100 Topics - Topic #36

How has access to Magic influenced Technology in your Setting?

I look at this question with two lenses, depending on the genre: fantasy or science-fiction.

For fantasy I look at this famous quote:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

~ Arthur C. Clarke

Now think about inversing it. So magic could look like any technology. Why invent something if magic just does it for you? Yes, not everyone is a magic user so it is limited to a few. But if you think about it, not everyone can afford technology either (not even in our current time).

Magic is hindering any technological advancement. Think about it. Communication is just a spell. So is transportation over large distances. Healing just a handwave. The only real advancement has been done in warfare. But the best weapons are still the magic ones.

Maybe this is the reason, why these settings get stuck in medieval themes societies.

In a science-fiction setting this becomes more interesting. Technology can basically do anything, so what part has magic in it? Abilities become more personal and internal. Look at Star Wars. The Jedi and Sith still rely on technology as much as anybody else. And everything they can do with the force, technology can achieve as well. Magic in such settings becomes more esoteric. Maybe elevating a particular being just beyond normal capabilities without the use of specific technology.

So "real" magic is limited to things, technology can't yet achieve. This is why you mostly see things like people having visions of the future (or past) or they can manipulate or read minds. They are all very internal.

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