The Mage’s Paradox
In worlds of wonder and awe, how is magic really viewed? Where does the novelty of magic come from?
Introduction
To any reader of fantasy, magic is a very familiar term. It is usually used to refer to divine, occult, dark, righteous or morally neutral “powers” that a character, usually the protagonist, possesses.
This “power” usually is:
- Something not ordinarily possible in our Earth-world;
- Something that ties into the fabric of the plot;
- of a structure that may be as highly or loosely defined as the world creator so wishes.
Given the above premise, the effect of such magic is usually pretty clear on us. Sometimes, it is morally devastating — and at other times, magic can be very uplifting, and even joyous.
However, given the nature of talent and practice, is it reasonable to look at magic as something that is wonderful and so utterly breathtaking?
The Mage’s Paradox
The contention of this paradox goes as follows:
A person has been practicing a skill for a decade. At this point, that person can perform extremely well wherever that skill is in the picture.
Another decade later, this person is even better, and in fact this person is so good at their skill, they surpass everyone else in this skill.
Yet another decade later, the person is so skilled that they push the boundary of what being skilled means.
If the skill set was something mundane ( i.e. non magical ), we know that the perception of the skilled performance goes from acceptance of normalcy to normalized inspiration; and yet if the skill was a certain school of magic or supernatural feat, readers are astounded beyond reason every time, every novel.
Why?
Possible Reasons
Two reasons jump out.
One of them is the reasoning behind the urban fantasy genre. The paradox is solved by the person being introduced to a world or skill they did not know existed. For example, in the Harry Potter Series, Harry continues to be astounded by magic; the paradox is solved because a mundane skill is not the same as the flying a broom stick or conjuring a patronus. What is normal to Harry’s wizard-ing friends is completely new or strange to him.
The second way the paradox is solved, is via accepting the fact that even though everyone knows the magical skill’s existence, they may not have seen in it in abundance or in minute quantities. For example, even though all adults are familiar with the concept of money, the lack or abundance of it continues to surprise those at the extreme ends of the spectrum.
Conclusion
The contention is that by entertaining the paradox, instead of dissolving it, world creators are doing a disservice to the genre. If the paradox is enabled, then the world creator has inadvertently allowed a society to bask in the wonder of its own creations and possibilities — a result that goes against common world building principles.
While it is true that a sense of wonder can be crucial to the genre, I believe that by entertaining the paradox, a shortcut is being taken that reduces the overall efficacy of the world building.
