The Sole Survivor is NOT a synth.

[Fake]

You know who says that? A synth.






No, but really, the Sole Survivor is a dirty synth.

[The Inept European]

DiMa's question in the DLCis is literally there for the benefit of those players who were too stupid to see the clues in the base game.

You can practically hear the irritation of the writers "you didn't notice our cool theme!". So DiMa rubs your nose in it. DiMa is remedial class for weak students who are flunking Maybe You're A Synth class. :D

DiMa is when the writers get sick of waiting for you to go and find the clues, so instead they make the clues come and find you.

[The Inept European]

So DiMa is not so much the icing on the cake, as the hostess who blocks you in the doorway, brandishing a plate full of her uneaten cake she made for her party, and says "hey, what's the matter, don't you like my cake? Have some of my cake. Don't you like it? What's wrong with it? Is there something wrong with my cake? At least try my cake. Try my cake. TRY SOME OF MY DAMNED CAKE!"

That's DiMa.

[Alucard †]

I like to think of what DIMA says as sort of "up to the player's interpretation". Sort of a tiny bit of roleplay.
Like that dialogue in Skyrim with Serana when asked about your family. Where you can answer that you miss your family , don't have a family , hate your family.

Similar thing with DiMA's question about SS being a Synth.

There is no clear answer if SS is or isn't a synth and hence we have 14 pages long debates about it with people sometimes going at each other's throats too..

[Bored Peon]

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

2) The Mainframe in the Mechanist's Lair said, "No biosigns detected" (whether or not the Mainframe was addressing the Mechanist bot ahead or the player can be contested).

7) Synths are indistinguishable from biological lifeforms unless dissected for a synth component, but not all alleged synths possess one (how convenient).

Those two points contradict each other, lol.

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

6) The player doesn't need sleep or water to survive, though it is detrimental to their health in Survival mode.

Synths also never age, get sick, immune to radiation, gain weight all of which you can do in game.

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

9) The earliest memory the Sole Survivor can recall is their day with their spouse before the bombs dropped, but they have recalled watching the Silver Shroud and recall the the existence of Dr. Gray, the eccentric owner of Graygarden.

You contradicted yourself in your own point, lol.

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

Keep in mind, these points weren't mine.

Then what was the point in posting them?

[DouglasGrave]

I'm hacking this response back to what seem to be the bare essentials:

Messaggio originale di fluxtorrent:

If it is unstated, and the story continues without ever stating it happened, then it didn't happen.

This isn't quantum mechanics. You put a living cat in a box, it might be either alive or dead or both while in the box. But if you take the cat out of the box and it's still alive, then you have no support to claim it changed states.

In regard to "quantum" storytelling we still have both an uncollapsed middle section of story, and the later point that would result from it isn't distinguished by any observable traits (by your own claim).

Assume for a moment we consider the Sole Survivor human when they fall asleep again in their cryopod after Kellogg takes Shaun (we could challenge humanity with alternatives, but that's a separate issue). For our purposes we can define two separate branches that might happen in this uncollapsed section of story:

1. They become a synth.
2. They don't become a synth.

Since the events are unknown, both are potentially possible. And when we observe the Sole Survivor later on, there's no observable difference to discriminate one result from the other.

Messaggio originale di fluxtorrent:

The absence of evidence IS a form of evidence.

Only if your claim is an argument from silence, which relies on the idea the "author" would be expected to say something and has not. But in this case it's perfectly possible they're being intentionally ambiguous (as per Blade Runner), allowing silence as a valid expectation.

[Bored Peon]

Messaggio originale di DouglasGrave:

Messaggio originale di fluxtorrent:

The absence of evidence IS a form of evidence.

Only if your claim is an argument from silence, which relies on the idea the "author" would be expected to say something and has not. But in this case it's perfectly possible they're being intentionally ambiguous (as per Blade Runner), allowing silence as a valid expectation.

Are you seriously lecturing about no presence of evidence means it aint evidence?

"Well the lore does not specifically exclude that."
How many times have you used that brahminshit yourself?

Talk about double standard brahminshit.

[DouglasGrave]

Messaggio originale di Njorl:

7. I have wondered what the "synth component" does. If you can replicate human tissue, you can replicate all human tissue. If they can make spinal columns and nerves, they can make brains. I find it unlikely that the Institute can perfectly replicate humans in every way except they have to include this one non-human item to make them work. It seems more likely that they make fully functional beings but include that component in addition for more functionality. If that's the case, then they can make some synths without this component if it suits their purpose.

What I consider most likely on that point is that it's used to help with teleportation access (possibly aiding in selecting the synth as a target).

It's a function we see described for the courser chip, to which the synth component is visibly identical. There also do not seem to be any coursers who have a synth component, suggesting there's no reason to have both, and that their functions may overlap.

It's also fitting with it not being handled with synthetic organics, since teleportation assistance is a fundamentally unnatural function. If we assume component/chip similarity, we can also observe that the courser chip doesn't provide vital functions for a courser to operate since Chase in Acadia states she "burned" hers, presumably destroying it.

[Iron Knights]

7) Synths have a component implant for 2 reasons: Location & Control. The memory preservation is a bonus, as the imperfect human brain may not always recall needed details on an event, action or information. Also, a synth that is perfectly human is no longer a synth, but control is a major factor here, as an uncontrolled synth is the ultimate goal but not in the current experimental state, it is unwanted.

[DouglasGrave]

Messaggio originale di Bored Peon:

Messaggio originale di DouglasGrave:

Only if your claim is an argument from silence, which relies on the idea the "author" would be expected to say something and has not. But in this case it's perfectly possible they're being intentionally ambiguous (as per Blade Runner), allowing silence as a valid expectation.

Are you seriously lecturing about no presence of evidence means it aint evidence?

"Well the lore does not specifically exclude that."
How many times have you used that brahminshit yourself?

Talk about double standard brahminshit.

I simply apply different standards of evidence to determining what is merely possible in comparison to determining what is definitively proven/disproven. That's not a double standard.

Compare real-world claims of aliens. Proving that aliens definitely do or don't exist requires evidence, while saying it's possible is true just as a result of it not being disproven.

[BanOphobia My Struggle]

The Sole Survivor is human. Shaun recreated another (synth) Shaun for his mothers/father loss of time. Creation of a synth Shaun for a synth makes no sense. Why would Shaun care for a synths loss. They are not even people to him. Shaun actions indicate the sole survivor is human.

Shaun is also a aware that other humans think synths are a people even if he doesn't. Shaun tries to give back his mother/father lost time in some way with a fake son. He doesn't need to believe Shaun is a person they do the Mother/Father.

If the sole survivor is on the side of the railroad they will see synth Shaun as person anyway. The Pinocchio the marionette, becomes a boy/person to the sole survivor in the minds eye.

Just my two cents on it all.

[DouglasGrave]

Messaggio originale di Tongue in Cheek Way of the Wang:

The Sole Survivor is human. Shaun recreated another (synth) Shaun for his mothers/father loss of time. Creation of a synth Shaun for a synth makes no sense. Why would Shaun care for a synths loss. They are not even people to him. Shaun actions indicate the sole survivor is human.

Shaun didn't initial create the child synth to give to his parent, and by the time he does put the child in the parent's care, he's treating the child as a person, expressing care about what the boy deserves in his future.

It could even be that, in seeing the synth parent he came to relate to in the same way as a human, he extends the same feeling towards the synth child. After all, it's a little strange for him to change his attitude towards the child so much when his own interactions have all been with the parent.

[Iron Knights]

Ignoring the evidence presented and going on blabbing about your beliefs and your favorite faction, "would've could've". Not convincing. Your two cents not worth the copper.
Shaun is a byproduct of Synth mating with a human, they kill the human in this scenario, his mother. Possibly the reason for the whole Vault 111 existence. His father having no memories before the bombs fell is a giveaway, as seen when talking to Dima. But clearly remembers other things, like his military training, from where again ? Shaun seems cold & calculated, doesn't have the human compassionate side one would expect. Thus requests the eradication of The Railroad, as well, without an actual threat to the Institute. No intention of reverting the supermutants they created and unleashed upon the commonwealth, in light of Virgil's cure.

[MartyrmanX]

Messaggio originale di Bored Peon:

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

2) The Mainframe in the Mechanist's Lair said, "No biosigns detected" (whether or not the Mainframe was addressing the Mechanist bot ahead or the player can be contested).

7) Synths are indistinguishable from biological lifeforms unless dissected for a synth component, but not all alleged synths possess one (how convenient).

Those two points contradict each other, lol.

No ♥♥♥♥. Did I mention that these points weren't mine or did you choose to omit that information in an attempt of defamation? It's because these points contradiction of each other that I don't take them seriously. Note how I expressed skepticism with "how convenient".

Messaggio originale di Bored Peon:

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

6) The player doesn't need sleep or water to survive, though it is detrimental to their health in Survival mode.

Synths also never age, get sick, immune to radiation, gain weight all of which you can do in game.

Wait, you can gain weight in the game? (Checks Pipboy Inventory after picking up a 15Lb lead weight) I guess you're technically right.

Messaggio originale di Bored Peon:

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

9) The earliest memory the Sole Survivor can recall is their day with their spouse before the bombs dropped, but they have recalled watching the Silver Shroud and recall the the existence of Dr. Gray, the eccentric owner of Graygarden.

You contradicted yourself in your own point, lol.

I suppose I should have chosen my words carefully. The Sole Survivor claims that their earliest memory is being with their spouse before the bombs, however, Sole Survivor clearly possesses memories that predate that moment (in context, this is when the player speaks to DiMa). They show that they remember these earlier memories by conversing with Kent from Good Neighbor and Supervisor White from Graygarden. lol on that.

Messaggio originale di Bored Peon:

Messaggio originale di MartyrmanX:

Keep in mind, these points weren't mine.

Then what was the point in posting them?

It was so that anyone here wouldn't have to trudge through 600+ responses just to further argue this train wreck of a discussion board. Get the point now?

[Sabaithal]

Aaaaand here comes the overly hostile responses broken up into 62 different quotes, because some people don't know how to be civil.

[MartyrmanX]

Maybe I do need sleep. I've drawn out the worst in me during this whole discussion. Sorry everyone for my passive aggressive demeanor. Sorry Bored Peon for my negative, overly aggressive response. Sorry Douglas for being a persistent roadblock in your arguments.

I have admittedly been a horrible, hypocritical person in what should otherwise be a civil discussion. I take my leave. If I come back with a response, call out my hypocrisy to remind me that a made a promise to stay away.

This is my self imposed exile. Hold me to my word. Goodbye and sorry.