Dennett: Real magic, in other words, refers to the magic that is not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is not real magic.
That’s the same quirk in natural language by which a heavy drinker is not usually a drinker who weighs a lot. (an [adjective] [noun] can mean either ‘a [noun] who/which is [adjective]’, or ‘someone/something who/which is [adjective]ly a [noun]’.)
Huh, apparently someone still understood enough of my comment to upvote it despite the automatic conversion from the original LW markdown source to the current HTML having been completely botched.
That’s the same quirk in natural language by which a heavy drinker is not usually a drinker who weighs a lot. (an [adjective] [noun] can mean either ‘a [noun] who/which is [adjective]’, or ‘someone/something who/which is [adjective]ly a [noun]’.)
Huh, apparently someone still understood enough of my comment to upvote it despite the automatic conversion from the original LW markdown source to the current HTML having been completely botched.
[Fixed it by hand now]
Thank you for articulating my problem with the “real magic” quote.