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Of course there is such thing as magic, our clients keep asking for it. Telling them “magical experiences don’t exist” seems a bit dim. Most of the way these ra
by dr_dshiv 3y ago
Of course there is such thing as magic, our clients keep asking for it. Telling them “magical experiences don’t exist” seems a bit dim. Most of the way these rationalists deal with magic is to simply define magic as something that doesn’t exist. Big win, there.
People say “Magic is just a psychological phenomenon” as though that is somehow reducing its power or purpose. Creating magic is a big part of many people’s jobs. That said, one of my favorite books is by the first president of the Royal Society, titled “Mathematicall Magick”. It deals with Natural Magick — a concept that helped transition the Renaissance to the scientific and Industrial Revolutions.
- yreg 3y ago> Most of the way these rationalists deal with magic is to simply define magic as something that doesn’t exist. Big win, there. What Penn means here is that there is no such thing as a superpower to mentally bend metal. Tricks exist, experiencing magic exists, but there is no wizardry involved.
- peteradio 3y agoYes but you can bend metal, and that is magic!
- dr_dshiv 3y agoMagic is a complex, multifaceted and ancient collection of phenomena that will resist tight definitions. That said, one way to define magic is “the capacity to manifest immaterial ideas into physical reality.” Another definition might be “the ability to use rituals or artifacts to produce desired outcomes through hidden or inscrutable means.” A mundane example is architectural decoration, which can change the surrounding neighborhood vibe in a palpable way—but good luck trying to define and validate a physical model of how that psychological phenomenon takes place. Being open to a bit of magic doesn’t mean turning off rationality or believing in Uri Geller. But it might mean believing in charisma and vibes, even if they evade rational modeling. Music, for instance, is filled with magic. And people often like to be enchanted!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Nursie 3y agoWhat you’re describing is psychology, design and possibly art, not magic. Of course I’m not going to try to define ‘art’ any time soon…