18 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
18 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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date: 2025-07-01
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title: on the nature of magic
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subtitle: presto! got your suspension of disbelief!
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tags:
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- magic
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- philosophy
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permalink: /blog/26/
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---
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I used to think magic was about knowing secret stuff. Then I thought magic was about being really good at acting and sleight of hand. Now I think those are both just facets of what really makes a moment feel magical: being more prepared than anyone could reasonably anticipate.
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By this "overprepared" metric, "magic" includes stage illusions and street magic, but it also includes things like when you think you've broken the rules of a video game and gotten yourself out of bounds, only to find a sign congratulating you on your cleverness. Or when you throw something at a game master that should send the game off the rails, and yet they have the next map already drawn up for you.
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Every "The Dev Team Thought Of Everything" moment is a magic trick, and vice versa.
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And I think, in that context, it's possible to enjoy magic even after you know the secret. The best magicians are the ones that make you say "I think I know *how* that works...
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...but it *shouldn't*."
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