View source for Magic

#REDIRECT [[Functional Magic]]
{{quote|"Do you believe in Magic?"|The Lovin' Spoonful}}

Describe [[Magic]] here. 

Ahh, now that's a hard one. Magic is the ability to create events and effects without the benefits of either technology or the physical world. I can move water into the third floor of a building by using an electric pump push it up piping (technology) or I can have people carry it up by bucket (the physical world). If I can just blink my eyes or wave a wand or simply ''think'' it to hold a glass into the air and it's suddenly filled with water, then it's most likely magic. 

L. Ron Hubbard (yes, THAT one) said the difference between, say, science fiction and magic is that, in Science Fiction, someone wants a sword in their hand, they use a device to get it, or some [[Phlebotinum]] is used to allow them to obtain it. When you use magic, one minute you don't have a sword, then boom, the next second, you have one in your hand (and you can then slay the dragon).

Some parts of this website argue that Magic is just a subset of [[Applied Phlebotinum]], a form of technology. As Arthur C. Clark famously wrote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." But if you have no technology involved at all, what then? Both the TV shows ''[[Bewitched]]'' and ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' and ''[[Harry Potter]]'' all have the ability to do magic a type of hereditary ability, like being able to play the piano or inheriting blue eyes or dark skin from your parents. So we can't necessarily argue technology as a means to create or invoke magic.

The ability to use magic or the use of magic is present in so many stories and genres that it would be exhaustive to list it all. This item is just here to see if we can quantify it, or to include it as a plot device.