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Conceptual Manipulation: Not all Concepts are Created (or destroyed) Equal

I'm fine with cutting nominalism and idealism, but I feel like they should be mentioned in the page specifically stating they aren't concept manip in the way we use them. That way we don't have people crying "concept manip" if someone is able to "change your entire concept of pain".

I do, however, feel that Lesser Realism and Aristotelian Realism should stick, as they are still abstract conceptual forms. The Pokemon characters use Aristotelian Concept manip, for example.

Also, for the Wiki's sake, I would be OK with making a distinction between two types of Platonic Realism: One that uses some kind of transcendent and independent form that is localized and restricted and another that uses an utterly all-encompassing Platonic form that is true to the original idea.

When it comes to making this easier to understand, I can probably write some easier examples and show how it would work for characters in fiction.
 
I also strongly agree with Matthew about that it is dangerous for our system to start slapping 1-A on any characters that are referred to as Platonic ideals, even if their established power levels are far more limited in scale.

We currently have that problem in another thread with members who keep insisting on a 1-A Darkseid based on such a reference in a Grant Morrison interview.
 
Antvasima said:
We currently have that problem in another thread with members who keep insisting on a 1-A Darkseid based on such a reference in a Grant Morrison interview.
This is actually false, they are reffered to in such terms a lot in actual comics.
 
Nobody here is trying to slap on 1-A on every character referred to as a Platonic Universal. It's very obvious that most characters who receive such a denomination are "absolute" within their own planes, which is why the analogy is used. That doesn't make them 1-A, it's just a fancy hyperbole.

No, we're talking about characters who have their ratings actually explained in-depth.
 
@Ant

Dividing the Platonic concepts into a lesser and true version of it would solve this. Unless proven to be absolutely all-encompassing and totally transcendent, we would assume them not to be True Platonic Forms.
 
@Matthew

Noted, but I still find it severely exaggerated.
 
@Kepekley23

Yes, I understand, but this point needs to be clarified within the page to avoid lots of problems for us later on.
 
@Assaltwaffle

That seems like a good idea.
 
I believe we should include Nominalism and Lesser Realism on the profiles as an example of universals that do not actually fit our definition of Concept Manip. In that case, I agree with Assalt.
 
@Kep

I think Lesser Realism still does count. It isn't just an idea, but rather a literal abstract. It is just that affecting it is not as impressive as affecting one of the higher abstracts.

But I do still agree with listing Nominalism in the new description as one that doesn't work.
 
It depends.

For example, a powerful Mind Manipulator would be somewhat equal to a Concept Manipulator in a verse where universals are defined via Lesser Realism.
 
@Kep

I mean they would still need to change how they view they abstract concept. It would have to be some uber potent mind manip to pull that off.

If we dismissed powers if they overlap with others, Information and Law manip would both conflict hard.
 
I would honestly prefer to keep lesser realism out of it and by that keep it to concept manipulation that changes how things are, instead of just how they appear to be. That way concept manipulation isn't split in two completely different kinds of abilities.

Manipulation of concepts in lesser realism seems better listed as a powerful subtype of mind manipulation. (Which reminds me that I should probably change the link on aleisters archetype manipulation if I get the chance)
 
Kingpi has brought up a current issue with our current page: "Only High 1-A or above characters can be assumed to completely manipulate all concepts."

This is wrong and outdated. If we're going by "all concepts" to mean "all True Platonic Concepts" this doesn't work, since the Form of the Good is basically a Tier 0. All others are only 1-A, and if using any other level of Concept, this just doesn't hold true at all.
 
Elaborating with the different varieties and nature of conceptual manipulation is a good idea, but we do need to keep things comprehensible. If anything we should at least list concepts in lesser realism to just address their existence.
 
@DontTalk

I think there is a difference between being able to manipulate the literal abstract conceptual framework of an object's place in reality and being able to manipulate a group's perception of that concept, and the former should still qualify, since if the universe is running off of a "reality is what you make of it" notion this would essentially change reality for all intents and purposes.

It is absolutely case-by-case, but I still think manipulating an abstract conceptual framework would qualify. If everyone disagrees with me on this, however, I'll concede it.
 
Assaltwaffle said:
@DontTalk

I think there is a difference between being able to manipulate the literal abstract conceptual framework of an object's place in reality should still qualify, since if the universe is running off of a "reality is what you make of it" notion this would essentially change reality for all intents and purposes.
I also absolutely agree with this.
 
@Assalt

Concepts, no. Logic and mathematics, yes, in regard to High 1-A, as logic is the basis of conceptualization, and hierarchies ("meta" doesn't change any of this) are within this framework.

Anyway, I don't see the need to have arbitrary divisions. If something does not demonstrate actual Platonism, it should not be considered Platonic, and truly Platonic things are always 1-A. Hence, why I said unless there is a direct contradiction in the work. There does not need to be so many arbitrary restrictions.
 
@Aeyu

I gotta disagree for the above reasons. Slapping 1-A hax on things that don't explicitly describe utterly transcendent and all-encompassing concepts seems like a pretty bad idea.
 
Well, that's what Aeyu is saying. We shouldn't give 1-A to anything Platonic unless it demonstrates actual 1-A transduality.
 
But that's another example of arbitrariness in regard to 1-A. It's kind of irritating that that tier is clouded by all sorts of arbitrary qualifications which aren't part of what actually qualifies for 1-A, that being:

"Characters with no dimensional restrictions/limitations"

Truly Platonic beings would very much fall in line with 1-A and manipulating Platonic concepts is very much a 1-A feat. What I am saying is that we should assume all Platonism is 1-A, and anything that contradicts this baseline should be ignored and relegated to a lower level.
 
This isn't the time to discuss how this effects verses, rather this thread is to discuss the standards and page itself.

You're welcome to start a new thread after this one or reply to a subsequent that will evaluate our current concep users and where they stand in any new system.
 
I agree with DontTalk about that manipulating people's perception about concepts seems more appropriate for the mind manipulation ability, or even just absolutely massive real world style social influence.

I also still think that slapping 1-A on any characters that have the words "platonic concepts" mentioned in conjunction would severely mess up our tiering system and lead to 1-A inflation, unless it was clarified that what is intended is that they transcend all degrees of the concepts of space and time, or similar.
 
"I agree with DontTalk about that manipulating people's perception about concepts seems more appropriate for the mind manipulation ability, or even just absolutely massive real world style social influence."

It really does depend on the world, as in some settings it's very possible that manipulating someone's own personal concepts and perception of the world can warp reality, in these worlds where reality is subjective and formed by the perceptions of others.

"I also still think that slapping 1-A on any characters that have the words "platonic concepts""

Nobody is suggesting that.
 
@Promestein

1) You are thinking about cases such as The Sandman's "dream of cats" rewriting reality via their perception then I take it?

2) Okay, perhaps I misunderstood Aeyu then.
 
@Ant

Given the relative rarity of mention in regard to Platonic universals/realism within fiction, I was advising ignoring anything "Platonic", that doesn't qualify for what Platonics would be, that is to say 1-A. (For the reasons I have outlined above, tl;dr they conceptually transcend all notions or applications of space or time dimensions by their inherent nature)

If a character contradicts this application of Platonics by a statement/feat/etc which implies them to be restricted to a particular dimensional level, for instance, then their ability to affect concepts or their own fundamental nature cannot, by definition, be Platonic, except in name, which is irrelevant to our classification scheme. That's all I've been trying to say. Perhaps a better way to say it is that characters should not logically have Type 1 unless they are at the least 1-A or able to affect 1-A structures.

Finally, I think that all arguments of Platonicism should be considered valid in trying to determine 1-A, but only if they are not directly contradicted by other statements/feats (Like the Darkseid thing).
 
Promestein said:
It really does depend on the world, as in some settings it's very possible that manipulating someone's own personal concepts and perception of the world can warp reality, in these worlds where reality is subjective and formed by the perceptions of others.
There is no static correspondent for conceptual attributes in space-time in which are assigned, from the aspects of "metaphysics", one have to consider there is no bound to what is and what is not, always is there potential for more principles that of which mortals can or not conceive. This "subjective" intuition could for example be explained with the Star Maker.

Type 4: Idealism

In other creations, though there was indeed a physical aspect, there was nothing corresponding to the familiar systematic physical universe. The physical experience of the beings was wholly determined by their mutual impact on one another. Each flooded its fellows with sensory "images," the quality and sequence of which were determined according to psychological laws of the impact of mind on mind
The star maker can incorporate "ideals" whether or not they are limited by dimensions or non-spatial. There is no metaphysical limit which the star maker can't aggregate or subtract from something. Every abstract is governed from the star maker's authority, interference was likely never observed within his omnipresence.

First he conceived from the depth of his own being a something, neither mind nor matter, but rich in potentiality, and in suggestive traits, gleams, hints for his creative imagination. Over this fine substance for a long while he pondered. It was a medium in which the one and the many demanded to be most subtly dependent upon one another; in which all parts and all characters must pervade and be pervaded by all other parts and all other characters; in which each thing must seemingly be but an influence in all other things; and yet the whole must be no other than the sum of all its parts, and each part an all-pervading determination of the whole. It was a cosmically substance in which any individual spirit must be, mysteriously, at once an absolute self and a mere figment of the whole.
That said, I apologize for this non-staff intrusion, wanted to clarify this.
 
Hopefully this still gets attention after the thread following bug.

I also want to clarify something that I think most of y'all know, but still needs to be said: Having any concept hax does not make your other hax that aren't related to the object of said concept stronger. For example, having concept manipulation of darkness does not make your mind hax stronger.
 
I think that the "types" of conceptual manipulation should be the first three, although the other two should probably be explained, this way people can understand better why they don't qualify as conceptual manipulation.

Also regarding the bit about Plato's forms:

While it's true that the Platonic Forms are 1-A, their equivalents in fiction aren't necessarily on this level.

You can manipulate a type 1 concept on a Low 2-C scale, High 2-A, 1-C, the one that you prefer.

A concept that's bound by dimensions but is still completely unaffected by everything excluding conceptual stuff is a lesser version of Plato's forms.

If you obliterated Earth, the Aristotelian concept of "humanity" would be gone. The Platonic one would stay.

Saying that a concept can't be akin to Plato's forms if it's not 1-A doesn't work.

Just explain it on the profile, Plato's forms are 1-A, type 1 concepts aren't necessarily 1-A, even if they are similar under certain aspects.
 
OK, I will write up a draft for a new page using the original page and what was discussed here.
 
Lesser Realism is a bit complicated.

You are manipulating something abstract and it does affect reality.

Although it's more like changing the perception that everyone has of something, without actually manipulating their mind.

You can't alter an object on a conceptual level to reshape it.

One thing for sure, if we accept it as conceptual manipulation we need to note that it isn't valid if you are simply mind haxing a bunch of people.
 
@Kaltias

I mean concept manip of higher levels can be achieved through other means. Just identifying it as Type 3 should serve to show its inferiority to the higher concept types.
 
I'm personally fine with Lesser Realism being conceptual manipulation.

I'm simply less certain because it's really borderline.
 
So is anybody willing to write a draft for suggested changes to the conceptual manipulation page?
 
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