Synaptics

Synaptics is the group of studies, philosophies, and religions around the plane of Synapse and the Neural Amalgam within it. Followers of Synaptics are also known as Synaptics. Synaptics revolves around the idea that the immaterial Noosphere is inherently more desirable than Cosmoria's material world. However, one important concession is that any mind with both a nous (The upper part of the mind, connected to the immaterial noosphere) and anti-nous (the lower part of the mind, anchored to the material world), including most originally material beings, must have some material anchor such as a brain to avoid death until it is ready to sustain itself. Because of this, when the Prime Gnostics were trying to achieve immateriality, they crafted a material that would allow them to manipulate the position of their minds in the noosphere. They channeled the power of Synapse to create a material they called procorpus, commonly known as liquid void. This material is considered the perfected form of a brain by Synaptics, and plays a core role in the noic hierarchy.

Concepts

Noic Hierarchy

A core concept in Synaptics is the idea of a noic hierarchy, or a ranking of minds. Minds higher on the list are closer to being able to make a smooth adjustment to immateriality, while minds lower down are more stuck in the material realm. It is a hierarchy of education and learning; the minds have a duty to share knowledge with one another. The four levels of nous are hylic, psychic, pneumatic, and gnostic.

Hylics are stuck to the material world, since their brains are inferior in the eyes of Synaptics. Their minds are perfectly fine, but their brains restrict them to a bulky material body. Synaptics believe that slowly shifting their anti-nous to a brain of corporus noum will make them into psychics, and wish to empower the Neural Amalgam enough to do this process remotely.

Psychics are those native to Lowiras. Their brain is made of corporus noum, and their mind is within the Neural Amalgam. They mainly draw power for Thaumaturgy from the Neural Amalgam, rarely drawing directly from Synapse. They do not have mastery over their own mind, so their power is largely limited to energy transfer, which still has a wide range of power and many applications. They do not have power over the connection between reality and the noosphere. With training and time, they can become pneumatics.

Pneumatics are the second highest within the noic hierarchy. Their corporus noum is now stored within the Dark Core of Lowiras and can sustain their mind without any other bodily function. Some pneumatics end up as rotting or, more preferably, embalmed corpses, not bothering to keep their body alive while their transcendent mind lives on. All of the dead become pneumatics, but if they did not achieve pneumaticism in life, they will struggle in their adjustment to immateriality. They can draw large amounts of power directly from Synapse. Beyond the power of psychics, pneumatics can manipulate the connections between brains, minds, and other noospheric objects. They can pull matter through the anti-nous, boiling it down to raw concepts. They can transport this boiled matter through a para-nous (the very apparatus of the mind allowing telepathy) to other minds, or transport it back into reality. Many pneumatics exploit this power to remove their body (if they use one) from reality, letting them observe unseen. In a one case a pneumatic managed to block the pylon of a classical Magus, though the thaumic flow of the Aeterna soon removed the blockage. However, pneumatics do not have the strength to quickly form or break noic connections.

Gnostics are those that have become untethered minds. They can no longer interact with materiality without creating a noospheric disturbance. These disturbances make the presence of a gnostic very powerful. They draw power from Synapse, but they occasionally attune to other esoteria, a feat that is very difficult for any Neuromancers that still have an anti-nous. Anyone other than a pneumatic or other gnostic sees a gnostic as a combination of the gnostic's intended image and their own warped perspective. A pneumatic sees the intended image and can conceive the concepts creating it, while a gnostic sees the concepts and can conceive of the image. While pneumatics can manipulate concepts to a degree, gnostics have powerful control over concepts, with the ability to quickly form and destroy bonds between concepts at will. They can even manipulate ideals. However, because of the mental requirements to become a gnostic, few exist. Most people in Lowiras die and become a pneumatic in the dark core before they can become a gnostic. Some gnostics have achieved self-sustenance after death, so the numbers are increasing gradually. Another side effect of the nature of a gnostic is that they are detached from the material world, so they rarely use their great strength to affect reality. Instead, they shape the Neural Amalgam to be healthier and more enjoyable for the dead.

Other Religions

Synaptics view other religions with tolerance, unless that religion has an afterlife. Synaptics believe that without achieving gnosis, a brain is required to preserve the mind. Because of this, religions with afterlifes that do not have a storage system to preserve every brain before it can become self-sustaining (most of them) are looked down upon.

Generally, Synaptics try to find a way to co-exist with other religions.

Morality

Synaptics views most morality as solely relevant to the material world. However, altruism is encouraged as it is better for the end goals of Synaptics. In an immaterial world, there is nothing to need or want except knowledge, and the only way to gain it is through communication.

Reality

In Synaptics, reality is mainly scene as subjective, with objectivity being seen as more of a consensus than actual base of Truth. No perspective exists independently, and no reality exists without perspective.

Psychography

According to Synaptics, there are eight components to the mind, organized in pairs.

Ego and Para-nous
Nous and Anti-nous
Psyche and Pneuma
Will and Affect.

The Ego is the center of the self, the identity, and individual. It comprises a mind's individual interests and personality. A powerful ego indicates a mind is self-aware, self-defined, and assertive. A weak ego means the mind is self-conscious, unconfident, and timid. The counterpart to the Ego is the Para-nous, which comprises a mind's relationship with other minds. A strong para-nous allows for deep bonding, understanding, connection, and manipulation. A weak one leads to isolation, selfishness, and conflict.

Nous is the eye of the mind. It connects a mind to the noosphere at large. A strong Nous allows for higher levels of ousic perception and comprehension. A weak Nous causes foggy and blurred perception. By contrast, the Anti-nous connects the mind to the physical world, usually by way of a brain. The Anti-nous is usually strong by necessity, as a weak one can lead to death without sarkic cause; however, a slightly weak Anti-nous can cause dissociative psychological issues.

Psyche is the stasis of thoughts. Memories, beliefs, and knowledge all exist in this sphere. Strong Psyche leads to stability of mind and retainment of information, while weak Psyche results in instability of mind and loss of information (i.e. forgetting). Pneuma, as its counterpart, is the movement of thoughts. Reflection, active thought, processing information, learning, and unlearning fall within that sphere. Strong Pneuma allows for adaptation and improvement, while weak Pneuma causes rigidity, dogmaticism, and denial.

Will is the mind's desire and action. All of its wants and acts fall into this sphere. Strong Will means one understands their own desires and acts accordingly, while weak Will leads to a misunderstanding of desire and inaction. The counterpart to Will is Affect, which is the way a mind is affected by externalities. Strong Affect means a mind will have a strong reaction to external forces, while weak Affect makes one react little to externalities.