• copacetic@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 months ago
    • Fireball? We have rocket launchers.
    • Lightning people? We have tasers.
    • Mind reading? Ok, I’ll give you that.
    • Conjure familiars? Buy a dish washer or cleaner service or whatever.

    Many of the fantasy powers can be done. It isn’t a question of capability but of economics. The economics are ignored in most stories, no matter if it’s fantasy or a real world thriller.

    • nBodyProblem@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Tasers and shooting lightning from your fingertips aren’t even close to the same thing

      But the point remains that, yes, society can do a thing but the power of wizards in most fantasy stories largely comes from personal, internal, strength rather than the ability to leverage a vast web of engineers, laborers and infrastructure in the outside world

      If someone dropped you in a remote area you wouldn’t just whip up a quick dishwasher to get a job done. The parallel between technology and magic as seen in most fantasy stories is weak at best