I think this dichotomy carves reality pretty well. Nice comment.
I’m reminded of the different approaches to magic described in various stories. In some stories magic is ineffable. The characters never really understand it. They use it intuitively, and its functioning tends to depend on emotional states or degrees of belief or proper intentions. Wizardry is more like art than science.
In another type of story, magic is mechanical. A mage learns precise words, movements or rituals to operate a kind of invisible machine that serves up magical results. Wizardry is not unlike being an engineer or programmer.
I think that you can view real life as having both qualities. That’s probably why these two views of magic have any appeal in the first place.
I find it more appealing to be the kind of mage who understands the nuts and bolts. To stretch the metaphor probably too far, it’s all well and good to know a long, complex ritual that summons a demon, but I find it more aesthetically appealing to understand what elements of that ritual are load bearing and then just do those. And maybe that means I just do the “spell” in my head in five seconds instead of performing a lengthy narrative-conforming ritual.
Maybe magic will twist the world so that one doesn’t miss their connection with the Buddhist monk in NYC. (I super-duper doubt it, though. This is actually just classic hindsight bias.) I would rather rely on basic planning principles to get the same outcome. At least then the causal story is actually true. And if my planning approach fails, then I can learn from that, rather than having the Mythic approach fail, and being forced to shrug and accept that this is the outcome the cosmos wanted.
(I super-duper doubt it, though. This is actually just classic hindsight bias.)
I’m not in Val’s head, but I didn’t get the sense that he was claiming this was the best way to meet Shaolin monks. Rather, his aim was to find a way to build on his moment of Kensho in a way that progressed his growth and development.
He could just as easily have missed the monk, and then he would have by chance run into another form of teacher, and that would have been the story instead. Or he would have learned something from his aimless wanderings that he couldn’t have learned by finding a teacher. Or he would have not learned anything and been frustrated, and then the story would be that he was undergoing some sort of trial and the next thing he did would be the payoff.
Yeah, you’re right. I wasn’t being very precise, there.
Thinking in terms of narrative and such as all well and good (and even natural and unavoidable) but sometimes the superficial story “I scheduled a trip and almost missed one of the people I wanted to see on the trip, I should consider this is a potential thing to look out for going forward” is the one worth paying attention to.
I think this dichotomy carves reality pretty well. Nice comment.
I’m reminded of the different approaches to magic described in various stories. In some stories magic is ineffable. The characters never really understand it. They use it intuitively, and its functioning tends to depend on emotional states or degrees of belief or proper intentions. Wizardry is more like art than science.
In another type of story, magic is mechanical. A mage learns precise words, movements or rituals to operate a kind of invisible machine that serves up magical results. Wizardry is not unlike being an engineer or programmer.
I think that you can view real life as having both qualities. That’s probably why these two views of magic have any appeal in the first place.
I find it more appealing to be the kind of mage who understands the nuts and bolts. To stretch the metaphor probably too far, it’s all well and good to know a long, complex ritual that summons a demon, but I find it more aesthetically appealing to understand what elements of that ritual are load bearing and then just do those. And maybe that means I just do the “spell” in my head in five seconds instead of performing a lengthy narrative-conforming ritual.
Maybe magic will twist the world so that one doesn’t miss their connection with the Buddhist monk in NYC. (I super-duper doubt it, though. This is actually just classic hindsight bias.) I would rather rely on basic planning principles to get the same outcome. At least then the causal story is actually true. And if my planning approach fails, then I can learn from that, rather than having the Mythic approach fail, and being forced to shrug and accept that this is the outcome the cosmos wanted.
I’m not in Val’s head, but I didn’t get the sense that he was claiming this was the best way to meet Shaolin monks. Rather, his aim was to find a way to build on his moment of Kensho in a way that progressed his growth and development.
He could just as easily have missed the monk, and then he would have by chance run into another form of teacher, and that would have been the story instead. Or he would have learned something from his aimless wanderings that he couldn’t have learned by finding a teacher. Or he would have not learned anything and been frustrated, and then the story would be that he was undergoing some sort of trial and the next thing he did would be the payoff.
Yeah, you’re right. I wasn’t being very precise, there.
Thinking in terms of narrative and such as all well and good (and even natural and unavoidable) but sometimes the superficial story “I scheduled a trip and almost missed one of the people I wanted to see on the trip, I should consider this is a potential thing to look out for going forward” is the one worth paying attention to.