ExcelsisBerny
She/Her- 1,662
- 2,938
Hi. I’m creating this thread to bring to light the odd situation DKD is currently in.
I will split this into three mini sections:
Since I know supporters are going to mass-jump at my throat, I’m asking for replies that actually contribute to the discussion and not short messages that say nothing or that repeat the same addressed points over and over again. Please, let us avoid stretching this into twenty pages; the matter is not that complicated per se.
As a final clarification, I’m not going to dispute information already accepted in the verse; in fact, I’m going to limit myself to using information that is present in the blog explaining the cosmology.
That's it.
Agreements: @Oblivion_Of_The_Endless, @Compsito, @ShinMaximillion, @Super_Nova, @BestMGQScalerEver, @Robo432343, @ScrollerGNL, @Qawsedf234, @BeTheWay1rst, @Reiner04
Disagreements: @StorytellingDemonKing, @Grabbing_dragon
I will split this into three mini sections:
- The issue with the High 1-A+ scaling
- The issue with the High 1-A for the Afterlife
- The correct tiers
Since I know supporters are going to mass-jump at my throat, I’m asking for replies that actually contribute to the discussion and not short messages that say nothing or that repeat the same addressed points over and over again. Please, let us avoid stretching this into twenty pages; the matter is not that complicated per se.
As a final clarification, I’m not going to dispute information already accepted in the verse; in fact, I’m going to limit myself to using information that is present in the blog explaining the cosmology.
If we go to the verse explanation page, we can see that the reason the work is High 1-A+ in itself is because there’s a direct explanation that all possible worlds which aren’t logically contradictory to each other exist.
In simple terms, the Afterlife is a logical space that allows for the existence of all possible worlds.
At first glance, looking at the scans, it seems correct and I wouldn’t have any issue with that; however, it’s important to clarify that 'all possible worlds' (that is, the logical space of the Afterlife) are contained within a larger system.
The very explanation page says so directly:
To be more precise, the Afterlife is the second layer of an infinite hierarchy of layers:
In the text above it’s stated that the Afterlife is a closed system, so the possible worlds established in the Afterlife are logically within that closed system, just as the scans and the blog itself affirm:
You’re probably already seeing what the problem is. Obviously this is a huge contradiction to High 1-A+, since nothing can exist above all possible worlds except a tier 0 per se (worse still if we’re talking about an R>F transcendence).
Given this context, it’s clear that the possible worlds are simply all the possible permutations of the system itself (that is the Afterlife itself and everything hierarchically below it); in fact, the very source material implies as much:
All this massive yap basically explains that at first Akuto used the space and the characters he had at his disposal for the possible worlds (the data in the log of his mind with the information about all the worlds below the Afterlife), but that after breaking his internal barriers, the very protagonists of those possible stories tried to access the Afterlife, so they became part of Akuto’s own story causing a ch(which up to that point only reached the Afterlife, Aka the 2nd layer of the system).
Therefore, those possible worlds are necessarily limited to the system. There’s no other way to see it.
There’s no further mention that supports a High 1-A+ for the Law of Identity and the Anti-Universe, so because of this huge contradiction, that tier should be removed.
In simple terms, the Afterlife is a logical space that allows for the existence of all possible worlds.
"More importantly, the Afterlife works as a space where all possible worlds that are logically possible can be created, altered, and destroyed. "
At first glance, looking at the scans, it seems correct and I wouldn’t have any issue with that; however, it’s important to clarify that 'all possible worlds' (that is, the logical space of the Afterlife) are contained within a larger system.
The very explanation page says so directly:
"First off, its a higher level fiction than the Main Story. Fiction within Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou operates in multiple layers. When Akuto arrives in the Afterlife, he has already destroyed the first layer and moved onto the second, this second layer being the Afterlife"
To be more precise, the Afterlife is the second layer of an infinite hierarchy of layers:
“You hated fiction, while living inside a fiction. You had a fetish for revealing that which was fictional, and kept doing it again and again. You would destroy what seemed to be a closed system, only to activate the system that lay beyond it. A multilayered fiction. An infinite regression. It’s a hell that continues forever. Which makes this... difficult.”
- ACT 13
In the text above it’s stated that the Afterlife is a closed system, so the possible worlds established in the Afterlife are logically within that closed system, just as the scans and the blog itself affirm:
"Since Akuto can create all possible worlds that are logically non-contradictory, he can also create stories containing infinite hierarchies, seeing them as nothing more than "lies" from his perspective. As he utterly transcends and holds complete control over them, this places both the Afterlife and Akuto himself at High 1-A. (High Outerverse level)"
"The Afterlife is a logical space, Akuto Sai scales to it and can create all possible worlds that logically non-contradictory, placing it and him in High 1-A (High Outerverse level)."
You’re probably already seeing what the problem is. Obviously this is a huge contradiction to High 1-A+, since nothing can exist above all possible worlds except a tier 0 per se (worse still if we’re talking about an R>F transcendence).
Given this context, it’s clear that the possible worlds are simply all the possible permutations of the system itself (that is the Afterlife itself and everything hierarchically below it); in fact, the very source material implies as much:
Maybe opening up all the possibilities was a mistake. Space is finite. Characters are finite. But their combinations are infinite. Opening up a possibility meant breaking down the walls of the worlds within Akuto that might have been.
It was the equivalent of giving birth to a new universe within himself. Of course, the tools for this universe weren’t limited to what was inside Akuto. The gods of the outer universe, even they became a part of the story. As a result, the story became chaos.
What does it mean when a story turns into chaos? You can find the answer within one of our oldest stories: “The Tower of Babel.”
Until then, you could say that humanity shared a story. Everyone, essentially, was playing their own role in the story. That’s why the world refused to allow anybody but Akuto to alter it.
But what happens if a story ceases to be shared?
The answer is: chaos.
The gods of the outer universe were, you could say, their own main characters, with their own main stories. So multiple protagonists tried to advance their own stories within the same place. It may have been chaos, but there was no conflict.
The reason for this was that it wasn’t just strong stories that were trying to take control, but even weak stories were included in this as well. The frustrating thing was that the strength of a story had nothing to do with its size.
Weak, huge things drove daily life.
- ATC 13
All this massive yap basically explains that at first Akuto used the space and the characters he had at his disposal for the possible worlds (the data in the log of his mind with the information about all the worlds below the Afterlife), but that after breaking his internal barriers, the very protagonists of those possible stories tried to access the Afterlife, so they became part of Akuto’s own story causing a ch(which up to that point only reached the Afterlife, Aka the 2nd layer of the system).
Therefore, those possible worlds are necessarily limited to the system. There’s no other way to see it.
There’s no further mention that supports a High 1-A+ for the Law of Identity and the Anti-Universe, so because of this huge contradiction, that tier should be removed.
Taking into account what we saw above… let’s look again at the justification for the Afterlife being High 1-A:
As we saw above, the Afterlife is a system that’s contained within infinitely many ever-larger systems. The problem here is that claiming the Afterlife can contain the very same hierarchy of systems that, in turn, contains the Afterlife itself is literally logically contradictory (a logical impossibility that breaks the principle of non-contradiction).
To top it off, there really isn’t any evidence to assert that beyond an inference… but inferences don’t necessarily lead to correct conclusions, so if there’s a contradiction as obvious as this, then that line of reasoning should be rejected.
And just to be clear, I’m not saying it’s utterly impossible to find structures that paradoxically self-contain, but first of all, those fictional verses have more than enough backing for that claim, and second, the logical framework used for DKD’s possible worlds is a classical one (there’s no evidence that it differs from a conventional classical logical framework), so this logical contradiction is completely impossible to manifest in the Afterlife based on the work’s own narrative.
"Given the strict definition of possible worlds provided in the novel it follows that the Afterlife must also contain the infinite story hierarchies previously mentioned, since they, too, are logically possible. As a result, when Akuto creates all possible worlds, they must necessarily be included.
So, if Akuto succeeds in creating all possible worlds within The Afterlife, then those have to be included. And while opinions may be divided on how it happened, the thing we do know is that he did create all Possible Worlds."
"Since Akuto can create all possible worlds that are logically non-contradictory, he can also create stories containing infinite hierarchies, seeing them as nothing more than "lies" from his perspective. As he utterly transcends and holds complete control over them, this places both the Afterlife and Akuto himself at High 1-A. (High Outerverse level)"
As we saw above, the Afterlife is a system that’s contained within infinitely many ever-larger systems. The problem here is that claiming the Afterlife can contain the very same hierarchy of systems that, in turn, contains the Afterlife itself is literally logically contradictory (a logical impossibility that breaks the principle of non-contradiction).
To top it off, there really isn’t any evidence to assert that beyond an inference… but inferences don’t necessarily lead to correct conclusions, so if there’s a contradiction as obvious as this, then that line of reasoning should be rejected.
And just to be clear, I’m not saying it’s utterly impossible to find structures that paradoxically self-contain, but first of all, those fictional verses have more than enough backing for that claim, and second, the logical framework used for DKD’s possible worlds is a classical one (there’s no evidence that it differs from a conventional classical logical framework), so this logical contradiction is completely impossible to manifest in the Afterlife based on the work’s own narrative.
The Afterlife is a meta-layer above a multiverse that scales to High 1-B+, so it’s tier 1-A.
The logical possibilities Akuto manifests within the Afterlife are limited to the same Afterlife system, so they’d range from the lowest tier (11-C) up to the highest tier that system reaches (1-A), which is why Akuto can alter the Afterlife itself with that power.
Since the Afterlife is a meta-layer, the infinite hierarchy of the fiction scales to infinite layers within 1-A, which is 1-A+.
The Anti-Universe is a plane totally disconnected from the hierarchy and lacks the very quality of being a story.
Therefore, it falls by rule into baseline High 1-A.
The Law of Identity scales above the Anti-Universe, so it would be an additional layer (not a meta-layer) beyond baseline High 1-A.
The logical possibilities Akuto manifests within the Afterlife are limited to the same Afterlife system, so they’d range from the lowest tier (11-C) up to the highest tier that system reaches (1-A), which is why Akuto can alter the Afterlife itself with that power.
Since the Afterlife is a meta-layer, the infinite hierarchy of the fiction scales to infinite layers within 1-A, which is 1-A+.
The Anti-Universe is a plane totally disconnected from the hierarchy and lacks the very quality of being a story.
Keena spoke excitedly, and began without even waiting for Akuto. It was a ritual where not only stories, but the body, would cross over zero and become imaginary. They would create a negative body, an imaginary body, the first step to becoming something not of this world. Data, existing as imaginary numbers.
A space without time.
A place where physical laws ended.
Beyond causality.
Beyond reality.
The salvation of all beings.
Therefore, it falls by rule into baseline High 1-A.
The Law of Identity scales above the Anti-Universe, so it would be an additional layer (not a meta-layer) beyond baseline High 1-A.
That's it.
Agreements: @Oblivion_Of_The_Endless, @Compsito, @ShinMaximillion, @Super_Nova, @BestMGQScalerEver, @Robo432343, @ScrollerGNL, @Qawsedf234, @BeTheWay1rst, @Reiner04
Disagreements: @StorytellingDemonKing, @Grabbing_dragon
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