Imagine showing a peasant from 1300 on your computer. He wouldn’t understand its inner workings, even after you explained its components, such as electricity, semiconductors, and quantum mechanics. He’d probably remain ignorant of everything you said.
Science fiction allows any individual to pilot a spaceship or upload their brain onto the internet; in fantasy, however, magic remains exclusive primarily, and only those at its mercy may use it.
Technology that Works Like Magic
Although it might be hard to envision, many characters in fiction do access technology that appears and works like magic – often called “Logitech.” This type of fictional technology is most common in fantasy and sci-fi novels but may also appear in gritty realism or comic books.
Magitek refers to any storyline where magic and science intertwine in some way; one way this might occur is when characters use technologies with magical properties to achieve specific tasks; for instance, a necromancer might use concentration and willpower to raise an army of dead through attention, or Gandalf can use his staff from far away to smash Sauron’s towers from a distance.
Technology can appear like magic when its operation requires special skills or abilities, such as reading minds or controlling weather systems. This technological magic is prevalent in fantasy and science fiction stories and may provide more plausible means of accomplishing goals than conventional means.
Some technologies seem almost magical; examples include Green Lantern’s power rings or Thor’s telekinesis powers, which would seem magical to people from an earlier period; it is interesting to speculate what our technologies might appear like from their point of view in history.
Though technology may appear magical at times, that does not entitle us to hide its inner workings from public view. When technical details of devices are hidden, it becomes harder for users to comprehend them and increase security risks; that is why we must exercise extreme care when using and sharing them.
Technology that Doesn’t Work Like Magic
Magic typically works by manipulating supernatural forces; technology relies on the laws of physics (at least those we know). While technology might use natural forces like gravity or alter atomic structures, this doesn’t allow it to work like magic without incurring some cost; therefore, it shouldn’t operate like magic without consequences.
Unfortunately, technology is often designed to obscure its inner workings from users. Mobile operating systems that limit file system viewing or touch interfaces that eliminate OK motor control requirements; cars that prevent owners from accessing maintenance records — these and many more devices are meant to make us forget there is actual tech inside them and this tendency toward concealment can be dangerous: concealing complexity can result in technologies that don’t meet our needs adequately.
Computers are expected to perform many tasks, from storing documents and spreadsheets to streaming movies and music. We require them to be fast and reliable, willing to pay a premium for that performance, but hiding how they complete these tasks could result in slow, buggy systems that do not fulfill their intended roles as quickly or securely; over time, this could make our technology less secure or efficient than it could have been.
There are a few tricks available to us that can help restore the magic-like sensations associated with technology.
One fundamental way we can do this is by understanding how our gadgets function so we can identify their limits and keep technology magical. Although this may prove challenging, understanding these systems remains essential if we want them to stay magical.
As our tools–cameras, spectrometers, and microscopes–allow us to understand better how our gadgets function, we must take advantage of them. Researchers have discovered that many devices leak information about their internal workings via their power LEDs; by filming this indicator on an intelligent card reader, for instance, they could determine how long it had been computing cryptographic keys.
Technology that’s Not Technology
Some works utilize the blurring of technology and magic to deceive readers. This trope is ubiquitous in fantasy literature. On the flip side, if any technology can easily be distinguished from magic, its development must still be insufficiently advanced.
If a peasant from 1300 saw our smartphones today, they would likely consider them magical. Their minds wouldn’t comprehend how each circuit works as engineering technologies such as semiconductors, electricity, and quantum mechanics did not yet exist.
They would likely also not know physical concepts like force and momentum due to the absence of Newtonian physics in 1300, so they wouldn’t understand that their mobile phones weren’t just magical devices.
At this stage, we must be cautious with how we use technology. It can be easy to get carried away and see it as magic when starting; Figma might start with an idealized vision of its technology, making us all instantly better designers, before realizing its business-driven decisions must take precedence over its images of utopianism.
Technology that’s Not Magic
Although this trope can be entertaining for readers, it could prove harmful to both sides of the storytelling equation if not correctly handled. When characters discover new technologies that seem foreign or mysterious to them, this must be marked as non-magical to avoid confusion among readers.
If you were to transport someone back in time to the 1800s and show them a smartphone, they wouldn’t understand its workings; they wouldn’t understand anything about atoms, semiconductors or quantum mechanics, nor could they tell how much data the phone contained – they might as well see it as some magical object!
Science fiction tries to incorporate real-world physics into its technologies, such as superfast computers comparable to starships – but fantasy worlds need not necessarily.
If you’re writing science fiction, you must keep magic as an artifact of religion or spiritual practice – not technology – when discussing how magic might function within a story. Although magic might help scientists with scientific tasks such as prediction generation and experimentation, its proper role should lie with engineering rather than magic.
Misuse of the magic trope occurs most commonly when used to describe technological devices that aren’t magical at all, often when writing stories featuring aliens or civilizations with no established technology yet – for instance, if someone from an isolated culture sees a plane flying overhead they might think it is magic until they realize it’s just dropping bombs!
However, if your character tries to deceive an alien species or another gullible species with magical illusions, this technique could make things seem more magical. For instance, an alien or time traveler playing wizards could use this to present their technology as magical effects like performing “psychic” tricks or fake levitation that other species might take as genuine until they realize it’s all just an elaborate ruse.
