[ he tries not to say it too dismissively, but it's not entirely something that can be helped. after all, he's the sort that's always believed that there's a scientific explanation for anything.
and yes, psychics and ghosts are completely scientific. but as to her question... ]
Not a notebook, but these things are pretty useful. We could probably take a few pictures.
[ he says, as he pulls out the phone provided to the refugees. ]
No, not in the slightest. An image is an image, as far as this is concerned.
I just prefer the tactile sense of writing it myself. But a photograph will suffice. [She steps away from the inscription so he can take a clear picture.]
I guess I shouldn't be surprised none of us can recognize it. Despite so many of us speaking all sorts of different languages, this world still has plenty of its own things to discover.
[ a pause. ]
And given the superstitions the locals are prone to believing, I'm not sure we'll have much luck with them.
I'm not familiar with it, no. [Though, hang on.] --you're saying that an animal was capable of "possessing" someone? Or was it just mimicking the symptoms?
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
[ something that he completely believed. there was no such thing as the supernatural. ghosts and psychics are completely scientific, ok? ]
No possession was involved. While I'm sure there's probably spirits lurking somewhere, the creature just produced a toxin that sent anyone in the vicinity into a state of extreme emotion.
[ unfortunately, he can vouch completely for its potency. ]
Indistinguishable, perhaps, but that does not make them the same thing.
Where I come from, technology and magic have coexisted, but it is only recently that the former has been able to replicate what may be done by the latter. An airplane and an enchanted flying carpet may both fly, but that does not mean they are doing the same thing.
But, they both follow the same basic laws. For example, if someone's able to communicate with the dead, would you call that magic? Or just a form of psychic energy.
[ though maybe it's more insistent terminology than anything else. ]
The phrase says that advanced technology might be mistaken for magic. To one from five hundred years ago, an airplane and a flying carpet might seem to be doing the exact same thing.
It doesn't say that all magic is really science. The carpet and the airplane are doing different things.
They work a different way, but a flying carpet could just as easily be manipulated by psychic energy. Just like if I end up seeing a spirit around here, that would be ESP. Just because we don't fully understand how something works, that doesn't make it magic.
[ but seriously... it's just the principle of the thing. ]
[Okay, hang on. She turns more to face him.] What's the difference, in your eyes? I'm not seeing the rather arbitrary distinction you mean to be making. Whether you call the force holding the carpet aloft psychic energy or magic energy, it's still acting outside the laws of commonly understood physics.
What would something have to do, in your mind, to be truly considered "magic"?
Personally, I believe that everything has an explanation, as strange as it might be. As to magic, some people are just born with different abilities than others.
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diana cavendish | december intro
Right, magic.
[ he tries not to say it too dismissively, but it's not entirely something that can be helped. after all, he's the sort that's always believed that there's a scientific explanation for anything.
and yes, psychics and ghosts are completely scientific. but as to her question... ]
Not a notebook, but these things are pretty useful. We could probably take a few pictures.
[ he says, as he pulls out the phone provided to the refugees. ]
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...I've always preferred doing it by hand to digital mediums, personally, but beggars can't be choosers.
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[ ironic that the older guy is going with the new tech and the girl is for the pen-and-paper routine. ]
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I just prefer the tactile sense of writing it myself. But a photograph will suffice. [She steps away from the inscription so he can take a clear picture.]
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I guess I shouldn't be surprised none of us can recognize it. Despite so many of us speaking all sorts of different languages, this world still has plenty of its own things to discover.
[ a pause. ]
And given the superstitions the locals are prone to believing, I'm not sure we'll have much luck with them.
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...if that can be the correct term when dealing with magic, at least.
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It turned out, it was just a strange sort of animal.
[ and as for magic... ]
You ever hear of Clarke's Third Law?
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[ something that he completely believed. there was no such thing as the supernatural.
ghosts and psychics are completely scientific, ok?]No possession was involved. While I'm sure there's probably spirits lurking somewhere, the creature just produced a toxin that sent anyone in the vicinity into a state of extreme emotion.
[ unfortunately, he can vouch completely for its potency. ]
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Where I come from, technology and magic have coexisted, but it is only recently that the former has been able to replicate what may be done by the latter. An airplane and an enchanted flying carpet may both fly, but that does not mean they are doing the same thing.
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[ though maybe it's more insistent terminology than anything else. ]
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[ source: his dad is a psychic ghost. ]
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To be honest, it seems like a completely arbitrary line to me.
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[ regardless... ]
Once you understand anything, the mystery becomes just a little bit clearer.
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The phrase says that advanced technology might be mistaken for magic. To one from five hundred years ago, an airplane and a flying carpet might seem to be doing the exact same thing.
It doesn't say that all magic is really science. The carpet and the airplane are doing different things.
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[ but seriously... it's just the principle of the thing. ]
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What would something have to do, in your mind, to be truly considered "magic"?
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[ and that's all there is to it. ]