|
David the Wanderer -> RE: Is magic worth it? (11/22/2015 11:16:12)
|
Well, the question doesn't really have an answer in my opinion. Yes, magic can be used to do many great and good things, but it also has great destructive power. Magic is a double-edged sword, and very difficult to handle safely; even when people have no ill intent, there's still the risk of causing messes bigger than the ones you were trying to fix. Maybe magic ought to be regulated more, since it seems up until the Rose came into existence, mages in Greenguard were allowed to do as they wanted. The Rose is obviously too extremist in its actions and program, save a few people like Magus Neron who seem to be more cool-headed, and it has become an instrument of oppression rather than one for safety, and has to be either eliminated or reformed; however, the idea of a "magic police" isn't bad into itself. Having people and equipment that can deal with magic threats is good, since Lore, being a world that literally lives on magic, is filled with dangerous application of magic power.
Maybe without magic Lore would be safer, maybe not. We can't know because we have never seen a Lore without magic, and can't know if the good would outweigh the bad. As somebody once said, history isn't written with "but"s and "if"s. Saying that something would have happened differently if a small detail changed is an exercise in futility, since you will never know if your theories are right or wrong.
As others have stated ending magic in itself isn't the solution, though: evil people will always exist, and find new ways to cause pain to others. Magic going away won't stop the threats Lore must face, just change their nature. Not to add, since Lore's mana core is what keeps the planet alive, ending magic might very well result in the extinction of all of Lore's lifeforms. It's not viable. Magic is a part of Lore as much as air or water - it's something that you can't eliminate unless you want everybody to die.
One thing that popped up in my mind while writing this is worth mentioning, I believe: Magic can also stop progress. After all, what's the point in finding a way to, say, cure a certain illness if magic can already do it faster and better than any medicine the human mind can create? As some have said, it appears Lore has been stuck in the Middle Ages/Early Renaissance for much longer than what happened in the real world, and that might be a consequence of magic. A mage will always have an unfair advantage on people who can't use magic, since doing what might take a normal person years of training just takes a moment for a mage. I think it's something worth to think about.
|
|
|
|
