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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 1608499" data-attributes="member: 6271">Actually, Brother MacLaren and I are debating that point <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=91261" target="_blank">in this thread</a> Well, the debate I think is on a higher level than the details. Both are, indeed, fruits; and including more in your diet results in better nutrition. However, just because oranges are citrus fruits and provide a defense against scurvy that apples do not provide, that does not make the comparison flawed. Of course there are differences between magic and technology; no one has said they are *identical*. I am saying that the long-term effects on society are likely to be similar, though, as both provide means of accomplishing the same tasks. Elder Basilisk points out the disparity of a wizard vs. a scientist. That's a disparity of detail, though. In the broader scheme of the effects over the course of a few generations, I still maintain that readily available reliable magic would assume the same sorts of roles as comparable tecnhologies in the real world, and would produce similar (though not necessarily identical) effects on the society.I am also not talking about the effects of the relatively low number of adventuring spellcasters. I am speaking more directly about the pervasive effects of just about every settlement having at least one spellcaster as a normal resident. I am talking about the gradual, cumulative effects of the small changes in society produced generation after generation as these resident spellcasters slowly improve their craft. Magic items, especially wondrous items, that do not require a maintenance industry do much to support the idea of gradually acquiring more such power. I submit that, over time, heads of state would see a value in having a cadre of loyal wizard educated at state expense for the good of the state, in the same way that public education is seen as a valuable investment for states in the real world.</blockquote>

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