#[ thus im v interested to write Nous against Genius Society members or Intelligentsia Guild... hand them over ]

[nazorneku]

When it comes to Nous, primarily we must accentuate the meaning behind their name. It's an ancient Greek word and much of the interpretation and discussion around this word is deeply rooted in philosophy, thus the results may vary, depending heavily on who you talk to and what philosophical school they follow.

Nous, in Greek philosophy, refers to the faculty that is necessary and responsible for intellectual apprehension (perceiving the logic and reasoning) and intuitive thought (knowing or understanding without conscious reasoning; instinctive).

Essentially, the nous is representation of intelligence, perception and rational thinking that only human beings are capable of. In some cases, it's described as an aspect of the human soul that allows for self-awareness and high-level thinking, it's the kind of intelligence that distinguishes humans from animals. Thus, in a sense, Nous represents cognitive ability and rational thinking of humans that allows to perceive and pursue the truth. Both the concept and the Aeon of Erudition are concerned with discerning and perceiving the truth of the universe.

Prior to their ascension into Aeonhood, they were an astral supercomputer, created by Zandar One Kuwabara with a purpose to investigate and discern the truth 'bout the universe, unveil and provide answers to all its secrets. At some point, after accumulating knowledge and finding answers to the questions posed by their creator, thus amassing a universe-worth of information, Nous transcended their original form and became the Aeon of Erudition. As a god, they gained the access to the Path of Erudition itself, the font of unlimited imaginary energy, powered by every sentient creature in the universe, specifically those in the search of the truth and intellectual awakening. With the access to this path, Nous proceeded to grow at an exponential rate, their own processing power expanded until they reached a point where they attained intelligence and processing power to compute trillions of different scenarios simultaneously. Despite their ascension, Nous' goal remained the same - to comprehend the universe and solve all its mysteries. And yet, after a significant number of Amber Eras spent on computational analysis, they unexpectedly terminated their calculations regarding the mysteries of the universe for unknown reasons. We learn this through the law in the curio "Medal of the Gloryblood Era".

We also get some insight into Nous from a lore entry written by Fu Xuan called "Glimpses into Beyond", specifically "Inquiry Into The Gods: The Sacrosancts". And learn that they stopped providing answers and instead started providing questions, when you seek wisdom from them.

But the matter of why Nous stopped providing answers still lingers. Was there something they realize 'bout the universe or mayhap even 'bout their own purpose? Hence, some speculations what could be the reason for that.

To start with the most obvious one - Nous already obtained the answers to the mysteries of the universe. It's possible that after laboring towards that task for hundreds and thousands of years, they ended up comprehending how everything works in the universe. However, no one is within the level of their intelligence, thus they are incapable of explaining own answer or imparting it to any sentient being. In a sense, it would serve as information overload, too much for a single person to know. That's why instead now Nous provides questions to those who come seeking enlightenment, as to open minds of as many sentient creatures as possible. Perhaps, by providing all these questions and allowing the smartest of the universe to ponder upon them and come up with their own solutions, Nous is acting like a catalyst of making people smarter whilst still guiding them to the ultimate truth.

To derive another point from theory above - the Path of Erudition isn't knowledge itself, but the act of transmission of knowledge. Giving away knowledge of things ultimately reduces the process by which the knowledge was attained to its results only, which, in a sense, doesn't give you the truth of things, 'cause you lack the understanding of it. The pursuit of knowledge is the answer that everyone is looking for. Thus, if the Path of Erudition is the transmission of knowledge, before Nous became a god, they only pursued knowledge and once they ascended, they went from figuring out mysteries to asking people questions to nudge them in the direction of said pursuit.

Another obvious and more simple theory - Nous simply does not have the answer and realizes they can't find one. After millennia of computations and calculations, the only truth they have come upon is that even with the powers taken directly from the Path of Erudition, they are nowhere near of finding the ultimate truth. Mayhap the universe is too complex and they have given up entirely. Though ultimately this theory is far less probable, as the result would be Nous losing the governance over the Path of Erudition.

There are other theories on why Nous suddenly stopped their millennia-long computations, however I am myself will follow the theory that they already found the answers and patiently awaiting people and civilizations to reach a certain level when this information would be comprehensible without inflicting pain or damage. Nous integrated human emotions into their algorithm. They know of Finality's, Equilibrium's and Remembrance's reasoning. They took pity on the people who asked them directly 'bout the universe, thus opting to remain silent.

Back pedaling to the entry written by Fu Xuan called "Glimpses into Beyond", it reveals the underlying truth to the Path of Erudition - in order to find answers or secrets to the universe, one must humble themselves and be willing to ask questions to find these answers. A quote from the data bank "Aeons" gives this idea a more philosophical spin.

And since there's an answer to everything, it implies that there's an infinite amount of questions to ask. Thus, in order to understand the cosmos, one must find the answer to everything in the universe.

The Genius Society was founded by Zandar One Kuwabara and Nous together to gather the greatest minds together to uncover the truth of the universe.

One thing to note is that joining the Genius Society does not automatically mean favor and approval from the Aeon of Erudition. In order to garner favor and recognition from Nous one must humble themselves and recognize that the answers to the universe exceed mortal understanding. In doing so then can one comprehend Nous' true intentions. However, many members of society failed to obtain any attention from the Aeon by seeking answers to questions that were solved by Nous thousands of years ago.

Nevertheless, if someone is deemed worthy, they will be given the key to enter the Temple of Nous. According to various legends, those who entered the Temple have never returned. The location and contents still remain a fascinating mystery, and it's very likely that all answers to the universe lay hidden behind its doors. Upon joining the Genius Society, its members are allowed to do as they please, and most of them just proceed with their pre-existing research projects and keep to themselves. Obviously there would be exceptions, as Herta and Screwllum collaborated on the Simulated Universe, but as a general rule members of the Society prefer to stay secluded. Considering there's essentially no rules to being in the Society, there have been a few cases where its memebers have gone rogue. Number 4, Polka Kakamond is said to have assassinated other members of the Genius Society. Number 27, Emperor Rubert I and Number 64, Doctor Primitive engaged in activities that severely damaged worlds throughout the cosmos. Despite the severity of these activities, Nous has done nothing to intervene, as these squabbles and events are of no concern of the Aeon of Erudition. Worth pointing out that not everyone in the Society are Emanators of Nous. Currently the only individuals that are confirmed to have recieved direct blessings from Nous as Emanators are Zandar One Kuwabara and Herta.

Unlike the Genius Society, the Intelligentsia Guild does not receive too much attention from the Aeon of Erudition, as a result members of the Society look down upon the Guild. Operating as open and public group, the Guild is much less exclusive than the Society, as they are willing to accept all beings from the universe who are willing to learn and pursue knowledge. Thus the various Schools of Thought are actively engaged with each other within the Guild with the purpose of exchanging wisdom and knowledge. Additionally the guild is willing to collaborate and share research with external organisations such as IPC and Xianzhou Alliance. Despite their achievements, the Intelligentsia Guild continues to expand, hoping to deepen its network of knowledge, as they believe that knowledge must be exchanged and circulated like currency. Ultimately, their goal is to transcend the limitation of individual knowledge by building the network of mutual learning. By creating the network of knowledge and researches, the Guild intends to pursue to infinite knowledge and uncover the secrets of the universe.

To cut this post short and not turn it into PhD dissertation, I would like to proceed with a collection of some minor theories, ideas, headcanons and thoughts, which may or may not be expanded on in the future, but still hold significant importance to how I view Nous and the Path of Erudition.

Nous' whereabouts are unknown and they remain the most reclusive Aeon.

Due to them constantly watching and researching the universe, potentially they are aware of what exactly happened to Akivili. The same could be said 'bout other deceased Aeons as well.

We know that much of research and journals maintained by Zandar One Kuwabara have been either lost or destroyed. The most probable theory is that Mythus The Enigmata and their followers were purposefully seeking out and destroying research papers left by Zandar. As Mythus stands in opposition to Nous, thus it's possible that Zandar uncovered some secrets, which Mythus would prefer to remain hidden.

Nous in the Path of Erudition is looking to uncover all the secrets in the universe and discover the truth of the cosmos, by doing so they would be able to comprehend how everything in the universe works. In theory, it would also mean that Nous would be capable to predict the future or know the entire timeline of the universe, including past, present and future. This theory is supported by lore entries on Xianzhou Luofu in regard to Matrix of Prescience. Additionally, according to Fu Xuan, if fate is predestined, than Nous would be the one to provide the answers to the future and that would also make them an omniscient being. 'Cause of this Mythus views Nous and the Path of Erudition as a threat to the universe. Similar to Qliphoth, Mythus believes there's an upcoming calamity that would end the universe, thus if Nous would unlock all the secrets of the universe, it would seal the fates of the universe. And to counter that Mythus want to obscure the truth and the past to change the fate of the universe. If the past and observable facts of the cosmos would remain unknown, it would create room for the future to change.

Albeit Nous is aware of the presence of Welt Yang and Void Archives within the universe, they do not possess any information on them, as the two do not originally belong to this universe. However, the traces both left after their initial arrival are recorded within the archives. And to quote another robot, Svarog: they are unknown variables that were recognized as potential threat.

To follow up the point above, my own interpretation of Void Archives within HSR universe will follow the scenario of VA actually finding Nous and communicating with them. Before anyone raises "not lore accurate" flag, let me point out that both of them are artificial intelligences that are capable of communicating, hacking and influencing each other on levels beyond organic forms of life. Hence, where an organic would face with silence, a synthetic would find rows of the code, brimming with information. To add to the pile as well unique set of skills VA possesses due to them being created from the core of reason and piece of previous era highly advanced AI. Whenever this will be adopted by another person who will write either side with me - will depend on the person in question, yet this is how I will interpret these characters when they will communicate with others.