Why Magic Systems don't feel Magical

Comments · 4.2K

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  @_.-._.-Y0K0-._.-._ · 3 years ago

  I think the "It's not magic, it's waterbending" moment is another good example. Water bending is magical to Sokka, but reality to Katara.

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• IR

  @IronDino · 3 years ago

  To quote Clarke, &quot;Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.&quot;<br>To quote Niven, &quot;Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science.&quot;<br>And to quote Pratchett, &quot;It doesn&apos;t stop being magic just because you know how it works.&quot;

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• EL

  @elrikstronginthearm9267 · 3 years ago (edited)

  I just had this thought: this might be the reason or at least on of the reasons why the &apos;there used to be much more powerful magic but it got lost&apos; is such a often used trope. It is a way to make unexplainable, magical things available even in a universe where everything else is very defined and sciency

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• TH

  @thecluckster3908 · 3 years ago

  This is kinda why I love adventure times magic, it just does. It never gets explained, heck it even gets an entire episode dedicated to how there’s no science behind it, it’s great.

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• DE

  @Deathnotefan97 · 3 years ago

  I feel the opposite<br><br>I understand pretty well how a microwave oven works, and I use them often without thinking<br><br>But every time I stop and actually ponder it, it feels magical to me<br><br>I feel this way about a lot of technology, when you actually understand how it works on a fundamental level, especially if it&apos;s something complex, it becomes amazing and wondrous<br><br>Things are magical when you don&apos;t understand them, and they are magical when you understand them in great detail, it is only that area in between, when you know enough to accept it at face value but not enough to see the feats necessary for it to work, &nbsp;where the magic is lost

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• TH

  @Thatlolyisaspy · 3 years ago

  Let me just say, the animation at the beginning of your robot character grabbing that book and opening it is one of the smoothest things I&apos;ve ever seen, and your voice is so soft, i bet if you read a sad story id be 10x more likely to cry to it

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• ST

  @starblade8450 · 3 years ago

  Full Metal Alchemist embraces this video&apos;s message pretty well I feel.<br>Alchemy is just a form of science, no matter how magical it seems to the uninitiated. When Ed and Al were in Reole, watching Father Cornello perform miracles for a crowd, they saw alchemy that broke the rules, theorizing that it was done with a Philosopher&apos;s Stone, while the crowd saw divine will of their god.

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• DM

  @dmgroberts5471 · 3 years ago

  Galadriel can kinda break your mind if you start thinking about how old she is. She has literally met the entities that shaped the world, she personally witnessed the first Sunrise, she&apos;s known Elrond since he was a child...I mean, she&apos;s older than Men and Dwarves <i>existing.</i>

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• EN

  @Envy_May · 3 years ago

  personally, i think what makes things feel &quot;magical&quot; is when the system is built around ideas/concepts/meaning instead of mechanics/physics/abilities. they need to function on a sort of poetic/dreamlike logic, but not in a way that shows the hand of the author like &quot;just do whatever you want idk it doesn&apos;t matter&quot;

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• IM

  @ImAmABot · 3 years ago

  It&apos;s why I love Fullmetal Alchemist, from it&apos;s start, it&apos;s just defined as another system of science, not magic, so it makes the world feel so much more relatable imo

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• BR

  @brotherbongo5893 · 3 years ago

  Im a sleight of hand magician and this video resonates with me because I can do things that some people accept as magic and I get to see the looks on their faces as they experience &quot;real&quot; magic for even a brief moment. I never get this feeling anymore from watching other&apos;s do magic which kinda makes me feel a little sad. It is nice bringing that to other&apos;s though 😌

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• ME

  @MeargleSchmeargle · 3 years ago

  My first immediate thought was how lightningbending in Avatar went from being an incredibly rare and powerful ability that only the most elite of firebenders can actually tap into in TLA to being a well-understood method of providing electricity to Republic City.

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