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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 2706885" data-attributes="member: 18280">Actually, this highlights a problem with most fantasy worlds.&nbsp; Consistency and treating magic as a &quot;science&quot; do not go hand-in-hand.&nbsp; As an obvious example, if magical healing is divine in origin, then there is no &quot;figuring out&quot; to do; the gods either allow you that level of power or they do not.&nbsp; Even where magic can be treated as a science, the idea that &quot;If X is possible, then someone will know how to do it&quot; flies in the face of common sense.&nbsp; Making a jumbo jet is possible.&nbsp; It was possible 2000 years ago.&nbsp; No one knew how to make a jumbo jet 2000 years ago.&nbsp; For those who say that this reasoning doesn't apply, I will point out that kites were being made 2000 years ago, which may be as close to making a jet as cure light wounds is to mending bones in a given campaign world.Likewise, nothing that we do now medically was &quot;impossible&quot; during the Civil War.&nbsp; Yet, no one had the level of medical technology then that we have now.&nbsp; Penicillin didn't &quot;become&quot; an antibiotic because it was discovered; it became usable because it was discovered.&nbsp; Until it is discovered, it cannot be used.Obviously, there are things that are possible right now that we have no idea how to accomplish.&nbsp; If this were not the case, we wouldn't be spending so much money in research.That is what is realistic, because that is how the real world works.RC</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 2706885, member: 18280"] Actually, this highlights a problem with most fantasy worlds. Consistency and treating magic as a "science" do not go hand-in-hand. As an obvious example, if magical healing is divine in origin, then there is no "figuring out" to do; the gods either allow you that level of power or they do not. Even where magic can be treated as a science, the idea that "If X is possible, then someone will know how to do it" flies in the face of common sense. Making a jumbo jet is possible. It was possible 2000 years ago. No one knew how to make a jumbo jet 2000 years ago. For those who say that this reasoning doesn't apply, I will point out that kites were being made 2000 years ago, which may be as close to making a jet as [I]cure light wounds[/I] is to mending bones in a given campaign world. Likewise, nothing that we do now medically was "impossible" during the Civil War. Yet, no one had the level of medical technology then that we have now. Penicillin didn't "become" an antibiotic because it was discovered; it became usable because it was discovered. Until it is discovered, it cannot be used. Obviously, there are things that are possible right now that we have no idea how to accomplish. If this were not the case, we wouldn't be spending so much money in research. [I]That[/I] is what is realistic, because [I]that[/I] is how the real world works. RC [/QUOTE]

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