Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro
We might have misinterpreted this to mean that human belief in a stone's value is what imbues it with power, when you meant that a real gem's intangible qualities is what gives it both magical power and high human regard?
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Yes?
Honestly, from the perspective of thaumatological theorists in the setting, how would one know the difference?
Magical effects are persistently not replicable in a scientific context. Any kind of instruments meant to collect data on magical processes or objects tend to interfere with whether magic does anything all.
There are occultists who deny entirely the hypothesis that human belief has
anything to do with preternatural phenomena. Any correlation between human belief and the shapes of supernatural beings, rules of magic, etc., they chalk up to magic in previous eras having shaped human expectations and legends.
Basically, when magic seems to actively resist scientific measurement and analysis, it's really hard to separate the personal prejudices and peccadilloes of occultists from their theories about how magic works.