Confused on the moon's rules

[Bacon]

I understand why Solanum is (sorta) alive, but why is no one else (sorta) alive?

From my understanding of the plot Solanum isn't the only nomai to visit the quantum moon's sixth location.

Since time doesn't seem to matter on the Quantum Moon's sixth location shouldn't you be able to encounter anyone at any time that has visited the location.

I understand that Solanum can't leave or she will die immediately, but anyone who leaves the moon will die eventually. Even you die in some endings of the game.

[Goblin]

When you're on the moon, you're in a quantum state on all moons at the same time. When you leave the moon, your waveform collapses because you yourself are a conscious observer, and thus you stop being quantum. So when on there you're on all of them, but when not there you're on none of them. Even the temporally weird one.

Eye Solanum is alive purely because of proximity to the Eye, either gravity is dilating time there or some other law of physics is broken that close. Solanum is also aware that her other selves died to the ghost matter. It's purely the fact she was on there at the time of explosion causing her to be in this state, not merely having visited.

[ReverendTed]

I think it's a reasonable question - If Solanum is still alive, the 6th location QM must exist out of time, somehow. Also, Solanum's corpse has deteriorated on all the other QMs, so time appears to pass on them as expected. Why don't you meet yourself at the 6th location when visiting later? Where are all the other Nomai who took the pilgrimage?
I like Goblin's explanation: all the other Nomai visited and then left. Solanum never left.
Another way to look at it is that Solanum died on the south pole of the Quantum moon(s), so her corpse stayed there, and is therefore continuing to be entangled with the moon.

[Bacon]

Originally posted by Goblin:

When you're on the moon, you're in a quantum state on all moons at the same time. When you leave the moon, your waveform collapses because you yourself are a conscious observer, and thus you stop being quantum. So when on there you're on all of them, but when not there you're on none of them. Even the temporally weird one.

Eye Solanum is alive purely because of proximity to the Eye, either gravity is dilating time there or some other law of physics is broken that close. Solanum is also aware that her other selves died to the ghost matter. It's purely the fact she was on there at the time of explosion causing her to be in this state, not merely having visited.

Yeah, this makes sense. I was assuming that time would have complete authority over everything and would trap a version of yourself there. It makes even more sense because you cannot leave the sixth location directly, you must leave from the other versions.

[lieutenantkirtar]

I believe Solanum was on the moon at the sixth location when the ghost matter first blanketed the solar system. When she attempted to return to another version of the moon she died. Due to her no longer observing the moon her body became entangled with the quantum nature of the moon which is why she is now on all version at the same time.

Despite being "alive" when you go to the sixth location she is not an observer and ceases to exist as a living being when you leave. She hasn't been alive the whole time she is only alive when an observer is visiting the moon at the sixth location.

[Kindigo]

Originally posted by lieutenantkirtar:

Despite being "alive" when you go to the sixth location she is not an observer and ceases to exist as a living being when you leave. She hasn't been alive the whole time she is only alive when an observer is visiting the moon at the sixth location.

Well-put! Time only passes for Solenum when the moon is being observed. Once the Nomai died, the moon was unobserved until the Hearthians first saw it. Then her dead bodies on five locations only aged in small spurts when a Hearthian saw the moon overhead, or looked at a photo of it; and her “alive” self at the sixth location only aged while observed by an outsider.

As for why Solenum doesn’t count as an observer, I favor two options.

As we know, we are transported with quantum objects when:
1) we are standing on them; AND
2) we turn all the lights off.

So, when we aren’t observing them visually, as apparently feeling them, touching, hearing, etc. do not “count” as observation by the game’s logic.

Therefore, Solenum is not locking the moon in place and is transported with the moon because
1) she’s standing on it; AND
2) she’s not observing it a meaningful way.

Complicated option 1:
observation only counts if you’re observing the quantum object in relation to something else. So, the quantum shards are locked in only when you see the shard and the ground/a tree/any other object not affected by the quantum field. The moon is only locked in when you see the moon and another non-quantum object.

Solenum thus isn’t an “observer” because she can’t see anything not affected by the moon’s quantum field (since the clouded atmosphere goes with it).

Could we test this by taking a super-closeup photo of the moon and nothing else and seeing if that locks it in? No, because by definition a photo requires light bouncing off the object. In theory a photo of just the dark side taken while in the moon’s shadow would work, but such a photo is inherently impossible.

Simple option: Solenum is blind.

[Vandal Savant]

My dumdum interpretation was that being on the quantum moon means you exist in multiple places simultaneously, except only on one of them are you a conscious observer because you physically can't observe from more than one place at a time.

Solanum exists on every instance of the moon, but only on one of them is she not dead because that's the moon she is (was?) consciously(?) observing. Maybe by dying on the other instances of the moon, she's no longer considered a conscious observer by the moon, since those instances of her have lost awareness.