Wendy: That means accepting the reality that people like the things they like, not wishing for a fantasy world where people magically like the things you think they ought to.
Okay, now that is exactly what I do not mean by saying, “Bind your heart into reality, rather than somewhere else.”
What you’ve just described is an opportunity to help people think differently. Down the line, it’s a moral choice about whether human beings should modify themselves in certain ways.
It does not require magic, an unlawful universe, to speak of a future in which people are not always yearning for unlawfulness, or, perhaps, yearning less forcefully.
Caledonian: . When you can sing things into existence, you’re deeply connected to the nature of existence.
When you can PLAN things into existence, you’re deeply connected to the nature of existence.
There is no possible spell as wonderful as the ability to think. There is one ultimate superpower and it is what we are.
Feeding material into a universal replicator and getting whatever you want manufactured may require astoundingly complex science and engineering, but no one’s going to be particularly impressed once the novelty has worn off.
The rationalist argument for the fun-theoretical superiority of a magic (non-fundamentally magic) world is that, if the laws of magic are such that people individually study the math necessary to cast their spells, they can accomplish things through their own efforts, rather than by pressing a button that makes use of someone else’s strength. If you personally did the astoundingly complex science and engineering to build the replicator, drinking that Earl Grey tea would be a lot more satisfying.
Tarleton: Or more simply: magic is appealing for the same reason a Super Happy Agent is appealing—it means the universe cares about us.
We care about each other. This suffices. It is not necessary that the universe be like a human, because humans are like humans.
Wendy: That means accepting the reality that people like the things they like, not wishing for a fantasy world where people magically like the things you think they ought to.
Okay, now that is exactly what I do not mean by saying, “Bind your heart into reality, rather than somewhere else.”
What you’ve just described is an opportunity to help people think differently. Down the line, it’s a moral choice about whether human beings should modify themselves in certain ways.
It does not require magic, an unlawful universe, to speak of a future in which people are not always yearning for unlawfulness, or, perhaps, yearning less forcefully.
Caledonian: . When you can sing things into existence, you’re deeply connected to the nature of existence.
When you can PLAN things into existence, you’re deeply connected to the nature of existence.
There is no possible spell as wonderful as the ability to think. There is one ultimate superpower and it is what we are.
Feeding material into a universal replicator and getting whatever you want manufactured may require astoundingly complex science and engineering, but no one’s going to be particularly impressed once the novelty has worn off.
The rationalist argument for the fun-theoretical superiority of a magic (non-fundamentally magic) world is that, if the laws of magic are such that people individually study the math necessary to cast their spells, they can accomplish things through their own efforts, rather than by pressing a button that makes use of someone else’s strength. If you personally did the astoundingly complex science and engineering to build the replicator, drinking that Earl Grey tea would be a lot more satisfying.
Tarleton: Or more simply: magic is appealing for the same reason a Super Happy Agent is appealing—it means the universe cares about us.
We care about each other. This suffices. It is not necessary that the universe be like a human, because humans are like humans.