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State of Being
Introduction
State of Being is as the name says, the concept of being. The state of being delves deep into the realms of philosophy as it's a philosophical ideal rather then a scientific one, though it does possess some scientific properties of the universe. A typical misconception is to confuse a state of being with as a way to tier characters, however state of beings have nothing to do wtih tier as most of them are purely conceptual and go beyond standard measured "power".
Examples
As there's no true list of all state of beings as there's millions of different interpretations, we can only list a few examples here of some of the most common types seen in fiction.
Regular
The regular state of existence of beings, normally animals and humans in the world. This can also include abnormal things such as a mutated or reincarnated character.
Inorganic
Inorganic is a state of being opposite from the standard organic state of being, these can vary into the following categories:
- AI: An artificial intelligence, this varies greatly depending on the fiction though normally an AI can eventually gain complete sentience being no different from a human.
- Digital: Similar to AI, though this could be someone that has uploaded their mind into a digital consciousness.
- Nonliving: A nonliving being, sometimes an object that is animated to life.
Mental Construct
The character is a pure mental construct created by someone, whether it be they exist within a dream world or are a figment of someone's imagination.
Soulless
Characters that lack a soul entirely, which is argued in many nomenclatures to be debated to be a way of proving whether one exists or has emotions, thus a soulless character lacks these.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment is a stage where one has the meaning of everything by communicating with or understanding the mind of God, Universal Consciousness or similar source, profound spiritual understanding and/or a fundamentally changed consciousness whereby everything is perceived as a unity. Allowing one to awaken both spiritually and mentally.
Abstract
Characters like this are abstractions, normally with Abstract Existence.
Existence as Concept
Characters like these are an outright concept, unlike Abstract Existence where they embody an abstract ideal, in this case their state of being is the concept itself. The concept they are should be specified in the section.
One with the Universe
Characters like this are one with the universe, whether it be physically or mentally. This can be at times an ascended state of enlightenment where a character's understanding has allowed them to merge with the universe.
Transcendent
Characters like this exist in a transcendent nature, whether they exist in a higher plane of existence or not. How and what they're transcendent in should be specified in the section. This can be at times an ascended state of enlightenment where a character's understanding has allowed them to transcend to a higher understanding in some way, the way itself varies on the verse.
God
In various nomencultures, this is considered to be the highest state of being, in various different ideals of enlightenment, humans themselves are gods that must open their third eye to realize it. As such, this is arguably one of the highest states of enlightenment, though this may vary depending on the fiction. It should be noted that this shouldn't be given to someone merely for having the title of God, but rather that they it is their true state of existence. More of this explained within the philisophical argument of ontological argument, negative theology where the attempt to approach god is based off noting what can or can't be said about the perfect goodness that is God[1], cataphatic theology follows a similar ideal where it approaches God or the Divine by affirmations or positive statements about what God is.[2]. Along with concepts such as Monad that deals with the most basic or original substance, where some interpretations take the monad as the Supreme Being, divinity, or the totality of all things[3]. Do note what's being explained here are extremely simplified versions of the concept as they get much more complex and structured, for more reading on them we advise clicking on the following links shown.
Detatchment From Reality
Characters like this are completely detatched from reality, not needing it to exist. Unlike Physics Preservation, the character in question here never had the effects of physics on one-self in the first place nor do they require it in their state of being. The character may be unable to interact with reality depending on how the fiction treats this state. This can be at times an ascended state of enlightenment where a character's understanding has allowed them to detatch themself from the reality they exist in, the way itself varies on the verse. The typical names for these can be Aspatial or Atemporal, if including both it should be Aspatial/Atemporal.
Nonexistence
Characters like this lack an existence altogether, the forms varying depending on how nonexistence is defined in a verse.
- ↑ Nicholas Bunnin and Jiyuan Yu. "The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy: negative theology". Blackwell Reference Online.
- ↑ Living Without a Why. An Interview with Deirdre Carabine. Holos: Forum for a New Worldview, Vol. 5, No. 1 (2009).
- ↑ Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr von (2005). Discourse on metaphysics, and the monadology. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486443102.