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Old 09-18-2019, 11:20 PM   #22
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: Magic and Hard SF

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2 View Post
One problem with the scientific study of magic is that by its very nature (at least when we're talking about spirits, which is what most real-world magical traditions do), is that you can't count on it to behave the same in and out of a controlled experiment, because you're dealing with intelligence.
Eh, either you study the way the spirits do it (presumably it's not intelligence all the way down, so at some point there's a non-sentient process you can study), or you're dealing with a social science (which does certainly tend towards less rigorous results than harder sciences, but is not entirely impervious to study).
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