[CrazyPerson]

Sorry for the delay, midterms tend to disrupt my ability to make well reasoned posts, so I didn't make them.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

Ah, but i said 'within the bounds of her AIM,' but not 'encompassing her AIM.' No esper constantly exerts their power over all points within the bounds of their AIM, so if her power were 'thermodynamic isolation,' then she should be able to selectively isolate only the portion of her AIM that overlaps with the box of taiyaki, thus creating a closed system that, at a state of equilibrium, would be approximately the temperature of warm taiyaki.

I don't contest this. This is a valid interpretation. I just hate how there's not enough information from the anime to confirm a right or wrong for either of us.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

Which is why i proposed the idea of a 'threshold.' For instance: let us say her 'range' is '+/- 50 degrees.' If the temperature outside the closed system is 75 degrees, and the temperature inside the system is 115 degrees, then she could isolate the system. If, on the other hand, the temperature inside the system were 150 degrees, then her isolation would fail. If this were the case, then one way the power could be improved would be by widening its 'range of effect.'It is not necessarily the case that the ability to affect a particular frame of reference also grants the ability to affect all frames of reference that encompass the frame of reference you can affect. I will admit, this is a conceptual difficulty inherent in trying to construct a power that operates by manipulating natural laws, rather than one that operates 'simply' by violating conservation of energy, but bear with me for a moment.

But all frames of references are equal under the equivalence principle. Anything that's only valid in a specific frame of reference and not in others is not considered invariant, and in physics, means that it is either not possible, or doesn't exist.

While all esper abilities make break laws like conservation of energy or momentum, all observers in all frames of reference can agree on which law is broken. If not, there's no consistent universe for there to be anyone in. This is the very basis of General Relativity.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

One could ask, if Aerohand and Hydrokinesis are somehow subsets of 'pure' Telekinesis, rather than 'material manipulation,' why can Kongou not telekinetically affect anything other than atmospherically dispersed gases? Similarly, you could ask how Accelerator's power is any different from very strong telekinesis, or why 'Aerohand' and 'Offensive Armor' are both considered level 4, when 'Aerohand' should theoretically be able to accomplish the exact same effect as 'Offensive Armor,' in addition to all the other things it can do.

Your example here isn't valid. You're assuming the two powers are subsets of telekinesis. They could be affecting their respective materials through unrelated means. You're relating abilities because of their effect and not their cause. An example: a ball on a table moves towards someone. Maybe they telekinetically applied a force to move it. Or maybe they generated a specific gravity field to affect the ball only. While the effect is the same, cause of the effects aren't subsets of each other. On the other hand, my example is valid because I'm evaluating different effects due to the same natural law.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

Part of increasing level is increasing your understanding of how your 'personal reality' functions. In another thread, i actually did posit that greater understanding of her power might lead Uiharu to make the mental connection between vibrational motion and transitional motion, and the expansion of abilities such a breakthrough would grant. If her power remained the ability to create 'closed systems,' it could lead to some very bizarre effects - including the 'Constant Speed' effect. It may be that Constant Speed and Constant Temperature are both subsets of the same broader power, and the users of each are just starting with different base assumptions about the nature of their personal reality.

A logical progression of thought, but hasn't been verified so far. We've seen no espers in the process of gaining levels, only the knowledge that it is possible. The level upper is invalid. Even if teachers in the city have pushed this thought, it could still be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time teachers have taught something wrong until a better understanding was gained.

Again though, having control of entropy may give constant speed and constant temperature effects, but being able to generate a constant speed effect may not guarantee that person to have entropic control abilities. But yes, if Uiharu ups her level, she may start displaying a whole range of super powers.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

I look forward to it! I'm enjoying this quite a bit as well. It's nice to have an interlocutor who doesn't immediately counter with, 'Well, Accelerator/Touma is still better.'

Saten's power is obviously better. >.> Totally owns those other two.

This reminds me, I have an interesting theory on how Touma's ability can be made consistent with the problem of "stopping railgun blasts but not accelerator accelerated objects." I should post that some other time.

I hope I'm not being premature, but I'm going say that I can not rule out entropy control without either two things:

-Uiharu can make a thermally isolated system (ie. tayaki gives off no heat until touched by Haruue.)
-Uiharu levels up and provides more information on the effects of her abilities.

Though, like you, Alhazred, I still maintain that it's more likely she's drawing zero-point energy to keep the darn piece of tayaki the same temperature.

(To spite the author though, I will point out that if the tayaki's maintained at a freshly baked temperature for that long, it's probably dried out and untasty when they eat it.)