"Magic is the attempt to either (1) increase and utilize one's free will, or (2) submit ones free will to something viewed as greater."
1. Why call it magic? Free will is more or less unnatural in itself. Obviously it arose from nature, but it allows us to question nature, manipulate it, counter it and use it as we wish. The definition acknowledges that the mind is something more than and separate from the world around it, and can choose how to act.
2. Why two definition? As simple as white v. black magic. The white magician seeks to submit to something higher, consciously or not, such as state, church, god, or even something like materialism or determinism. The black magician seeks to isolate itself from these influences rather than submit to them, to become a separate force.
3. But, do we have free will? The answer seems to be a rather obvious yes. From emotional regulation to modern science, from cognitive therapy to metacognition, it literally all suggests some degree of free will. Perhaps free will is not inherent, no, but the definition accounts for that.
1. Why call it magic? Free will is more or less unnatural in itself. Obviously it arose from nature, but it allows us to question nature, manipulate it, counter it and use it as we wish. The definition acknowledges that the mind is something more than and separate from the world around it, and can choose how to act.
2. Why two definition? As simple as white v. black magic. The white magician seeks to submit to something higher, consciously or not, such as state, church, god, or even something like materialism or determinism. The black magician seeks to isolate itself from these influences rather than submit to them, to become a separate force.
3. But, do we have free will? The answer seems to be a rather obvious yes. From emotional regulation to modern science, from cognitive therapy to metacognition, it literally all suggests some degree of free will. Perhaps free will is not inherent, no, but the definition accounts for that.
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