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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 2510460" data-attributes="member: 3424">This is just a random thought about the influence of technology on perceptions of magic in literature and gaming. Not very well thought through, so tear it apart if you will.It seems to me that there has been a shift in literature from the protagonist as an observer of wonders, to the protagonist as the performer of wonders. Early protagonists may have had certain special talents or abilities, but they were usually within the limit of what was humanly possible. This is most obvious from fairy tales, where the magic almost always comes from an external agency - a sword of sharpness, seven league boots, a flying carpet, a magical animal, the blessings or curses of elves, fairies or witches, and so on. Even Frodo in the Lord of the Rings did nothing that was truly out of the ordinary.In relatively recent years, protagonists themselves are becoming the wonderworkers. Harry Potter is only the most recent and the most popular. Offhand, I can think of several other examples: Ged from A Wizard of Earthsea, Belgarion from the Belgariad, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, various characters from the Xanth novels, superheroes from the comics, etc. Magic is no longer something alien or separate from the protagonist, but an accepted and integral part of his identity.I think this is the result of two trends in technology - its complexity and its pervasiveness. In the past, technology was not complex. Most of us could understand the basic principles behind the tools we used. Truly complicated technology was rare and often viewed with distrust - the province of mad scientists and secret government organizations. There was thus a clear distinction between the known, reliable and trusted ("technology"), and the unknown, esoteric and unfamiliar ("magic").In recent years, however, technology has become more complex at the same time that it has become more pervasive. As a result of which, most of us think nothing of using and relying on gadgets without understanding how they work. I'm thinking of cell phones and computers in particular, but I'm sure there are other examples. The line between the known and the unknown is thus blurred.So, what I'm thinking is: the pervasiveness of poorly understood but reliable technology makes many people accept or even want magic to function like technology in their books and games. The pervasiveness of technology means that many people are no longer content to just see wonders. They want to work wonders as well, and thus accept or even want protagonists who do things that ordinary people cannot in their books, and want to play such characters in their games.What do you think?</blockquote>

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