Bonus points if it’s usually misused/misunderstood by the people who say it

  • spittingimage@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    An individual, uneducated observer might not be able to tell them apart, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a distinction.

    What about when an involved educated observer can’t tell them apart? I mean, we still can’t fully explain how friction works but we know how to use it.

    • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Inability to explain something doesn’t make it magic, regardless of the observer. I haven’t the faintest idea how the computer I’m typing on works; but I’m reasonably confident it doesn’t break the laws of physics. And even if I’m wrong about that - computers are literally magic! - then… they’re magic: the observer always makes a conclusion based on their observations, but whether or not that’s correct is moot: the thing being assessed is what it is.

      My argument here boils down to this:

      “I can’t tell these two things apart.” =/= “These two things are the same.”

      “This looks/feels like magic!” =/= “This is magic!”

       

      …I’m collecting downvotes like pokemon in this thread in this thread, which I assume means a lot of folks disagree, but I’m really scratching my head here at why that is.