What should the rival entity be called?

[quigonkenny]

I've been looking over the previous pages, and let me say first off that I know little about kanji, so my assumptions here are based on the above posts and what web-based translation tools I have available, but I do enjoy teasing out the hidden meanings behind using one word rather than another.

That said, I feel that the biggest difference between the IDSE and the 広域帯宇宙存在 lies in the 広域 (wide area) portion, versus Yuki's "integrated" group. "Entity" vs. "existence" really only backs this up, as the terms "entity" and "integrated" both imply cohesion, while "existence" and "wide area" (or more properly, "dispersed," in this context) imply a lack of cohesion.

Taking the 帯 (band, like a radiation band, or maybe radio band) into account is where I get the impression that the 広域帯宇宙存在 is like some nebulous presence made up of the universe's background radiation or the castoff energies of dying stars, or something similar, that over the eons has developed a type of sentience of its own, enough to put it on par with the IDSE, while being far less of a coherent entity.

While I think that the IDSE is pretty "nebulous" and "dispersed" in it's own right, as described in the books, I feel that it's not quite as spread out as the 広域帯宇宙存在. Kinda like the difference between two of the ideas about the existence of a Supreme Being. In the one school of thought, you've got God. Yeah, He's kinda omnipresent, but He's God. You can point to Him (figuratively, at least) and go "There He is." This is the IDSE. In the other school of thought, God is more of a universal existence, surrounding and suffusing everything, kind of an ambient Presence, that's not exactly always evident, but is still definitely there. That's more how I see the 広域帯宇宙存在.

Which brings me to my suggestion:

"Ambient Cosmic Energy Existence."

"Cosmic" and "existence" are gimmes. "Galactic" is too narrowly defined, and "universal" just doesn't sound right. "Presence" could work instead of "existence," but it carries maybe a little too strong of a dangerous connotation, and it really just doesn't strike me as a word Yuki would use. "Ambient" is a good word that means ominipresent, without implying an "active" existence. It, I think, is the word most of you have been looking for, as it covers "dispersed" and "macrospatial" both in one word (and likewise "macrozonal" and "wide-area"). "Energy," admittedly, is the weak point, as it sounds very bland, and not nearly as cool as "quantum." It does, however, cover the energy component implied by 帯, while lacking the unnecessary specificity of energy type that "quantum" carries with it.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but what are your thoughts?

[Smidge204]

You make some very good points...

I do agree that it makes more sense for the "integrated" in IDSE to describe function rather than physical integration, as well as the new "character" (for lack of a better word) being the polar opposite of that concept.

"Ambient" is a good word that means ominipresent, without implying an "active" existence.

Honestly, I think this is pretty insightful. Thinking about it as a functional rather than physical trait puts a new spin on things. They are both physically everywhere, but the key difference being the IDSE acts (mostly) as a single consciousness while the new character may not.

"Ambient" is pretty good, but I feel it suggests passiveness. Ambient things stay in the background and don't interfere with events (though perhaps this is appropriate here?) If we wanted to emphasis this trait of disconnected sentience and really contrast the IDSE, perhaps a better word would be "segregated"?

"Segregated Cosmic Energy Existence"

=Smidge=

[HolyCow]

For another strange reason, whenever the word "Ambient" iss mentioned, it strikes me as a peaceful, calm being, much like a perfume ad. And I bet the new entity is anything but peaceful.

Gah, I gotta stop with all these ad references ;P

[nook_21]

quigonkenny: good explanation of your suggestion, but "Ambient Cosmic Energy Existence" is really too far off 広域帯宇宙存在 to be an accurate translation. i say this based on my knowledge of chinese, but since this is a japanese novel, i could be totally wrong as well

[Dan]

I doubt choosing antonyms to use for the name will accurately convey what the author intended them to be called, though it is a good idea.

[HolyCow]

Alright, the poll is now officially over. Based on the results, I'd take it that "Macrospatial" is the favoured name, and comboing it together with "Quantum", I guess we'd get "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence".

So, the final name will be "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence", a name that sounds like some techno mumble-jumble, but yet (almost) accurately conveys what the author is trying to say.

So "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence" it is!

[cotton]

Alright, the poll is now officially over. Based on the results, I'd take it that "Macrospatial" is the favoured name, and comboing it together with "Quantum", I guess we'd get "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence".

So, the final name will be "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence", a name that sounds like some techno mumble-jumble, but yet (almost) accurately conveys what the author is trying to say.

So "Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence" it is!

So you're just going to insert the word quantum, regardless of the results of the poll, eh?

Cool!

Like I said at the beginning, democracy be damned!

[Umiman]

So you're just going to insert the word quantum, regardless of the results of the poll, eh?

Cool!

Like I said at the beginning, democracy be damned!

The internet is a corporation. Democracy is about as existant as socialism in the National Socialists.

[HolyCow]

The goal of having a poll was to decide which name was the most prefered. If I were to use "Macrospatial" without inserting "Quantum", it wouldn't reflect what the author meant accurately.

If I had really wanted to disregard teh results, I could have just used "Dispersed Quantum Cosmic Existence" since it's my personal favourite and antonyms sound better anyways, but in respect to those who polled, I chose to stick with "Macrospatial" and incorporate "Quantum" into the name. I mean, what's the point of using a name when you know it's wrong?

Aside from cotton, is anyone unhappy about the inserting of "Quantum" in the name?

[dod13]

Nuuupe, no qualms here. 'Dispered' was my favourite as well, but 'macrospatial' is a fairly palatable alternative.

Looking forward to reading this term used in action

[Kuraiou]

Dispersed and Macrospatial have vastly different meanings. Dispersed means spread out over a wide volume with the denotation of thinned out, evenly spread, etc. Macrospatial means having a massive volume, with the denotation of being a single entity.

As it is, I don't care, since I don't know what the original kanji are I'm willing to see translators fudge things slightly if it makes sense or sounds good.

[HolyCow]

Yea, the two terms are quite different, but if you look at it closely, you'll see that the two are fairly similar too.

After all, all that was needed was a word to subsitute "Broad Area", and macrospatial was apparently the favoured choice. As much as I like "Dispersed", there's no point of running a poll unless you choose the option the majority voted for, is there?

[TheGiftedMonkey]

This "entity" is a series of tubes...

[Dan]

It's definetly not a big truck.


I'm fine with "Quantum".

[Umiman]

I don't mind either way. The longer the better. Would have liked a possible MOE acronym though.... =P