Mystery, Awe And Wonder In Science


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There is no doubt about it, our magic is nothing compared to the wonder and mystery of the universe. I was just thinking we can’t compete with that! Why would a human be interested in a small mystery created by a conjurer when the universe is full of great wonder and mystery to explore, why do or would they bother with us?

I think the answer is: Simple!


People find pleasure in all their simple joys rather than complicated things and the wonder and mystery of the universe is too complicated for average man to enjoy. Which in turn makes me wonder if the joys of magic, what ever they are, should kept simple and not overcomplicated. It has been said that a good magic effect can be explained in one sentence! Do you think we magicians should keep magic as simple as we can? And what are the simple joys of magic? Is the secret of great magic keeping it simple? Keeping it simple is not simple:

Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. -
Leonardo da Vinci

Quite truthfully I don’t have much of clue what I am rambling on about. I am just wondering why people go for magic when they have Mystery, Awe And Wonder In Science I guess.

No clue?

Anyone can seem clever with a trick pack of cards or props.

Doing science and actually learning something takes work.

A very interesting observation Tommy. Blackstone Sr. was asked, "Why are people interested in magic?" And he answered, "People like to see what is on the other side of the hill."

Hey Jon - Doing magic takes work and being clever sometimes takes work as well.

Wow, tommy, that's quite a grouping of statements that can be interpreted in different ways...

If we're talking about the universe as compared to magic, just pick up a consumer astronomy magazine at the supermarket, either Astronomy or [Sky & Telescope[/i]. These magazines let you see the universe as simply or as deeply (no pun intended) as you want. Some articles are about looking at the moon thru binoculars, and others (in the same issue!) are about the mechanics of emission nebulas or about water ice on Ganymede.

Talk about burning the candle at both ends!

Yes I guess there are more hill climbers than mountain climbers.

“Imagine that you place a 1-inch-wide black cube in an empty field. Suddenly the cube makes copies of itself - two, four, eight, 16. The proliferating cubes begin to form structures - enclosures, arches, walls, tubes. Some of the tubes turn into wires, PVC pipes, structural steel, wooden studs. Sheets of cubes become wallboard and wood paneling, carpet and plate-glass windows. The wires begin connecting themselves into a network of immense complexity. Eventually, a 100-story skyscraper stands in the field.
That’s basically the process a fertilized cell undergoes beginning with the moment of conception. How did that cube know how to make a skyscraper? How does a cell know how to make a human (or any other mammal)?”

- Steve Olson, author of Mapping Human History


We don’t know. It’s a mystery of science.

What magic effect can follow that?

If you want to know a mystery of magic then buy the big book of magic.

A cell is not a man-made cube. What sort of low grade imbicile fails to distinguish between the world of man-made objects and nature as found?

The big tricks seem to be "to know that one knows", followed by "to know that someone else knows".

In your example, the cube/cell does not decide to become anything. Can you imagine what would come of world where cells would decide for themselves what to become? Oh yeah... that's called cancer.

Did ya ever use magic to illustrate the MYSTERY, AWE AND WONDER IN SCIENCE? It's kinda nifty...

Well, the thing is, we do know what makes them tick. Most people just don't know. It's more the 'whys' that scientists are after. I mean, since DNA has been really laid out and studied, the 'mystery' has started to go.

But, how does that tie into magic. I think, for the same reason most people don't know the why's of science, they don't know the why's of magic. And when they are shown something that turns their world view on it's ear for a minute, that, to them, is the equivalent of seeing the box 'magically' replicate. It's startling and surprising.

Tommy wrote:

The math is complicated. Experiencing the universe in some small way isn't difficult at all. Experiences like standing on a mountain and looking into the distance, or looking at the stars in the sky at night, or looking at a setting sun over the ocean, or any one of a thousand other experiences of the universe, are so moving that they cannot be adequately described with words. Enjoyment doesn't necessarily require understanding. Mystery requires not understanding!

Magic offers something from the universe too. Magic involves people. They're pretty cool too. A scientist might consider them the most complicated form of matter in the universe... that we know of.

Our art is not much different than the Paranormal and so on, for many know such is not real but are attracted by the lets pretend it is magic. Water Dowsers believe it works even when they have been shown by double blind scientific tests that it does not. They are not fools they simply like to pretend this is some sort of real magic. Sometimes I read my horoscope although I know it is a load of nonsense but when I read it I am in effect saying to myself lets pretend. There is something enchanting and attractive in lets pretend it is magic. In our art they play lets pretend for short time. Other things like the Paranormal some people go into the lets pretend world so deeply and find it so attractive that they find it difficult to escape Such people are called believers. So what is it that people find so attractive about lets pretend it is magic?
People know other things are not real , such as fictional stories but only tend to start believing or be attracted by them if they have some mysterious supernatural magical aspect to them. I am thinking of things like King Arthur and Count Dracula and stuff. While I have no desire of causing any one to believe in real magic I am interested in what it is about lets pretend it is Magic that people find so attractive. I think people are not interested in the truth as truth takes away the sense of wonder. Science I think tells people the truth and takes away that sense of wonder almost like telling someone the trick.

Ours is a theatrical craft. We invite people into stories.

Were we to insist that our tales reflect the world as it is... we would be charlatans and find ourselves being drowned, stoned, burned and worse.

The notion of the "supernatural" is itself an indicator that one needs to place a story frame around the experience. What is, is natural. What we do is willful. What we feel is ultimately a reflection of our natures.

What we do as magians is say lets pretend its magic for a while.

They go for it, but what is it they like about the idea?

Tommy, it's not so far from "i expect that" to "it should". The "should" or sentimental perspective implies a conscious/willful activity and that is how we relate to the world ... as conscious willful things. Hence we get animism and by extension the supernatural in all its glory and diversity.

Mystery & silence I shurly know what that is!!!!!! LOL .The love of my life is like that

`It seems very pretty,' she said when she had finished it, `but it's rather hard to understand!' (You see she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) `Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas -- only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate -- '

:)