Where is Phil Hine when you need him...
On Jun 2, 2008, at 11:02 AM, Daniel Harms wrote:
> I think the virulence of discussion on these topics has to do with how
> much people have internalized the rationalistic view of the world.
> The
> more I hear skeptics and practitioners debate about whether magic
> "really" exists in scientific terms, the more it seems to be using a
> commonly-recognized paradigm as an attempt to bring about
> validation of
> personal experiences and worldviews. As most people involved
> choose to
> ignore that aspect, debates are highly contested and rarely lead to
> the
> resolution of the stated or unstated goals.
>
> I find science to be a particular method (with formal and informal
> components) of understanding the world that works well for some topics
> and not so well for others. I seriously doubt that magic as it is
> currently understood will ever be validated by science, but I could
> very
> well be wrong. I do think that certain phenomena and aspects of magic
> are open for study, but whether that validates magical paradigms as a
> whole is open to debate. On the whole, what science "proves" is of
> intellectual interest to me and nothing more.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan Harms
> Coordinator of Instruction Librarian
> SUNY Cortland Memorial Library
> (607) 753-4042
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Josephine
> Cavopol
> Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 1:03 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] SCIENCE
>
> Everyone freaks out if you mention "science" on that list ->>>
>
> that is very sad. Magic is a part of our world and is therefore
> explainable by science. Scientists have to think from the
> perspective of
> ' if there is no way to test it, then we must work until we find a
> way.
>
>
>>>>>>> From my research it
> seems that
> Hermetic thinking is a parallel system of thinking that is
> anti-enlightenment and requires faith, not questioning! >>>>>
>
> then your research is wrong. Faith is for churches. If I do
> something, i
> want to know that it works, be it ballet, magic for putting a new fuel
> pump in a truck.YOu have to DO it, not talk, read, think about it. And
> like a classical arts, it takes time, hard work and discipline,
> coupled
> with a good teacher or guide who knows what they are doing.
>
> no books, no matter what they are called or hail from are useless.
> magic
> is art, art needs practical application.
>
> That way, when it works, you know it works....
>
> J
>
>
>
>
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