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Re: Ahh the old debate... Sidious Send a noteboard - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM
I still think its weird that you take Asmodean's word over RJ's. He stated clearly that exactly the same number of men and women will be strong enough to be Aes Sedai if you consider the dexterity advantage women have. Which is as clear a statement as possible that the average male and the average female have the same capability.

What you're ignoring is that the average Aes Sedai is considerably weaker than the average woman. This is because the Tower's averages are extremely skewed due to their stupid policies.

Once they start recruiting from all over the world, not only will they have more channelers, their averages will improve too.

The best comparison between men and women comes from the Damane vs. Asha'man fighting in tPoD. Damane cannot link either, and are hardly the most skilled channelers in the world, yet they give the Asha'man a good run for their money. What does that say about male female parity?


I recall you getting into a debate about the statistics, where another poster also well verse in mathematics disagreed that his statement meant that. Either way, I think it's clear that he changed his mind half way through the series so I think one plausibly decide what to believe. What I don't understand about your contention is that you're so willing to believe that Asmodean is wrong. It's clearly a Moiraine/Gandalf moment where we are given a small lecture on how the Power works, not some complex subterfuge to fool Rand. I just think that on average in the AOL, average men were strong enough overall to be considered a step higher than women in power. Moghedien also says this to Nynaeve about 'the average man', so it seems like a convenient mass delusion if it's not true.

The average Aes Sedai is stronger than the average woman, not weaker. Egwene's sample is an excellent sample because she took 1,000 females who showed up at her door. Yeah, maybe some Nynaeve's got lost on the way, but I'm sure some Morgase's did too. Egwene doesn't have much hope for the collective strength of her sample. Aes Sedai have always been picky about strength and tend to take the strongest. You can't even become Accepted if you don't have enough strength in the Power, never mind gain the shawl. That's why so many AS can Travel compared to other women, and even among them only a few can do so.

As for the damane, that really is a skewed sample. Most damane come from a long line of training focussed primarily on destruction. Ash'aman have been channeling for a few months at best. Even so, I think the damane came off far worse. I don't recall any Ash'aman dying, but several damane were killed or captured. It might come down to Earth/Fire vs Water/Air though - Moghedien said men are very good at destruction and I think it's a good and applicable quote.
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The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power - 12/09/2009 09:27:20 PM 1684 Views
Some thoughts about Semmy - 12/09/2009 09:59:50 PM 858 Views
Re: Some thoughts about Semmy - 13/09/2009 08:33:28 AM 911 Views
Of course... - 13/09/2009 08:36:39 AM 717 Views
I've been thinking the same for years - 12/09/2009 11:25:02 PM 820 Views
The Big White Book says... - 12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM 886 Views
Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM 885 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM 781 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM 817 Views
Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy - 13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM 744 Views
We must either use all the quotes from the BWB or none of them - 13/09/2009 06:07:46 PM 797 Views
Or... - 13/09/2009 08:41:23 PM 722 Views
Re: Or... - 14/09/2009 04:46:52 AM 699 Views
But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar - 14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM 718 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:17:28 PM 687 Views
It all depends on how you define "powerful" - 14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM 828 Views
I agree 101%. *NM* - 14/09/2009 03:49:51 AM 424 Views
I think power is much more than raw strength - 14/09/2009 05:00:10 AM 701 Views
I agree for the most part, but disagree on one thing. - 14/09/2009 07:52:10 PM 823 Views
Re: The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power - 12/09/2009 11:48:03 PM 753 Views
the other reason - 13/09/2009 03:24:24 PM 679 Views
So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM 696 Views
Graendal could fight Lanfear and win - 13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM 1230 Views
Graendal herself says... - 13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM 716 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 14/09/2009 04:48:37 AM 731 Views
Doesn't Graendal have an Angreal now? - 17/09/2009 03:29:10 AM 745 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 15/09/2009 05:36:53 PM 617 Views
Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power - 13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM 693 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM 828 Views
I agree with this - 13/09/2009 06:15:24 PM 848 Views
Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters - 13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM 697 Views
Excellent point *NM* - 13/09/2009 10:35:08 PM 434 Views
But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM* - 13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM 405 Views
Hm? When? *NM* - 14/09/2009 09:04:10 PM 334 Views
tPoD, when she compelled Cyndane and Moghedien. *NM* - 14/09/2009 10:19:23 PM 387 Views
Not at all - 14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM 771 Views
Using Compulsion on someone doesn't seem mechanically different - 14/09/2009 09:03:41 PM 614 Views
I'm not so sure about that - 14/09/2009 09:36:45 PM 717 Views
Totally agree - 14/09/2009 10:26:07 PM 518 Views
I don't agree. - 15/09/2009 04:33:04 PM 831 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 14/09/2009 04:34:24 PM 672 Views
But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM* - 13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM 363 Views
Apparently only the third time counts *NM* - 13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM 391 Views
Really? - 13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM 681 Views
No falsely... - 13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM 892 Views
That's pretty much my opinion in a nutshell - 14/09/2009 04:56:15 AM 833 Views
And, of course, the male and female OP strength ranks might not even correlate that much - 14/09/2009 04:41:58 PM 649 Views
They correlate on some critical points - 14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM 728 Views
That's not exactly what I'm referring to. - 15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM 599 Views
But then we are discussing the same thing - 15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM 741 Views
I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers - 16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM 613 Views
Probably - 16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM 749 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 07:19:03 PM 720 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 08:59:31 PM 672 Views
Re: Probably - 18/09/2009 07:03:09 PM 1004 Views
Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 12:42:36 AM 690 Views
Re: Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM 633 Views
I only disagree on one point, I think they are all rather equal in potential, incl. Ishamael - 14/09/2009 04:28:12 PM 690 Views
I do think Ishamel is special - 14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM 786 Views
He's special the same way any individual is special. - 14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM 739 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM 725 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM 710 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM 684 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM 673 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 06:47:45 PM 663 Views
The more interesting question is... - 14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM 650 Views
Hmmm - 14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM 669 Views
I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar. - 14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM 741 Views
Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM* - 14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM 532 Views
Yeah. Though I think its no competition. Graendal has got to be better than a walking tree! - 14/09/2009 07:50:09 PM 631 Views
They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks - 14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM 661 Views
I've never underestimated Graendal - 14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM 692 Views
Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too. - 14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM 691 Views
To me, she is the most lethal. - 15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM 523 Views
Yup... - 15/09/2009 06:39:20 PM 567 Views
I still like Lanfear more - 15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM 648 Views
Bah! She's an idiot! - 15/09/2009 07:06:06 PM 663 Views
only in love *NM* - 15/09/2009 07:23:29 PM 641 Views
Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien - 15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM 732 Views
Agreed - 15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM 648 Views
Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM 791 Views
Re: Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:56:21 PM 688 Views
Hmmm... - 15/09/2009 07:07:45 PM 842 Views

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