We see a lot of characters making estimates about how strong such and such a channeler is or will be, but when we’re talking about so far unfulfilled potential, how accurately can it be judged? Especially if the channeler making the judgement doesn’t know how much training the channeler being judged previously has had?
Someone can judge a current strength. This differs between men and women. A woman that can channel can [make a] very accurate judgement of another woman’s strength whether she is channeling or not if she is standing close enough. Among Aes Sedai at least, knowledge of potential strength, especially if it is thought to be a great strength, becomes very widespread. Among men the circumstances are different. A man who can channel cannot judge the strength of another unless the other is channeling the One Power or holding the One Power, and even then all he can judge is how much of the One Power the other man is holding. He can’t say how much he can hold. There are great differences between men and women in the One Power.
Rand noted in Lord of Chaos that it is possible to tell if a man is straining (that is, holding as much as he can), and Logain reiterated the point in Knife of Dreams .
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