In the absence of information about the book’s author or topic, I think I’d be most inclined to see that as a semi-original formulation of good and evil rather than anything trying to be particularly scientific. Now, I suppose you could interpret that as a model of reality (when I stub my toe, there are malign forces at work), but it’s just as likely to be used for reasons other than accurate modeling. Emotional resonance comes to mind.
In the absence of information about the book’s author or topic, I think I’d be most inclined to see that as a semi-original formulation of good and evil rather than anything trying to be particularly scientific. Now, I suppose you could interpret that as a model of reality (when I stub my toe, there are malign forces at work), but it’s just as likely to be used for reasons other than accurate modeling. Emotional resonance comes to mind.