirls not a sparker? - 18/12/2009 10:12:59 PM 1060 Views
I think it's just a bad memory... - 18/12/2009 10:19:25 PM 1060 Views
Easier sulution, and real example. - 18/12/2009 10:03:20 PM 1146 Views
And that is indeed the solution I feel most comfortable with... - 18/12/2009 10:08:40 PM 1083 Views
Re: And that is indeed the solution I feel most comfortable with... - 19/12/2009 11:39:31 AM 1328 Views
Agree, but a little more curvy is better - 19/12/2009 11:17:16 PM 1028 Views
*facepalm* - 18/12/2009 10:13:16 PM 1110 Views
That's just the normalized value graphed on a log scale. - 19/12/2009 11:20:41 PM 1069 Views
Dude, Seriously? - 18/12/2009 10:19:25 PM 1088 Views
Indeed, and that's why I propose that... - 18/12/2009 10:31:23 PM 1134 Views
Yes, "Bell Curve" does not mean Gausian. Or normal distribution. - 19/12/2009 11:24:10 PM 1104 Views
It does to RJ - 20/12/2009 03:12:30 PM 1167 Views
Yes, "Bell Curve" does not mean Gausian. Or normal distribution. - 19/12/2009 11:24:11 PM 1057 Views
That's because outliers in IQ tests are excluded form the curve. *NM* - 18/12/2009 11:31:23 PM 606 Views
Really?!?! then what is the definition of a IQ of 200? - 19/12/2009 11:28:18 PM 1370 Views
You can have IQ's above that... - 20/12/2009 05:09:44 AM 1108 Views
I said that in the other post and was half torn to pieces *NM* - 19/12/2009 11:38:25 AM 548 Views
Eh. Ignore the IQ value and draw it on a linear weight scale - 19/12/2009 11:26:23 PM 1073 Views
Re: The One Power Bell Curve: Proof that it is not centered on 50% of the strongest channeler's stre - 19/12/2009 06:02:34 PM 1034 Views
I like this idea - 20/12/2009 04:01:28 PM 1327 Views
Accidental Post *NM* - 20/12/2009 07:11:09 PM 589 Views
Mathmatically this is very close to the system I proposed in another thread - 27/12/2009 01:23:51 AM 1015 Views
Re: The One Power Bell Curve: - 27/12/2009 10:05:33 PM 1222 Views
What makes you think Alviarin is "middling"? - 27/12/2009 10:28:13 PM 1406 Views
Re: What makes you think Alviarin is "middling"? - 28/12/2009 03:19:14 PM 1104 Views
Re: What makes you think Alviarin is "middling"? - 28/12/2009 03:30:44 PM 1308 Views

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