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<blockquote data-quote="Kian" data-source="post: 5910968" data-attributes="member: 6694109">I did clarify that technological development was inversely proportional to the availability of magic. Specifically, I said that &quot;In order to develop a crane, magic would have to be less available than the intelligence required to work out the principles of physics a crane operates on and developing the crane. If magic is freely available, technology doesn't develop because it is unnecessary.&quot;While requiring that someone personally cast levitation would make magic very scarce, thus encouraging technology, you could have an item enchanted to do so that would lead to stunted development. The cost of the item would have to be weighed against the cost of maintaining an equivalent workforce over time, and the research and development costs of the crane. It would make economic sense, particularly as a society became richer and more advanced, to replace menial labor with magical doodads. Much like we have replaced it with technological doodads. Get an enchanted item that can enchant other items, and you'd have a full on 'magic revolution' to match the industrial revolution.But even if magic is rare, if the smartest people have the means to either choose to devote their lives to the study of a field that will allow them to materialize their desires versus one where they can toil endlessly without a guarantee of a result, only to see others benefit from their effort, I expect many might choose to go with the former. Both magic and technology require brilliant minds to advance them, and magic is very attractive to the individual, even if technology benefits the society more.How far behind would we be today if the greatest scientists of the past fifty years had taken up magic instead of their fields?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Kian, post: 5910968, member: 6694109"] I did clarify that technological development was inversely proportional to the availability of magic. Specifically, I said that "In order to develop a crane, magic would have to be less available than the intelligence required to work out the principles of physics a crane operates on and developing the crane. If magic is freely available, technology doesn't develop because it is unnecessary." While requiring that someone personally cast levitation would make magic very scarce, thus encouraging technology, you could have an item enchanted to do so that would lead to stunted development. The cost of the item would have to be weighed against the cost of maintaining an equivalent workforce over time, and the research and development costs of the crane. It would make economic sense, particularly as a society became richer and more advanced, to replace menial labor with magical doodads. Much like we have replaced it with technological doodads. Get an enchanted item that can enchant other items, and you'd have a full on 'magic revolution' to match the industrial revolution. But even if magic is rare, if the smartest people have the means to either choose to devote their lives to the study of a field that will allow them to materialize their desires versus one where they can toil endlessly without a guarantee of a result, only to see others benefit from their effort, I expect many might choose to go with the former. Both magic and technology require brilliant minds to advance them, and magic is very attractive to the individual, even if technology benefits the society more. How far behind would we be today if the greatest scientists of the past fifty years had taken up magic instead of their fields? [/QUOTE]

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