Superhero Lessons in Analytics — Ep. XVII
Education & Exploration— Lessons From The Magicians
Are the magicians superheroes? Well, they have super (or magical) powers and they are at least mildly heroic. They even saved a world, fantasy as it may have been. The SyFy series, now in its third season, has its dark edges. It is not quite Deadpool, but it isn’t far off.
The Magicians have already inspired an article on our Comprehension 360 magazine — focused on Education. Today’s article will revisit that component from the perspective of analytics. Education and exploration are in fact the major themes of the show.
Mix that with an adult sense of humor and parodies of most major movies about magic (LOTR, Harry Potter, Narnia) and you understand the formula.
If you want to complete it, you will need to mix in some additional Charmed, a bit of Full-Metal Alchemist, and a dose of Naruto. Or put differently, pale skin, red lipstick, pentagrams, dark magic, and finger tricks… then make fun of all of it while pulling off an adult themed story line laced with plenty of sex, drugs, and sex jokes…
But thirty odd episodes in, beyond the adult situations, language, and Sci-Fi parodies — The Magicians is the story of a group of twenty somethings learning to master and control immense power. Aspects of both research and science figure heavily. Discipline is preached and dismissed in a manner only college upperclassmen could. And added to the parody pool is the real-world of higher education.
Education is billed as a combination of discipline and discovery. This is the culture and tone of Brakebills — the series version of Hogwarts. Brakebills mixes in a little Yale and a more than healthy dose of Girls Gone Wild or MTV Spring Break Uncensored. One can try to argue that such intense power and exploration requires a counter balance of distraction… but there is a damn lot of distraction. And when that slows — they toss in Sex Magic… I guess that is one way to explore.
Superheroes have a tendency to inflate and exaggerate concepts. Immense power has a tendency to do that because all the implications grow in power, too. The writers jump through hoops to contain that power — novice practitioners, unreliable power streams, or taking magic away entirely. Predictable twists to keep the rest of the story from spiraling toward that — ‘how many more times can they save the universe?’ conclusion.
But these plot tools are where The Magicians displays its most realistic foundations. When the magic and sex take a break, it is a story of researchers, explorers, and analysts. One that provides strong allegories and real-world conclusions.
Analytics is an occupation where learning and exploration never cease. It is one where the classroom does little justice for the Art & Craft. Application and exploration are required experience. And, like The Magicians, that could involve travelling, reading books, lab time, or even social media chat rooms. It also involves translation, transformation, and an occasional dusty library or research paper.
The highest levels of analytics also involve a lot of raw power. This means the implications are high. And while, the parties may not be so fantastic — it is a pretty amazing life none-the-less. In fairness, the repercussions of failure are a bit less severe, too. The Magicians doesn’t quite match The 100 in terms of body count… but there are a lot of dead magicians!
For more on The Magicians:
For more Superhero Lessons:
https://creative-analytics.corsairs.network/superhero-lessons/home
