I happen to manage an appreciation for science and a desire for magic together just fine. They’re not mutually exclusive.
Others in the comments have done a good job outlining the inaccessibility of science (a specific type of mathematical and spatial intelligence, 30 years gaining a PhD, truckloads of grant money and a team of researchers) vs. the infinite possibilities of magic (a wand wave or an applied concentration of will and you’ve just reversed death).
Wanting magic is just the simple desire for more power in the world around us. As amazing as this world is, it can also be very soul crushing. Travel just gets more cost prohibitive each year. I live in a corrupt gerrymandered district where I have next to no say in my local political system. Finding meaning in life through organized religion just runs into a wall of religious corruption. The corporate world keeps treating my husband like crap. People drive like assholes. The news cycle is depressing in ways that I can’t fix.
So, yeah, I tend to mentally prefer a world where anything is possible because so very little is in ours. We have some neat gadgets, but science/tech is also making our world overly automated, less mysterious and eroding our privacy. Is it any wonder we crave a system that allows us more control and whimsy in our lives?
I know I’m super late to the party here, but this is a topic near and dear to me.
I happen to manage an appreciation for science and a desire for magic together just fine. They’re not mutually exclusive.
Others in the comments have done a good job outlining the inaccessibility of science (a specific type of mathematical and spatial intelligence, 30 years gaining a PhD, truckloads of grant money and a team of researchers) vs. the infinite possibilities of magic (a wand wave or an applied concentration of will and you’ve just reversed death).
Wanting magic is just the simple desire for more power in the world around us. As amazing as this world is, it can also be very soul crushing. Travel just gets more cost prohibitive each year. I live in a corrupt gerrymandered district where I have next to no say in my local political system. Finding meaning in life through organized religion just runs into a wall of religious corruption. The corporate world keeps treating my husband like crap. People drive like assholes. The news cycle is depressing in ways that I can’t fix.
So, yeah, I tend to mentally prefer a world where anything is possible because so very little is in ours. We have some neat gadgets, but science/tech is also making our world overly automated, less mysterious and eroding our privacy. Is it any wonder we crave a system that allows us more control and whimsy in our lives?
I know I’m super late to the party here, but this is a topic near and dear to me.