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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Exactly. The whole idea behind the "Magic is Science" concept is that if someone from the middleages would get his hand on a digital clock, he would think that it is magic. He would have no idea whatsoever about the mechanisms behind it. But for us, a battery, an electric light aso, that's all something which has been proven to work, so we don't worry about it. Even though I wouldn't even be able to explain how either exactly works, other that there is a "stream of energy" - which is a phrase which could also describe magic.
Sure, Thor and Loki are gods, but they are mostly gods in the sense that their bodies are stronger and they are equipped with special abilities. And at least in the MCU, humans can gain the same abilities if they mutate correctly.
Personally, I've always found that in fiction, the primary difference between science and magic is how its inner workings are addressed. When a scientist has to attack someone with a blast he explains that he did so by channeling atomic energy into a concentrated ion blast. When a wizard has to attack someone with a blast he explains he has channeled his own burning hatred into a concentrated, physical blast. You see this as well in things like virgin sacrifices where technically speaking "virgin" isn't a quantifiable, mathematical factor but a symbolic one. Magic is all about symbols and narrative logic while science is all about numbers.
There's also often a change in principle that newer science is probably superior (i.e more advanced) while magic works on the opposite axis and, quite often, the older the magic the more powerful it actually is.
Edited by Gaon on Nov 2nd 2018 at 7:16:57 AM
"All you Fascists bound to lose."![]()
I believe that they are referring to the aesthetics of each — that science is often shown as shiny and sleek (see: Iron Man's armor), while magic is often portrayed as "old world," using ancient stones and wood (see: ...uh, Harry Potter).
I'd also argue that these aesthetic differences are superficial at best and also discarded a lot of the times in various works.
Edited by alliterator on Nov 2nd 2018 at 7:09:54 AM
Then again, Thor is neither a magician nor a scientist so what he says could be taken with a grain of salt.
Weren't those powered by some kind of magic?
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That puts it pretty well.
x4 What's so complicated about it? As you've already said, it's mostly an aesthetic difference, but you can see the difference in styles between fantasy and sci-fi, right?
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It's a continuum. You can get sci-fi that looks like medieval fantasy and fantasy that plays more like cyberpunk. It is largely a surface difference, but if people like a certain style, I don't see why you feel the need to dismiss their opinion out of hand.
Edited by Unsung on Nov 2nd 2018 at 8:32:54 AM
And spinning. Don't forget spinning.
Although magic sometimes is about spinning too.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 2nd 2018 at 8:16:43 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Science is about circuit boards! Magic is about bones! And sometimes, you have to hook up those bones to a circuit board in order to get a magic detector!
The best way to defeat Thanos is to pit him against MCU Matt Murdock in a hallway.
Matt’s never lost a hallway fight yet. Prune Face goes down hard.
I want Thanos to rob a gas station.
Just straight-up walk into a gas station with a gun and take all the money. Be like, "Go ahead, call the police and tell them Thanos just robbed you." Then fly away in his Thanoscopter.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 2nd 2018 at 5:35:21 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.So I'm watching Black Panther again, and it's just been pointed out to me that Klaue's Arm Cannon (which is just supposed to be a mining tool remember) makes the exact same sound as Stark's Repulsor blasts.
Just an interesting detail.
Edited by HandsomeRob on Nov 3rd 2018 at 11:03:15 AM
One Strip! One Strip!It's a bit late for the magic convo, but I've always found the narrative difference between magic and technology (not, as pointed out, "science") is that magic can do things that are more... specific.
Like, tech can beliveably give someone super strength that is effectively that of ten men, whereas magic can give someone strength that is literally that of ten men. Amounts to the same thing in most, but the magical approach can have specific moving parts that can be used in creative ways (like, say, if the average man in the world becomes stronger, then that person also does without any additional effort.note ).
Which then means you can get differences like someone effectively becoming immortal via tech with healing factors or invulnerability and such, or literally being unkillable by any man (and thus killable by a woman) via magic. Or all the times curses can only be lifted by extremely obscure means ("a virgin must light this candle on this specific night on this specific year after my death!"), whereas even the wonkiest of non-magical afflictions need cures that make sense. Which is also one of the reasons reality warping is often compared to magic even in sci-fi situations: because it can do the same thing.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Nov 3rd 2018 at 10:26:43 AM
Magic also tends to be generally more internal than external.
Like, you get situations like in Iron Man 3 where Tony loses access to his technology.
But with magic its less likely to evolve around an item.
Expect I suppose the MCU does do that pretty often. I.e Thor's Hammer.
Scarlet Witch would be the best example for what I was thinking of. Even if she not strictly speaking magic.
So guys what is your WMG about the black widow movie
My personal WMG is that the its gonna be a one big flashback its gonna start back in nat`s days in the KGB. The first act is gonna be all in russian nat is gonna have comic acurate hair then then after her defection she is will speak in a russian accent (witch all her animated incarnations had) witch she will lose towards the end
Edited by Drakon69 on Nov 4th 2018 at 10:39:46 AM
DRAGON DRAGON

"Science" here is just shorthand. It's not entirely accurate, but it's somewhat more indicative of what's being discussed than "magic" vs. "not-magic".