Did Talbot invent the "Dredge Equation"?
I was finally finishing up and listening to all of The Human Quotient, and one part really stuck out to me as interesting. In Memory 1726, Talbot is thinking about the value of a human life, and starts scribbling a bunch of stuff about "Fold Energy". And the Otto/Dredge cult was literally called The Fold. Some of these lines sound like they are directly describing the Dredge.
"To somehow turn currency into a collective god, or, in the very least, a demi-god. Something the fold feared, prayed to, and constantly meditated on."
"Talbot scratches out his equations, realizing they are nothing more than highly imaginative scribbles masquerading as science. Even if The Company were granted the ability to experiment on the fold without limits he could not imagine how this intangible human variable could be reduced let alone removed from the equation. All the cultures and communities and diverging beliefs and values would never allow such a god or demi-god to exist."
Now, the lines make it seem like he basically just scratched out all his notes and threw them away, but The Company (which is almost certainly the Black Vale) could easily recover these and attempt the experiment. There is also the short Otto Stamper lore entry to consider.
"Memo: Concerning Dr Stamper. We are concerned about having Stamper lead Subproject 774. He openly mocks the premise of herd manifestation and his suggestions for the community have an air of scepticism if not sarcasm to them. He continues to question the department and doesn’t believe the government has the resources to conduct such an experiment. He requests to know where the funding is coming from and asks too many questions. I don’t believe he's the right candidate to lead the Herd Initiative."
Both him and Talbot thought that manipulating human thoughts, which in turn would manipulate Auric energy (see Legion tome) which could create a God is impossible. But as we can clearly see... It does work.
Let me know what you think of this theory.