A Penny for your Thoughts

A Penny for your Thoughts

Postby Glenn » Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:05 am

The letter was sent almost immediately after completion of his last journal entry. The drips of ink belonging to one could be considered the very siblings of the next. It would take a few days to arrive, longer if its intended recipient had moved in any way. Along with a simple address for return, it contained just a single sheet of paper with very little on it:

Cinnabar,

In your mind, what is the difference between a lever and a magic spell? Is there a meaningful difference at all? If so, is it simply one of scope? That feels unsatisfying, doesn't it?

Glenn


Beneath these words would be a rough drawing of a stick jutted underneath a boulder, and a second boulder, with a robed figure standing next to it, lightning emanating from one to the next.
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Re: A Penny for your Thoughts

Postby Cinnabar » Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:25 am

A reply, some days later, composed in an elegant hand, neatly folded, sealed with a thumbprint pressed into molten wax.

Glenn, my friend

I trust you are well, or as well as can be managed. At the very least you are some distance from Myrken Wood, and there's something to be said for that.

I am by no means an expert on matters arcane, but, assuming this is not some sort of riddle, I would suggest that the difference between a lever and a magic spell is not great, and primarily one of comprehension. Both involve the clever application of effort to achieve particular results, though the nature of the forces involved is not always clear. I have some suspicion that a great deal of the hand-waving and chanting involved in magic spells is pure pantomime to make the whole business seem more complicated than it is, but I imagine a magician might disagree.

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Re: A Penny for your Thoughts

Postby Glenn » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:37 am

It would not take long for a reply to come. Given the distance that needed to be covered, it had to be written soon after the previous missive's receipt. That would likely not surprise Cinnabar, or truly anyone else receiving correspondence from Burnie.

Cinnabar,

My gratitude for the swift response. It is appreciated.

As you have put it, comprehension is the key. That is different than what I had suggested, being scale (stated in my initial letter to you as "scope"), though the two overlap certainly. Increased complexity (scope or scale; I now prefer scale, with absolutely no pun intended considering with whom I correspond) leads, by its own nature, to more difficult comprehension. That is with the handwaving and incantation put aside. I think you'd agree that manipulation of energy to transform matter somehow is inherently more complex in most cases than simply transposing that matter from one place to another.

I've defined magic as such for this exercise: the manipulation of energy for various ends. I think this is sufficiently broad as a starting point. Shooting lightning from one's fingertips, turning a carrot into a rabbit, reading thoughts (which calls into question "what is a thought?"), etc. All of this seems to fit. Classification is the first step in understanding, after all.

Back on point, comprehension. You've answered the simple part of this. There is no truly discernible difference save for a complexity of understanding. That complexity means that the consequences and the costs are harder to fully predict, document, and control for. That is true with scientific endeavors as well, however. If you move a river's path to boost irrigation, it could have severe consequences upon much of the nearby terrain. All of this must be calculated and considered. Potentially, magic just involves more variables? Increased scale leading to increased complexity once again.

This is leading somewhere; though let me reassure you that it is only to a theoretical endpoint, not a practical one (not currently at least; it is hard to speak for the future with lives such as yours and mine). The morality of magic. If one were able to properly work out all of the mechanisms and variables, all of the costs and consequences and if they are controlled for in a way that will minimize harm to one's self and others, is there any moral reason not to use magic? If we carefully set up a campfire, it will not burn down a forest. If we carefully move the river, it will not cause great ruin. If we understand enough about a specific magic ritual/incantation/spell(particular manipulation of energy to achieve a purpose), that is, if we've bridged the gap of comprehension fully or at least to the extent that we understand irrigation techniques or the utilization of fire (or a simple lever), is there anything at all that makes magic, as we have defined it, immoral or unduly dangerous? Or is it just our ignorance that makes us deem it so?

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