Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Chrisling" data-source="post: 408927" data-attributes="member: 6816">Since my mind works in weird ways, I was thinking about magic in society and stuff -- D&D style magic -- and I was thinking what I would think if, y'know, tomorrow it was proven that these little arcane rituals could create these dramatic effects.  What it would do to my mind, and how it interacted with the world.In philosophical discussions, people pretty regularly talk about what if all your senses were controlled by an evil genie, or equally exotic positions that most people don't believe because, well, it runs contrary to the continuity of our memory and existence.  I mean, name a philosopher who takes one of these mental journeys and doesn't end, basically, back in the world?  Then, bam, I meet someone who is, "Oh, yeah, I'm a powerful wizard.  I can take over your perceptions and make them dance a jig.  I could make it so you see only what I wanted you to see.  I could create whole worlds inside your head, and you'd never, ever be able to figure it out."What would you believe?  What could a person legitimately believe?  These powers are out there, doing things, and your will might not be your own.  How could you know if your thoughts were your own, or just a construct invented by a powerful wizard and honestly subject to that magician's whims?Where would the self lay in this world?  Could it be found, or if found, recognized?And what about those powerful magicians -- how would we treat a person who could twist the world into whatever shape they desired?  Would we think they possessed a greater vision of the universe's truths than I do?  It'd be easy to do, considering their awesome power.What would the magicians feel -- especially, as seems to be the case in most D&D games, that being a wizard is basically a trade that can be learned, not too different from physics or plumbing (save maybe somewhat harder), and doesn't require this profound mystic vision?  Would these people, who were really emotionally and intellectually normal save for their superhuman powers, find themselves believing their own hype about them being the lords of creation?  I'd think it would be a constant danger for magicians who don't have the built-in limitations to their powers as clerics do (no one can take away their powers for straying away from a particular position).Interesting to consider, I think.</blockquote>

Verification