Do you believe in Magic?

I wonder what Hayakawa would say about all of this if he were still alive.

It would probably go something like this:
The symbol is NOT the thing symbolized.
The map is NOT the territory.
The word is NOT the thing.

Classification, symbols, truth, context, inferences, judgement, etc. They all mean something different to each of us and they shouldn't.

‘Magic’ is the word I’ve been using to refer to something with a known effect but an unknown explanation. I chose the word ‘magic’ because, when you encounter something with a known effect but an unknown explanation, the experience can be similar to seeing magic tricks performed. I assume that is obvious from the discussion so far.

But I also chose the word ‘magic’ because it expresses a universal human tendency. Every child lives in a world of magical events. Every adult occasionally succumbs to Magical Thinking. And every culture has some form of magical beliefs. Both Ancient and Enlightenment philosophers believed that the hallmark of being human is to think rationally. From what I can tell, the hallmark of being human is to think magically.

There are of course exceptions. What one person experiences as Magic, a more rational or informed person may experience as Mechanism. But no matter how rational or informed you are, the pace at which we as individuals acquire explanations is far outmatched by the pace of science and technology. So there will always be things with known effects but unknown explanations.

Sure, everyone knows how to explain this.
But only some people know how to explain this.
And very few people know how to explain this.
And no one knows how to explain this.

In other words, Magic is here to stay.

IMO.

Bryon

Byron,

Very well put. Hyakawa would have smiled.

You succinctly made it clear, to everyone here, what you meant by your use of the word. Personal agendas can give rise to tendencies to wander off the path.

All the best,
Nonoise

Our educated perception is based on our knowledge and personal exoeriences. Without those yes it is a guess.
If one listens to live music every day then his or her perception of recorded sound isan educated onethough experience.
My perception is just that my perception, Right or wrong it is right for me. Everything sounds different to everyone so is it not the "perception" of the live sound how we evaluate sound ?
At the end of the day yes it is our unreliable perception that makes the call. works for me.

wwhile not disagreeing with the basic definition, i think that as human beings we experience phenomena for ehich we have no explanation, or perhaps an erroneous one.

i think there are many examples of magic in that our store of information is limited and our experiences are so varied that we may encounter a phenomena that is beyond our comprehension.