If you had the Skill or the Wit, would you use it?

[Syrocko]

I really like both of the last 2 responses, and I think I agree with most of what you said. I would apply to it the the buddist philosophy that suffering comes from expectation, and the ultimate state is the blissful ignorance they call nirvana. So a person who loses themselves in the Skill usually cannot exist independently because there is not enough of them, and must become part of another, larger entity, as Fitz is told by the higher being. However, if they just let go and remain content with this, then perhaps they may attain eternal bliss at the expense of their free will. I also find it interesting that the higher being implies that a human soul CAN exist independently in this otherworldly realm but that Fitz was not able at this time. Also that Fitz mentions that he could sense Verity's presence in the Skill currents when he almost get lost there. So we can assume that Verity-as-dragon is not just in a senseless hibernation but still present and conscious in the Skill currents. He can presumably still be brought back to his dragon, and thus must somehow be anchored there. Is this why he is able to retain his individuality in the Skill? Or is it because there was "enough" of him to be his own entity? Or both? Do you need to be Skilled to end up in the Skill currents or does everyone go there when they die? I wonder also if an underlying message is that the nature of our afterlife depends on what we did with our lives, how much we made of ourselves.