History Headscratchers / Divergent

* In the second film, how is the Erudite Divergent detector able to express degrees of Divergence (Example: It rates Tris as "100 percent Divergent")? Divergence is established as a combination of the other five traits, rather than a trait in itself, so how do you even calculate "X percent Divergent?" Shouldn't the result be rendered as the degree to which each of the other five is present? And for that matter, how do you quantify the degree to which particular personality traits exist in order to calculate a percentage in the first place?

* In the second film, how is the Erudite Divergent detector able to express degrees of Divergence (Example: It rates Tris as "100 percent Divergent")? Divergence is established as a combination of the other five traits, rather than a trait in itself, so how do you even calculate "X percent Divergent?" Shouldn't the result be rendered as the degree to which each of the other five is present?

* In the second film, how is the Erudite Divergent detector able to express degrees of Divergence (Example: It rates Tris as "100 percent Divergent"). Divergence is established as a combination of the other five traits, rather than a trait in itself, so how do you even calculate "X percent Divergent?" Shouldn't the result be rendered as the degree to which each of the other five is present?

** You're not the only one who sees it that way at all. One thing I find this series does well is making you understand why people do what they do. It acknowledges that both options are equally viable - forgive Al because "he was scared/pressured/stressed/etc", or don't forgive Al because he tried to kill her - and then when Tris chooses to not forgive him, it's very understandable why even if you don't agree with it.

** Except Pyschopathy has definite environmental factors which wiping his memory would negate. Especially as a lack of empathy is is mentioned as Candor's main flaw and is probably Peter's as well. Peter's lack of a reaction to his father's death suggest dysfunction there and his father is described a "overbearing" at one point. Four wonders about Peter's family his novel and I always thought that was part of why he seemed to have more patience with Peter than the others did. I don't think Peter was physically abused but emotional abuse and being a WellDoneSonGuy would explain a lot. Even psychopaths aren't born knowing how to dominate and control the way Peter does they have to be taught how.
Peter is probably supposed to be someone who is low in mirror neurons as they are what makes Tris special. His social skills are a rather mixed bag and he doesn't read people very well at all which would be a mirror neuron issue. Plus he missing the issues with authority(His most consistent and respectful relationship is with Four) and rebelling against society that are a part psychopathic behavior. Although that might be due the authors lack of understanding of these issues. The way Marcus is characterized is rather simplistic as well.
In any case its not like this is any kind of official punishment its something Peter and Four decided on their own. Four has NoSocialSkills on a good day and only sort of understands his own emotions let alone someone elses. It makes sense for Four as character to want to believe forgetting your past would make you a better person. Also his update seems to suggest he kept on eye on him and made sure he didn't hurt anybody else. Which would also be in keeping with Four's character.

** Except Pyschopathy has definite environmental factors which wiping his memory would negate. Especially a lack of empathy is is mentioned as Candor's main flaw and is probably Peter's as well. Peter's lack of a reaction to his father's death suggest dysfunction there and his father is described a "overbearing" at one point. Four wonders about Peter's family his novel and I always thought that was part of why he seemed to have more patience with Peter than the others did. I don't think Peter was physically abused but emotional abuse and being a WellDoneSonGuy would explain a lot. Even psychopaths aren't born knowing how to dominate and control the way Peter does they have to be taught how.
Peter is probably supposed to be someone who is low in mirror neurons as they are what makes Tris special. His social skills are a rather mixed bag and he doesn't read people very well at all which would be a mirror neuron issue. Plus he missing the issues with authority(His most consistent and respectful relationship is with Four) and rebelling against society that are a part psychopathic behavior. Although that might be due the authors lack of understanding of these issues. The way Marcus is characterized is rather simplistic as well.
In any case its not like this is any kind of official punishment its something Peter and Four decided on their own. Four has NoSocialSkills on a good day and only sort of understands his own emotions let alone someone elses. It makes sense for Four as character to want to believe forgetting your past would make you a better person. Also his update seems to suggest he kept on eye on him and made sure he didn't hurt anybody else. Which would also be in keeping with Four's character.

* Will somebody please tell me why Tris is such a bitch for not forgiving Al? He tried to kill her. Screw 'he was scared' 'they pressured him into it' 'he tried to apologize'. He tried to KILL her! If you think about it it's really giving off UnfortunateImplications. If she did forgive him, it would have been like a textbook abusive relationship. "I'm sorry honey. I've just been so stressed out. It's your fault I did it to you anyway. You know people will think it's your fault we broke up. Forgive me?" Am I the only one who sees it this way?

** Candor clothing is presumably more businesslike than Dauntless's solider/punk style. Black Candor pants would be slacks, while black Dauntless pants would be cargos or something.

* Such a minor thing, but at several times throughout the series someone is described as wearing black Candor, for instance, pants. How would people tell the difference between black Candor clothes and black Dauntless clothes? There may be some general guidelines, but both factions are described as having several different styles of clothing.

** You just hit the nail on the head. One could argue that the defining characteristic of the Dauntless is precisely that they confront any and all problems head-on, without forethought or subtlety, which would likely be seen as Erudite virtues. A ''true'' Dauntless, generally speaking, should always be willing to enter a dangerous situation to accomplish a goal, even if there is risk of personal injury or death.

* Dauntless can't seem to differentiate between bravery and outright stupidity. A lot of the stunts that they pull ''must'' get people killed occasionally (even professional stuntmen and women miss their marks from time to time). Al was absolutely right when he refused to retrieve his knives during the knife throwing scene. Doing so would have likely gotten him an unnecessary injury that would have ruined his chances of advancement in the long run. Yet this gets him singled out as a coward. Do the Dauntless just have no self-preservation instincts?

* Dauntless can't seem to differentiate between bravery and outright stupidity. A lot of the stunts that they pull ''must'' get people killed occasionally (even professional stuntmen and women miss their marks from time to time). Al was absolutely right when he refused to retrieve his knives during the knife throwing scene. Doing so would have likely gotten him an unnecessary injury that would have ruined his chances of advancement in the long run. Yet he gets singled out as a coward. Do the Dauntless just have no self-preservation instincts?

* Okay, it's been a while since I read this part, but if I remember it correctly the test to determine which faction that suited you the best began with letting you choose between a cheese and a knife. How's that supposed to work, exactly? You're not given any kind of context for the choice, so you don't know which one will come in most handy. It doesn't seem like your motivation for picking one matters either, even though it should. There's a big difference between picking a knife because you want to make sure it doesn't get used to cut people, and picking it so you have something to cut people with. And what if you chose the knife just because you don't like the taste of cheese? Are we supposed to believe that you can judge a person's entire personality by their opinion of cheese?

* When Peter and his friends de-towel Tris in the first book, why was she not wearing any underwear? Molly makes a comment about seeing her butt which implies she was completely naked. But surely she had underwear on when she tried on her pants in the bathroom? Yeah, they were too small for her which was why she took them off, but why would she take her pants AND underwear off?

* In the first book, while Tris is waiting for her test to be administered, we are told that faction customs dictate even idle behavior, and then everyone is acting exactly the way they are told to -- the Erudite study, the Amity play games, the Candor have debates, and the Abnegation just ... sit. (What do the Dauntless do again?) This frankly seems like a load of BS. These are ''teenagers.'' How do none of them rebel, or generally just not act the way they're supposed to? Don't any of them try to mimic the faction they want to transfer to? Boy, the psychology and worldbuilding in this series have some serious issues.

* When [[spoiler:the Bureau]] sent [[spoiler: Natalie]] to infiltrate the city, one suggested faction choice was ''Candor''. Does that seem right? You have a person who's trying to keep the biggest imaginable secret, and you think putting that person in a group of ''living lie detectors'' is a good option?

* Why are Amity and Abnegation separate factions? Selflessness and kindness ''are'' closely related, after all. Really, the biggest difference between them is that the Abnegation seem to be against happiness of any kind, whereas the Amity revel in it.

* How was Peter even able to [[spoiler:complete a HeelFaceTurn via memory loss]]? Every single thing he does in all three books just reeks of AmbiguousDisorder, probably related to psychopathy in some way. If there's truly a mental illness at play here, which there almost certainly is, then [[spoiler:just wiping his brain of memory alone and not altering anything else]] shouldn't have done jack to solve that problem in any way. Should we just assume that said disorder [[spoiler:was caused solely by a traumatic memory, and nothing else]]? Because if that's the case, then there was certainly nothing in the book that hinted at it. Not to be the Erudite here, but sometimes your life choices ''are'' overruled by genetics, you know.

* How was Peter even able to [[spoiler:complete a HeelFaceTurn via memory loss]]? Every single thing he does in all three books just reeks of AmbiguousDisorder, probably related to psychopathy in some way. If there's truly a mental illness at play here, which there almost certainly is, than [[spoiler:just wiping his brain of memory and nothing else]] shouldn't have done jack to solve that problem in any way. Should we just assume that said disorder [[spoiler:was caused solely by a traumatic memory, and nothing else]]? Because that's never hinted at in any way.

** Let's begin by characterizing each faction by their primary positive quality: intelligence, obedience, community, honesty, and whatever Amity is supposed to represent. The result is that each faction is, generally, one-dimensional in terms of that attribute which is generally considered "good" (we want everyone to be smarter, and to care more for others, and to be more honest, etc). If you fail to possess any such "positive qualities" or "goodness", the defining trait of the Factionless, then the Bureau would see you as "bad" and clearly NOT want you to propagate your "badness". If, however, you have multiple of these "positive traits" (which automatically makes you a Divergent) then the Bureau would want you to propagate your "goodness"...but not with "Factionless" because any "good" you might bring to the table could be "undone" by their inherent "bad".

* Since the point of the faction system was ultimately [[spoiler:to create Divergents]], with [[spoiler:people entering the community legally obligated to have children]], what happened to children born to Factionless parents? Certainly [[spoiler:the Bureau would WANT people to pass on their genes with the hope of creating more Divergents]], but nowhere in the stories is this seemingly addressed.