Re: Change (was: (TFT) Jobs table: ...)

[Margaret Tapley <barnswallow@sbcglobal.net>]

On Sep 30, 2011, at 8:14 PM, raito@raito.com wrote:

> Quoting gem6868 <gem6868@verizon.net>:
> > I've a problem with magic as science.  The two have nothing to do  
> > with one
> > another historically, philosophically and mythically.  It's like  
> > trying to
> > explain "miracle" with "science" and vice-versa.
>
> Again, I disagree. Very much of modern chemistry has its roots in  
> alchemy, for example.
> Neil Gilmore
> raito@raito.com

Also, Pythagoras (yep, the guy with the triangles) was big into  
mysticism. He wasn't unique in this regard, either. And remember how  
much the Church hated Copernicus? His theory that the earth wasn't the  
center of the universe directly threatened the Church's religious  
principles. There just wasn't much of a dividing line between science  
and philosophy (and therefore magic / occultism) in those days.

So... if you see a miracle, and you don't promptly start trying to  
figure out what caused it, and how it might be reproduced, isn't that  
kind of irresponsible? Think of the knowledge humanity could gain! :-)

Anyway, the point is that systems involving magic are basically a sub- 
set of science fiction. Pretty much all science fiction posits  
something; magic posits that if a person who knows what they're doing  
says a Word of Power and points their finger, they can make something  
explode, or turn invisible, or any of a number of other things. So, in  
that way, magic is no different than FT- 
JustPretendIt'sPossibleForAMinute-L travel. In settings with FTL, it's  
science. Why can't magic be science on Cidri? (At least to the extent  
that Cidri even has science - medieval society, see...)

By the way, does anyone else wonder why Cidri technology doesn't  
develop any further than it has? We get the lack of firearms (sulfur's  
hard to get), but what's keeping back the Industrial Revolution? No  
coal? Wizards being paranoid? Some kind of Mnoren-imposed glass  
ceiling? This question's probably been discussed somewhere in the  
archives, but I'm too lazy to go look right now...

- Meg Tapley
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