2) “Limited version of the Imperius Curse” looks like an exaggeration to me—it isn’t just a matter of scope, the Comed-Tea impulse can be resisted with little effort.
The level of its power of mental manipulation seems about on par with that of the bakery in the city I grew up in, which had set up shop in front of a particularly frequented bus stop and which would keep its doors half-open, even in winter, drowning the waiting (and often hungry) students and workers in the delicious smell of fresh bread and pastries.
That is to say, it’s conceivable that the Comed-Tea doesn’t use “real” mind-altering magic at all, but simply broadcasts a signal which, to the brain, appears analogous to the gurgling of a fountain on a hot summer day.
3) Well, yes, if all magic relies on the AFoAM while spells and magical items are just triggers this has a lot of implications, but I don’t see how this concerns the Comed-Tea more than any other thing.
Re: Imperius—Yeah, I’m admittedly exaggerating here, and agreed that for legal purposes the power level matters, or at least ought to. I stand corrected.
Re: bakery—The difference between behavioral manipulation via knowable mechanisms (e.g., bakery smells) and via unknown mechanisms (e.g., magic spells) seems important. It’s way easier to overcome/compensate for a known bias than an unknown one of the same strength.
Re: AFoAM—yes, agreed. The AFoaM is pretty darn close to a Fully Generalized Explanation.
1) Agree
2) “Limited version of the Imperius Curse” looks like an exaggeration to me—it isn’t just a matter of scope, the Comed-Tea impulse can be resisted with little effort.
The level of its power of mental manipulation seems about on par with that of the bakery in the city I grew up in, which had set up shop in front of a particularly frequented bus stop and which would keep its doors half-open, even in winter, drowning the waiting (and often hungry) students and workers in the delicious smell of fresh bread and pastries.
That is to say, it’s conceivable that the Comed-Tea doesn’t use “real” mind-altering magic at all, but simply broadcasts a signal which, to the brain, appears analogous to the gurgling of a fountain on a hot summer day.
3) Well, yes, if all magic relies on the AFoAM while spells and magical items are just triggers this has a lot of implications, but I don’t see how this concerns the Comed-Tea more than any other thing.
Re: Imperius—Yeah, I’m admittedly exaggerating here, and agreed that for legal purposes the power level matters, or at least ought to. I stand corrected.
Re: bakery—The difference between behavioral manipulation via knowable mechanisms (e.g., bakery smells) and via unknown mechanisms (e.g., magic spells) seems important. It’s way easier to overcome/compensate for a known bias than an unknown one of the same strength.
Re: AFoAM—yes, agreed. The AFoaM is pretty darn close to a Fully Generalized Explanation.